If you have reached this post, you have probably noticed that selling on Instagram is really effective and that this platform is a great tool for doing business.

Gone are the days when Instagram was just a network for posting photos of trips to the beach, a delicious coffee in a bar, or a selfie with a landscape in the background. Today Instagram has become a business platform where you can sell various products and services.

With over a billion active users each month , it was to be expected that Instagram would become the perfect place to promote and sell products.

In fact, 15 million Latin American companies have a profile on Instagram and 80% of users follow at least one of these brands .

These data leave no doubt: selling on Instagram can make your business take off. And in addition to increasing sales, you can also get closer to your target audience .

However, despite being such an efficient and attractive channel, many people and brands still do not know how to sell through the social network.

Why sell on Instagram?

Instagram has more than a billion monthly active users, he also noted that that number was up 23% compared to the previous year. Almost 14% of the world population uses this social network. This is an impressive fact, which shows the great presence of Instagram in people's lives.

Therefore, you will have already realized that this tool is a great channel of commercial performance for brands and companies.

Another important fact, included in that same article, is that 500 million accounts use Instagram Stories every day and a third of them see business stories. In other words, users are interested in this type of content produced by brands and in this format.

In addition, the platform offers several features for trading accounts, such as:

instagram shopping

This tool allows your account to be commercial and your company to make sales within the platform.

You can create a product catalog, create tags on posts, directing the user to purchase that item.

In addition to several other features, such as stickers in Stories and cards, all of them with the aim of facilitating and encouraging users to make purchases through Instagram.

Each feature is available for certain types of Instagram accounts, so it's worth reading the operational guidelines and finding out what the possibilities are for your profile.

Advertising on Instagram

There is also the possibility of creating sponsored ads on Instagram. Both for existing posts and for creating new ads within the platform.

This is a solution focused on promoting your product, with various objectives such as increasing views, improving click-through rate, increasing audience engagement and the reach of your publication.

The value of advertising varies according to the objective, number of days of sponsorship, ad format, among other aspects.

integrations

Another feature that promotes sales on Instagram is the possibility of creating integrations with various other useful tools, which allow you to improve the audience experience.

Chatbots , for example, are an integration option with the Instagram API to automate conversations and improve customer service through the application, making the flow of messages more fluid.

There are also tools like Linktree , which works as an extension of the platform, offering more link options to take the audience to pages related to your company.

How to sell on Instagram?

Instagram is one of the most important social networks if you are looking to connect with potential customers of your products or services.

The reasons why Instagram is one of the best platforms to sell products or services online are many, but we can cite a few, such as that it is one of the fastest growing social networks in the world and already has more than 500 million followers. registered users.

In addition, it is one of the social networks that shows the highest rates of engagement with brands. People who follow brands on Instagram tend to interact a lot with it.

Finally, another of the advantages of Instagram is the number of innovative options that it offers on the platform, tools such as zoom , reels or the infinity of filters that it has make it very attractive.

And since we know that what you want is to take advantage of these advantages to sell on Instagram. We are going to guide you through some fundamental stages. You will notice how the process is simpler than you imagine. If you would be interested in having personalized advice to start your business, contact us here.

1. Install the Instagram app

The first step to discover how to sell on Instagram is to create an account on the social network.
If you already have a profile, great. If you don't have it, we help you!
Follow these steps to create your profile:

1. Download the Instagram app: You can do it on your mobile / tablet or connect via computer.
2. Register on the network: Create an account with your email address or log in with Facebook. If you already have a page of your products on Facebook, it is interesting to register with that account so that your social networks are interconnected. That also creates a unique visual identity for your brand, which makes for a good user experience and makes it easier for the user to identify you.
3. Complete your new profile: Make a brief description, but manage to highlight the most important points of your brand. Take advantage of the bio (space at the top, next to the profile photo, in which you describe what your Instagram is) to leave the link to your website. This is the only place to put an external link url.
4. Put a profile image: Choose an image that is easy to identify and that summarizes what your brand is. Always keep in mind that this social network is visual, so invest your time when choosing the profile photo, since it will be the user's first contact with your Instagram .
5. Make your Instagram public: By opting for a public profile, users of this social network will have easy access to your account. Your brand will be visited by different people, even some you don't even know yet .
6. Start posting: Now your Instagram profile is ready for use. Invest your time to take care of that new social network.

2. Transform your personal profile into a business profile

Any company can get a business profile on Instagram. This option is super indicated to receive information about the performance of your messages in this network.

To activate your business profile, you must go to the profile settings in your Instagram account and enable the option “switch to business profile”.

3. Use bio to boost range

A key resource for a business account, which directly impacts sales, is the Instagram bio .

This function is the "business card" of your profile, because it is the first thing your audience sees when they open your page, it is where you display the name of your company, an image, a brief description of your product or service and a link that it is your call to action . In this place, you can put an external link or even the Linktree we mentioned above.

This space in the bio needs to be used very well, since it is an excellent opportunity to engage your audience and make your company and your solution known.

4. Always think of your buyer persona

Your buyer persona should be the main focus when planning all your Instagram content. Both when it comes to configuring the biography, and when thinking about the posts, images and language used in all the texts contained in your profile.

To do this, you will need to know your buyer persona, that is, you must understand and map the characteristics of your ideal client for your product or service.

Because the objective of any company is to solve a real problem, therefore, it is essential that you have total clarity to know who each action is directed to on your Instagram and what are the focal points of your buyer persona.

5. Post relevant content

The Instagram account has been created and you can now start posting content there. But you must be thinking: what now? What should I post on my new profile?

So, it is time to think about the content formats that are used in this social network. Remember that Instagram is visual and that users follow brands to see products.

The main forms of publication on Instagram are photos and videos, but it is also important to think about the relevant texts and content that enrich your profile.

Photos

Photos are the main publication format on Instagram and that's because this social network was initially created to share images.

For this reason, when advertising products on Instagram, it is necessary to publish well-done photos, perfectly framed and with excellent resolution. To help enhance and edit your images, you can use photo apps like VSCO , PicStitch and PhotoGrid .

It is important to avoid images that are too large to avoid loading problems. Instagram itself already reduces the quality of the photos that will be published if they are outside of what is allowed by the application. On the other hand, sharpness will be lost when choosing low-resolution photos, so this choice must be made with caution and judgment.

Videos

Another widely used visual resource on Instagram profiles are videos , great formats to further educate users about what you sell. That's because you can speak and explain more clearly and up close to your audience.

Lasting up to 60 seconds, they can also be a fun tool to better showcase your product and how it works.

You can post them to Instagram's own news feed in the same way you would post photos.

Another interesting way to explore this resource is to make videos up to 15 seconds long in Stories , a 24-hour post option that appears at the top of the app.

There is also the option to create a Boomerang , allowing for a short repetition of certain moves. This option makes daily movements interesting, fun and different!

Instagram also has a new video feature, Reels . With recordings of up to 60 seconds, which allows you to post short and fun content, similar to that of Tik Tok .

Texts

Well, now you have excellent photos and videos. Now it's important to think about how to describe all that content.

Knowing how to present your products clearly and objectively is essential to have an attractive profile. I recommend that you never post on this network without a title, which has to be short.

This is the ideal time to explore your creativity!

Create innovative titles and always use #hashtags , because they mark the image and direct users to the right niche of your product. However, avoid using it excessively so as not to contaminate the description.

relevant content

We already know that presenting what is going to sell on Instagram is essential, but did you know that it is important to educate users more and more?

Keep in mind posting other content beyond your product or brand. That creates a good experience for your followers, who will have access to interesting and different posts.

Understand the needs of the people who follow you on Instagram well.

6. Identify the ideal frequency to post on Instagram

This is an interactive social network that does not require the user to spend a lot of time reading the subtitles of the posts. That is why it is possible to publish whenever you have good content.

There is no ideal number of publications, it all depends on the amount of material you already have prepared.

However, you can think of some good practices to attract more people to your profile.

• Post photos or videos every day.
• Avoid posting more than two pieces of content on the same day so as not to overload your profile. If you post everything at once, you won't have anything to upload later.
• Remember that you should also post on weekends. It is important to update your posts whenever possible.
• Think about the routine of the users you want to have to choose the best time to publish.

7. Try engage users on Instagram

If you have started using this social network now, you probably do not have many followers.

There is no point in having a great Instagram profile with relevant photos, videos and content if it is not well publicized and does not attract the right followers.

Your Instagram needs to be seen!

Connect your Facebook to Instagram:

Help increase the number of followers in your new network. There is an option for you to follow people who are already on your Facebook. By doing so, those profiles that you follow will have access to your account and will also be able to follow you.

If you have created a new account, defines the buyer persona the one you want to reach and make them see your Instagram at the right time . This will make users become your followers and want to know more about your brand.

The key now is knowing how to communicate with excellence with people who are interested in what you sell on Instagram. That is why it responds to the comments and direct messages sent in a fast and personalized way. That will show that you care for those who follow you there.

On the other hand, you have to spread your Instagram so that people know about it. Use your other social networks to spread the news that your brand now has an Instagram profile.

8. Discover the right product to sell on instagram

Are you one of those who believes that only fashion products can be sold on Instagram?

Of course that's not true!

 Any type of product that has a visual identity can be advertised!

The key to choosing an ideal product is to know well the focus that your brand wants to achieve, which you defined when you created your buyer persona profile.

The important thing is to choose a single niche and focus on it. This prevents your follower from having doubts about the scope of activity of your brand. At Magic Hair we specialize in beauty products, if you want to become one of our national distributors click here.

9. Use Instagram Shopping

Instagram Shopping is a feature that allows you to tag your products in your own posts.

This resource works in a similar way to tagging people, with a tag that shows the details of the product, such as price, size, and the purchase link.

In this way, it is now possible to make sales directly in the feed or in Stories.

To use the tool, you must:

• Be in a country with this feature available;
• Market products that comply with the commercial policies of Instagram ;
• Have a business profile;
• Connect the profile to a Facebook catalog. This can be done with a Business Manager or on platforms like Shopify or BigCommerce.

Once the feature is approved in your account, you can start tagging your products. To do this:

• Go to your profile and press "Start";
• Select the merchandise catalog and press “Finish”.

Now simply upload your product images and choose the products you want to tag.

10. Make alliances with influencers

To further boost your Instagram sales, you can do collaborations with digital influencers on the platform.

A digital influencer is a person capable of influencing the behavior and opinion of people through the content they publish on their social networks.

By establishing alliances with these professionals, you increase the reach and recognition of your brand, reaching specific audiences that may be interested in your products.

You can offer a free sample of what you want to promote, send the product for the influencer to try, among other possibilities.

11. Use Instagram Ads

If the intention of this article is to know how to sell on Instagram, we cannot ignore advertising on Instagram .

The feature to advertise content and ads is one of the best tools to reach more users and increase sales.

Another benefit of ads is the ability to target a specific audience. In this way, you guarantee that only the users who are really interested in your offer are impacted by that advertisement. Therefore, it is good that you know how the Instagram algorithm works.

Ideas on what to sell on Instagram

This theme is for those who want to work with Instagram , but still don't have such a clear idea of ​​what they want to sell through this app. At Magic Hair we promote and distribute beauty and body care products nationwide, such as; kits for hair growth, products for the intimate area, anti-dandruff, anti-aging and anti-acne. We invite you to see for yourself all the products we handle on our website. This could help you decide if you want to be one of our distributors and start selling on Instagram yourself.

Start selling on Instagram

After reading this text, it will be much easier for you to create a business account and configure it to look its best, with the intention of making a good first impression on your audience.

By following the tips mentioned above and the best practices when it comes to promoting your business, without a doubt, you will be able to do it!

In addition, there are various possibilities of products and services that can be advertised on Instagram. You just need to find the best way to disclose them, always considering the interests of your buyer persona.