Checkout on Instagram is the entire shopping journey, all in one place. Unlike previous iterations of Instagram Shopping that could only direct customers to an external website to complete a purchase, Checkout on Instagram allows users to complete a purchase without ever leaving the app. This makes it quick, easy, and secure for people to buy products they find while browsing Instagram. If you haven’t gotten started with Instagram Shopping yet, be sure to read our guide to selling on Instagram!
The 12-year-old social platform maintains its status as a social media powerhouse, with a reported 2 billion active users in October 2021. This presents a huge opportunity for ecommerce sellers. Merchants looking to maximize their success with Checkout on Instagram should check out the tips below!
Create 5+ Shoppable Posts Per Month
Shoppable posts are the primary driver for discovering your products. In a recent study, Instagram found that overall product page visits and purchases increase for sellers who use at least five product tag posts per month.
In addition, you should employ social media strategies that engage your audience. You can consult your account’s Professional Dashboard to see insights and key metrics about your audience so that you can post when your followers are most active, and identify patterns in your content that attract likes, shares, or comments. Just like social media influencers, sellers should strive to post every day, or close to it.
Shoppable posts can turn tagged products into placed orders.
When you post lifestyle photos or clear photos of your product, be sure to tag them. When your customers tap on the photo, they’ll see a product tag with a “Buy on Instagram” option directing them to the checkout experience.
Use Multiple Formats to Showcase Your Products
From the standard feed post, to IGTV, to Reels, Instagram provides unique ways to serve content to your followers. Most social media platforms have tailored their experience for mobile devices, so stay up-to-date on the latest trends by utilizing all the formats Instagram has available. Once Instagram Shopping has been set up, you can tag up to five products from your catalog directly in your Instagram Feed, Stories, Reels, and Live.
Take Advantage of Promotions for Instagram
Promotions can help you create buzz around your products and reward your followers with special discounts. You can create a promotion through Commerce Manager on Facebook and choose which products in your catalog to include in the promotion. Shoppers see the discounted price, as well as the strike-through price, when they tap on the tagged product on Instagram.
Develop an Influencer Marketing Strategy
Work with influencers to boost the reach of your products. You can create an affiliate program to allow creators permission to tag products from your catalog and earn a commission for each sale. This allows users to purchase your products through checkout directly from the creator’s posts. Insights and engagement metrics of creators’ posts that feature your products are also available so you can measure performance.
You can see the Insights for creators’ posts that feature your products.
Set Up a Facebook Page Shop
Since you’re doing the work of setting up a catalog and tagging your products, make sure that you’re also linking your accounts to Facebook’s other channels to take advantage of the dual benefits that Facebook and Instagram offer. You can create a Facebook Page Shop from the same optimized data feed catalog that you’re using for Checkout on Instagram. The Shop shows your products and customers can buy them directly from your Facebook page.
Keep your Product Catalog Up-To-Date
Maintaining an up-to-date catalog with accurate inventory counts, high-resolution images, and detailed information is incredibly important for the success of your Instagram storefront. Instagram suggests that if you have a shop on Instagram and Facebook, you should use only one catalog across both to ensure accuracy.
Maintain Good Account Health
To maximize your sales opportunities, take some time to review your Account Health to understand your performance on Instagram. Make sure you are meeting Facebook’s requirements to ensure a great customer experience. Helpful insights into shipping and delivery performance metrics (e.g. late shipping, invalid tracking, and cancellations), customer service metrics (i.e. negative reviews), and your average product rating are available. Just like a brick-and-mortar store, a positive online customer experience can create brand loyalty and lead to word-of-mouth recommendations.
We hope the tips above help you become a Checkout on Instagram rock star! For additional insight, be sure to review our Checkout on Instagram FAQs and follow our blog for more helpful tips about selling on marketplaces.
Feed On!
Brian Roizen is the Cofounder and Chief Architect of Feedonomics, a full-service feed optimization platform that optimizes product data for hundreds of channels. He has been featured on numerous podcasts and eCommerce webinars, and regularly contributes to Search Engine Land and other industry-leading blogs. Brian graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.
