Instagram has become a key player for eCommerce stores. It’s no longer about selfies, and it’s about reaching global leads and making your eCommerce store presence known.
Around 500 million, people use Instagram Stories every day. Not to mention, there are more than 800,000 shoppers use Instagram every month, and brands around the world are using the platform to share their stories and products with consumers in a visually engaging way.
Today we’re taking a look at the top 10 brands that have mastered Instagram for their eCommerce store and the lessons that we learned from them.
Let’s dive in.
1. Always Answer Comments and Direct Messages
This the number one mistake I see most eCommerce brands making on Instagram; they avoid answering comments and answers. Whether your customers are saying something good or negative about your products, you need to answer.
Gartner found that if you don’t respond to comments on social media, it can lead to a 15% increase in churn rate.
Customers that follow or engage with brands now expect a response. After all, around 40% customers who complain in social expect a response within one hour or less.
They expect the same customer service experience in the store online as well—anything less than says that your Instagram eCommerce store is unprofessional and unreliable.
Answering comments and dm’s sends the message that your brand is active online, and there’s a human being that they can reach out to make their shopping journey more comfortable.
Convince and Convert found that answering a social media complaint can increase customer advocacy by as much as 25%.
eCommerce Instagram Account: By/Rosie Jane
No matter how simple or repetitive the request may be, it’s vital to schedule time on social media to respond to comments and messages.
If there are negative comments or “haters” on here page here are the Best 4 Ways Brands Can Respond to Haters on Instagram.
2. Always Keep Active on Instagram
Always treat your Instagram account like your eCommerce store; keep it active. If you want to successfully use Instagram to drive traffic and customers to your store, you’ll need to upload content and engage consistently.
If you want to grow organically on Instagram, you need to keep your account active with content and view comments, likes, and shares. So, where do you start?
The answer: By keeping your content fresh on a consistent posting schedule and encouraging engagement on your Instagram account.
Instagram users are spoiled, they’re used to brands posting content 1-5 times per day. They scroll, turn on notifications, and look out for the latest content in stories. The moment your brand falls off the radar, you’re easily forgotten by your followers and users on the app.
eCommerce Instagram Account: Taste of Home
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Find a posting schedule and stick to it. If you’re going to post once a week, then followers will expect content every week and no less or no more, likewise if you decide that you want to post daily.
Social Buddy suggests that you should aim to post on Instagram between one to three times per day. Major brands post on average of 1.5 times per day, so if you aim to follow the same rule, you should do well. While this is a general rule to follow, it may not work best for you. So you’ll have to experiment with what works best for you.
The more consistent and active you are on Instagram, the easier it is for customers to find your content, the algorithm to work in your favor as well.
3. Always Optimize Your Instagram Profile
As an eCommerce store, your Instagram page is another digital storefront that customers engage with on their buyer’s journey. It would help if you took the time to optimize your Instagram profile and use all of your digital real estate as a business.
This means adding links to your eCommerce store, creating a compelling bio, an easily recognizable display picture, and more.
People judge Instagram profiles quickly and harshly, so if it’s not professional or eye-catching, they’ll move on to the next eCommerce Instagram account to buy products. Your Instagram profile also gives your brand credibility
eCommerce Instagram Account: FabfitFun, Kaja Beauty and Passion Planner
If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at brands that you admire on Instagram. What are they using or saying in their Instagram bio?
What kind of images or hashtags do they have on their profile, and how can you emulate the same sense of professionalism on your eCommerce profile.
Treat all your social media profiles with the same care and professionalism as your online store.
Need help increasing sales on Instagram?
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4. Do Cross-Posting Across Your Profiles
You can also grow your eCommerce Instagram account off Instagram! You read that right.
You can share your content on Instagram on your other social media platforms with the Instagram cross-posting feature! This allows you to share content without moving from platform to platform effortlessly. You can also let your followers on other social media profiles know that you’re active on Instagram.
Bath and Body Work shares content across all their profiles; not only is it helpful to their brand, but it also shows their consistency with the information and content they provide.
eCommerce Instagram Account: Bath and Body Works
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5. Stay Up to Date with Latest News
If there’s anything we’ve learned, it’s that brands should always be ready to make a change. You always have to ensure that your Instagram content is up to date with the latest news and changes that will directly affect your customers and their spending habits.
Ignore it, and you’ll end up looking tone-deaf, which will only drive customers away. Instead:
- Put a halt to your usual content and take the time to acknowledge what’s happening.
- How it’s affecting your customers.
- What your eCommerce store will do to cater to your customers or new crisis policy.
- Start reflecting those changes on your eCommerce store and social media pages.
When the coronavirus hit the world, many brands and customers scramble to meet with the new changes. Macy’s as a brick and mortar and online store took the initiative to go above and beyond.
They took major health measures for their customers, especially those who were elderly and in need. Not only did it increase their online presence as an eCommerce store, but it also made them fan favorites of new customers.
eCommerce Instagram Account: Macy’s
If you need more help with your business, don’t forget to check out Wishpond’s COVID-19 SOS Marketing Series. We share expert advice from the world top marketers, sharing their best tips and tactics for service providers and eCommerce stores.
6. Create Content Your Followers Love
Instagram is a visual platform, and two main aspects can make or break your Instagram. The 1# tip for creating a trending Instagram account is great content.
What kind of content do people want to see from you?
If you think about taking your Instagram theme or aesthetic to the next level you can start off with these three steps:
A mood board (or inspiration board) is a physical or digital collage of ideas to visually represent your brand or idea. If you think a mood board might work for you, you can try using Canva, an easy to use and free graphic designing tool, to make one.
Maybe mood boards seem too much for you? You can use color swatches instead to help keep your color scheme consistent. You can create fast and easy color swatches with Coolers if you’re ready to start.
If you’d like to dive deeper into the world of Instagram aesthetics, I found that this Later guide on How to Create a Cohesive Instagram Aesthetic seems to do the trick. It gives you step by step instructions and great examples to follow, take a quick look if you’re interested.
Share Content You & Followers Will Love
Most people will tell you to share content that your followers will love, which is right, but first you have to make sure you share content you love first.
Create content that speaks to your brand’s lifestyle, products, and services, mission, or long term goals. Here are a couple of different categories of content you can share on your Instagram account.
- Behind the scenes images
- Product images
- Customer reviews
- Social Contests or Giveaway
- Sale or Promotion
- UGC (User Generated Content)
If you’re not sure what type of content to post, look at these 21 Top Instagram Post Ideas & Examples and see which works best for you.
Having a second opinion on an image can go a long way. Sometimes we’re too close to our product or brand that we may start to think that an image is great when in reality, it’s a hot mess.
eCommerce Instagram Account: Nordstrom
7. Run Savvy Mobile Instagram Ads
We’ve learned from the best eCommerce Instagram accounts that creating savvy mobile Instagram ads is a must for success. According to research by Wyzowl, 83% of business owners are happy with the ROI they have seen from mobile marketing.
Most Instagram users are on their mobile phones, and Instagram prides itself on seamlessly adding ads into users’ feed, which can either work in your favor or against you.
Think about it.
If ads are placed into your followers’ Instagram feed, then it’s all the more important to make an ad that will stop them before they scroll past.
Check out Wayfair’s Instagram story ad, showing off all the cool items customers can buy to work from home effortlessly and in style. They know that people are checking their phones, so they create high-quality mobile ads that will meet their ideal customers in that space.
eCommerce Instagram Account: WayFair
8. Always Keep Your Instagram Stories Active
Instagram stories are a great way to keep your Instagram account active. Around 62% of people say they have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Stories.
With Instagram stories, you don’t have to put as much thought into your content as it would with content posted on your feed (which stays forever).
All Instagram Stories disappear automatically after 24 hours. Plus, you can save that content in your Story highlights where it will stay permanently.
Not to mention, you can use hashtags, gifs, and more in your stories to appear on the discovery page where other followers and potential customers can find you.
The Business of Fashion (BOF) is a magazine that prides itself on the latest fashion trends and news for business. They often post news on their stories to alert customers before making an official post on their feed.
eCommerce Instagram Account: BOF
9. Always Use Hashtags (Always!)
When it comes to Instagram, hashtags are everything. The only brands you’ll see use little to no hashtags are big brands that already have a following of a million followers or more. But for everyone else, it’s the holy grail of brand awareness, increasing followers, and boosting engagement.
A common mistake is that brands are using hashtags are very business-related. They’re not wrong, but it’s unlikely that customers are going to follow #shopifybuisness.
Instead, use hashtags that customers engage with daily without thought like #ootd or #sundress. This brings more exposure to your content and eCommerce Instagram account.
If you need help finding hashtags for your eCommerce store you can use for your next post, check out these two guides:
eCommerce Instagram Account: Superette
10. Start Using IGTV to Increase Brand Awareness & Sales
For creative brands, IGTV offers a much greater breadth of expression. This feature allows you to upload videos as long as 60 minutes. (For verified accounts or accounts with large followings, videos can be up to an hour.
Like YouTube, IGTV allows you to create evergreen content that can boost your brand’s online presence. You can share video ad campaigns, FAQ’s, product displays, behind the scenes, and sharing what happens in the office.
eCommerce Instagram Account: Nike
Summary
Maintaining your eCommerce Instagram account is just as important as maintaining your business. If you want to get good results you have to be consistent and creative. As you begin to grow on Instagram you should always ensure that your engagement is growing as well.
Without engagement from your followers you’re simply shouting out into a social media void. With the help of engagement you can spark a conversation with potential customers and attract new leads.
Here’s a quick recap of the 10 amazing eCommerce Instagram account and examples we learned from:
- Always Answer Comments and Direct Messages
- Always Keep Active on Instagram
- Always Optimize Your Instagram Profile
- Do Cross-Posting Across Your Profiles
- Stay Up to Date with Latest Updates
- Create Content Your Followers Love
- Run Savvy Mobile Instagram Ads
- Always Keep Your Instagram Stories Active
- Always Use Hashtags (Always!)
- Make Use of Your Instagram URL Real Estate
- Start Using IGTV to Increase Brand Awareness & Sales
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