Say Hello to Instagram Shoppable Posts

Instagram (IG) have revolutionised their platform with the addition of Instagram shoppable posts. Launching last year for the US, businesses are now able to tag their products in their pictures, giving consumers a quick and direct link to purchase the goods featured. Businesses are also able to include a linked ‘shop now’ button on their IG page.

The good news? From March 20, businesses in Australia (as well as Canada, France, UK, Germany, Italy, Brazil and Spain) are also eligible for IG’s shopping experience. Open to both big brands as well as small businesses, this is a valuable tool for building meaningful relationships between consumers and companies, and it allows online shopping to be as organic as possible.

How to get approved for Instagram shoppable posts

In order to be eligible for shoppable posts, businesses must adhere to a few guidelines. These are:

1. A business must have an Instagram business account, not a personal profile.
2. They must sell goods that comply with IG’s commerce policies.
3. Their Instagram business profile must also be linked with a Facebook product catalog*.

*A Facebook product catalog can be created and managed either through the business’s Fb page or through platforms such as Business Manager, Shopify and BigCommerce.

If your business meets all of IG’s criteria, you must then submit for approval, which will take 2-3 business days to be reviewed.

Once approved, you’ll be able to see ‘Shopping’ under Settings on your business’s IG page and you’ll be able to launch shoppable posts for your eager customers.

Tips for using Instagram shoppable posts

Image credit: YaniSinla / Shutterstock.com

Want to make the most out of the shopping experience and to get your customers on board? Instagram suggests the following the tips:

• Put up a Story on your page to let your audience know they can now purchase products through posts.
• Ensure each tag is touching the correct product.
• Include vital information (such as the price) in the tag.
• Tag multiple products in the one post for optimal opportunity for the audience to browse.

The idea behind creating these posts is to make the shopping experience as seamless as possible for the consumer. People use IG for inspiration on just about everything: clothes, jewellery, skincare, hair and make-up products, furniture, food, and much more. So there’s likely a strong opportunity here for you, no matter what your business sells.

The new shopping tool transforms a business page from pretty inspo to serious shopfront. Every business (no matter how small) should consider using it.

Feature Image credit: Jirapong Manustrong / Shutterstock.com