If you have an online business, you need to maximize as many sales opportunities as you can. And given the immense popularity of Instagram, it makes sense to invest your time and energy into an effective sales strategy on the platform. 

But how do you drive sales on Instagram, and what do you need to know in order to grow your online business? Here, we introduce you to ten tips that will enable you to increase your bottom line and take your business to the next level.

In order to drive sales on instagram, you should:

Create a business profile 

One of the most important steps to take when seeking to grow your business on Instagram is to set up a business profile. With a business profile, you can access promoted posts and Instagram ads, which enable you to grow your reach and engagement on the platform. 

The ads on Instagram are similar to those on Facebook and can be an excellent way to take your business to the next level. Another benefit is that your business account is public, and anyone on the platform can see it, increasing your potential audience significantly. 

You can set up a business profile from scratch or convert your personal account to a business one. It’s a quick and easy step and will help you work toward increased sales on the platform. 

Publish good quality photos 

Did you know that posts with images receive 2.3 times more engagement than those without? While you don’t need us to tell you that your Instagram posts must contain images, you need to think carefully about the aesthetic that you’re hoping to create on your profile. 

As such, the photos that you share need to be relevant to your brand and of extremely high quality. Avoid stock images and poorly created graphics that can cheapen your brand, and invest the time, energy, and money in creating elite posts that will appeal to your audience. 

Make sure the camera on your phone is of a high enough resolution to capture excellent photos and experiment with filters to improve the way photos look when you share them on your profile. 

Create interesting captions 

Influencers typically put so much effort into the images they share on social media but pay significantly less attention to the captions that accompany them. This is a big mistake, as captions are a great opportunity to sell yourself. 

With attention spans so short in the modern day, your captions need to be punchy and concise. They should also contain a clear call to action that encourages your audience to take the next steps, whatever they may be. 

If you’re not great with words, you could always consider hiring a copywriter to help you produce engaging captions that drive sales on Instagram. Although it requires an initial investment, it will be a smart move if it improves your bottom line in the long run. 

Plan your posts in advance 

Thanks to the prevalence of social media scheduling tools like Hootsuite, you have the perfect opportunity to plan all of your content in advance. Whether you plan a week or a month in advance, it will make a huge difference to your metrics. 

For one reason, producing solely transactional content won’t go down well with your followers, so you need to strike a balance between promotional, informative, and educational content. Planning your content and automatically posting it will help you do this. 

It also helps you post consecutively on more than one platform, which is handy if you’re active on both Instagram and Facebook, for example. When you plan your posts in advance, you can be much more deliberate with your content, which helps with your messaging and conversion rate. 

Invest in likes and followers 

While we all strive for organic growth on social media, investing in likes and followers is an excellent way to see a return on your investment. After all, the more likes and followers you have, the more you can charge for sponsored posts as an influencer. 

At Managergram, we help influencers like you grow their social media accounts. For instance, you can buy automatic likes for your Instagram posts and even buy real followers who will then engage with the content that you put out into the world. 

No matter your budget, you can find a growth plan to suit your finances, and you can cancel your plan at any time. The bottom line is that if you want to drive sales on Instagram, investing in followers, likes, and social media growth in general is a super smart strategy. 

Partner with digital influencers  

Whether you’re an influencer or an online business owner, partnering with digital influencers is a great way to increase your sales on Instagram. The digital influencer market is huge – it grew from $1.7 billion in 2016 to $9.7 billion in 2020 – and it has a lot of growth left in it.

The reality is that partnering with a digital influencer can propel your products or services to whole new audiences. It can also increase engagement levels, particularly when you work with influencers with relatively small audiences who engage naturally and organically with their followers. 

Our advice is to put together a budget and know what you can afford. Then, approach influencers who you would like to represent your brand. You can find information about their work via their professional media kits, which should be your starting point before reaching out.

Create effective ads 

Instagram affords you the opportunity to list ads on the platform, which appear throughout the app at different intervals. They can appear on stories, feeds, explore, and other locations and they look similar to normal posts. The only difference is the ‘sponsored’ label that appears alongside the post. 

Effective ads will undoubtedly drive sales on Instagram, but you need to be clever with how you promote your brand. Focus on your USP and explain how you are capable of solving your client’s problem. 

Ensure that you include a clear call to action and prepare a sales funnel that helps you convert traffic that arrives at your website. You also need to make sure the graphics and copy for your ad are on point, so spend some time testing the water before putting something out there to see what your followers usually engage with.

Use Instagram stories 

The stories feature has long been one of the most popular aspects of Instagram, with people often paying more attention to them than their feeds. You can promote your products and special offers via your story from your business account, which is a great way to increase brand visibility. 

As is the case with ads, make it easy for your customers to click through to your website and include a clear call to action within all of your stories. You also need to make sure that your stories are on brand, both aesthetically and from a copy perspective. 

One thing to remember about stories is not to overdo things, as your followers may get frustrated if they feel like you’re pushing sales too much. Mix things up and ensure that you use stories to the max, and you will see an improvement in your sales as a result. 

Invest in your Instagram store 

In 2020, Instagram announced the launch of its store feature, taking social media shopping to a whole new level. Instead of having to redirect your clients to your website, you can now sell directly to them from your business account. 

This has a slew of obvious advantages and will do wonders for your conversion rate. To get the most out of your Instagram store, you need to ensure that it is clearly on brand and contains all of your latest products and services. 

Invest in professional photos and create detailed product descriptions. You also need to be transparent about things like shipping, returns, and other policies to help build trust and credibility with your audience. But ultimately, if you don’t yet have an Instagram store, it’s time to set one up! 

Create special promotions and discount codes

Everyone loves a discount, and offering promotions to your audience is a great way to drive sales on Instagram. You can tie your promotions into special times of the year or offer limited-time offers that are exclusively for your followers. 

This is a great way to reward your followers for their loyalty and makes them feel valued. You might also offer personalized discounts to customers who consistently buy your products or services, and you can do this via a direct message on the app. 

Just be careful with how frequently you offer discounts, as running promotions all of the time will discourage people from buying at full price, as they will simply wait for the next round of discounts to be announced! 

Final thoughts 

Increasing your sales is crucial for the growth of your online business. No matter what you sell, you can use Instagram to your advantage. These tips are easy for anyone to implement, and we hope that you use them to grow your business and drive more sales on your Instagram profile.