Ecommerce has come an incredibly long way in a relatively short period of time. Thanks to recent advances in technology and in answer to customer demand, influencers and brands can now sell products directly on Instagram, removing the need for third parties.
Here, we explain everything you need to know about live shopping on Instagram and introduce you to five amazing strategies that will help you increase your sales on the platform.
What is Live Shopping on Instagram?
Live shopping on Instagram first appeared in the United States in August 2020. The premise is super simple – it enables influencers and Instagram business users to sell their products during live broadcasts.
As you might expect, you need to activate Instagram’s shopping function to be able to sell during live broadcasts, which enables you to create an online store where you can upload your product catalog directly to your Instagram profile.
Once your Instagram shop is up and running, you can launch different products and tag them during live broadcasts, making it easy for your audience to follow through and complete a transaction. Crucially, they can complete their purchase without leaving the app, which is game-changing for social media commerce going forward.
The live shopping feature is only currently available in the United States, and you must already have set up Instagram checkout, which is the foundation that enables you to process transactions on your profile. It’s anticipated that Instagram live shopping will roll out in different countries around the world later this year.
What are the benefits of live shopping on Instagram?
Live shopping on Instagram is advantageous for so many reasons, with brands, influencers, and users all benefitting in different ways. Some of the benefits of Instagram live shopping include:
Sense of community
By engaging with your followers via a live broadcast, you can build a sense of community within your audience. People will feel like they actually know you, and it’s a great way to humanize your brand. This will undoubtedly help you drive conversions as you seek to persuade people to buy your products.
Credibility
One of the biggest benefits of live shopping is that your followers are able to put a face to your brand. This is super important in a world where people want to know more about the brands they support, and it’s a great way to build credibility with your potential customer base.
Collaboration
Live streams are the perfect way to collaborate with other brands and influencers on Instagram. Whether you invite other influencers to be part of your broadcast or agree to cross-promote other brands, it’s a great way to build your broader community on Instagram while collaborating with other influencers and users.
Engagement
Importantly, hosting a live shopping broadcast will almost certainly do wonders for your engagement levels. Approximately 70% of shoppers turn to Instagram to discover new products, and by hosting a live broadcast, you’re offering people the opportunity to discover and interact with your brand. As a result, they’re likely to follow your account and potentially engage with your posts, which can help your long-term social media strategy.
Five amazing strategies for live shopping on Instagram
Now that you know what Instagram live shopping is and why it’s beneficial to your business, here are five amazing strategies to employ when you launch your first broadcast on the platform:
1. Capitalize on trends within your niche
Trends come and go on social media, so you need to strike while the iron’s hot! As an influencer, or if you’re busy promoting your brand on Instagram, you need to keep up with hashtags, as well as the latest trends and what they mean for your products. When you happen upon the latest trends, you need to consider how your products can contribute before hosting a live.
As one of the first people to jump onto a trend with a product offer, you can build authority around your brand. As well as a live broadcast, you can take advantage of popular songs, filters, and hypes to portray your brand in a positive light. Showcasing your brand as a trendsetter is a great way to build authority and credibility on social media.
2. Host question & answer sessions
The best live shopping broadcasts on Instagram are interactive. Not only does it help you address any concerns that your customers might have about your product or brand, but it also enables you to invite them to participate in the broadcast. When people feel valued and involved in your brand, they’re much more likely to follow through with a sale.
Consider tagging your live stream with the hashtag ‘Ask me anything’ to encourage people to contribute questions to your broadcast. Make sure you promote your Q&A ahead of time and prepare as many answers as you can ahead of time. This will help with the flow of the live broadcast and will prevent you from getting caught out by difficult questions.
3. Offer tutorials
A great way to make the most out of a live shopping broadcast without being too sales-focused is to offer tutorials about how certain products work. After all, you’re an expert, so it’s a great way to show people precisely how your brand can add value to their lives. When running through the tutorial, focus on showing how easy your product is to use and how it solves an obvious problem that your audience has.
It’s so important for your tutorial to be relevant to your followers, or you risk alienating them from the entire process. So, consider which of your products are likely to solve a particular problem and plan a detailed live broadcast that shows precisely how to use it. This is a great way to engage people and offers something tangible alongside the product itself.
4. Consider a giveaway
While it might seem counterintuitive to give your product away for free during a live broadcast, it can actually be a great way to get people interested in your brand in the first place. While it’s entirely up to you how you do it, you could potentially offer a freebie to one of the people who attends your live broadcast, selected at random on the day of the gig.
Alternatively, you could offer an exclusive discount to everyone that joins the live broadcast, be it free shipping or a percentage discount off the retail price. Everyone loves a freebie, so incorporating a giveaway into your live broadcast can be a super helpful way to stimulate interest and increase engagement.
5. Ask for feedback
One of the most useful types of content on social media is user-generated. A great way to get your hands on UGC is to ask your followers for feedback about your brand, as well as the actual products that you sell. This might be in the form of reviews, or it may even be real-life examples of your followers using your products.
At the end of the live broadcast, ask your followers directly to offer you feedback on your brand and products, and you will find that it provides you with a great opportunity to maximize the benefits of user-generated content, which will help your long-term social media strategy.
6. Bonus Strategy: How to increase your audience on Instagram
Of course, the most successful influencers and brands on social media are those with lots of followers and high engagement rates. When making a transaction, people want to know that they can trust a particular brand, and engagement rates and follower numbers are important metrics when considering a brand’s success.
At Managergram, we can help you increase your audience on Instagram in various ways. Our Instagram Growth Plan is a great place to begin, helping you acquire monthly followers, automatic likes and views, and various other forms of engagement, including profile visits, post saves, and comments. There are plans available to suit every budget, and instigating an Instagram growth plan is a great way to progress your online business.
Alternatively, you might want to buy Instagram followers, which is excellent for the credibility of your profile and will help you significantly when it comes to live shopping broadcasts. Not only will they attract bigger audiences, but your increased follower base will ensure that people see your brand in a different light, which will help you build authority and credibility within your niche.
No matter how you look at it, investing in the growth of your Instagram profile is extremely important if you want to get the most out of Instagram’s live shopping feature.
Recap
Instagram’s live shopping feature has taken the social media world by storm and has provided influencers and brands with an excellent opportunity to market their products to their online audiences.
So, we hope you use the above tips and strategies to get the most out of your live shopping broadcasts on Instagram, whether you’re new to Instagram commerce or are looking to grow your profile on the platform.
Now it’s your turn to grow
If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media so that more people can have access to it.
If you are interested in delving into the subject, then keep reading the contents below:
Instagram Live Shopping: Increase Your Sales with These 5 Amazing Strategies
Ecommerce has come an incredibly long way in a relatively short period of time. Thanks to recent advances in technology and in answer to customer demand, influencers and brands can now sell products directly on Instagram, removing the need for third parties.
Here, we explain everything you need to know about live shopping on Instagram and introduce you to five amazing strategies that will help you increase your sales on the platform.
What is Live Shopping on Instagram?
Live shopping on Instagram first appeared in the United States in August 2020. The premise is super simple – it enables influencers and Instagram business users to sell their products during live broadcasts.
As you might expect, you need to activate Instagram’s shopping function to be able to sell during live broadcasts, which enables you to create an online store where you can upload your product catalog directly to your Instagram profile.
Once your Instagram shop is up and running, you can launch different products and tag them during live broadcasts, making it easy for your audience to follow through and complete a transaction. Crucially, they can complete their purchase without leaving the app, which is game-changing for social media commerce going forward.
The live shopping feature is only currently available in the United States, and you must already have set up Instagram checkout, which is the foundation that enables you to process transactions on your profile. It’s anticipated that Instagram live shopping will roll out in different countries around the world later this year.
What are the benefits of live shopping on Instagram?
Live shopping on Instagram is advantageous for so many reasons, with brands, influencers, and users all benefitting in different ways. Some of the benefits of Instagram live shopping include:
Sense of community
By engaging with your followers via a live broadcast, you can build a sense of community within your audience. People will feel like they actually know you, and it’s a great way to humanize your brand. This will undoubtedly help you drive conversions as you seek to persuade people to buy your products.
Credibility
One of the biggest benefits of live shopping is that your followers are able to put a face to your brand. This is super important in a world where people want to know more about the brands they support, and it’s a great way to build credibility with your potential customer base.
Collaboration
Live streams are the perfect way to collaborate with other brands and influencers on Instagram. Whether you invite other influencers to be part of your broadcast or agree to cross-promote other brands, it’s a great way to build your broader community on Instagram while collaborating with other influencers and users.
Engagement
Importantly, hosting a live shopping broadcast will almost certainly do wonders for your engagement levels. Approximately 70% of shoppers turn to Instagram to discover new products, and by hosting a live broadcast, you’re offering people the opportunity to discover and interact with your brand. As a result, they’re likely to follow your account and potentially engage with your posts, which can help your long-term social media strategy.
Five amazing strategies for live shopping on Instagram
Now that you know what Instagram live shopping is and why it’s beneficial to your business, here are five amazing strategies to employ when you launch your first broadcast on the platform:
1. Capitalize on trends within your niche
Trends come and go on social media, so you need to strike while the iron’s hot! As an influencer, or if you’re busy promoting your brand on Instagram, you need to keep up with hashtags, as well as the latest trends and what they mean for your products. When you happen upon the latest trends, you need to consider how your products can contribute before hosting a live.
As one of the first people to jump onto a trend with a product offer, you can build authority around your brand. As well as a live broadcast, you can take advantage of popular songs, filters, and hypes to portray your brand in a positive light. Showcasing your brand as a trendsetter is a great way to build authority and credibility on social media.
2. Host question & answer sessions
The best live shopping broadcasts on Instagram are interactive. Not only does it help you address any concerns that your customers might have about your product or brand, but it also enables you to invite them to participate in the broadcast. When people feel valued and involved in your brand, they’re much more likely to follow through with a sale.
Consider tagging your live stream with the hashtag ‘Ask me anything’ to encourage people to contribute questions to your broadcast. Make sure you promote your Q&A ahead of time and prepare as many answers as you can ahead of time. This will help with the flow of the live broadcast and will prevent you from getting caught out by difficult questions.
3. Offer tutorials
A great way to make the most out of a live shopping broadcast without being too sales-focused is to offer tutorials about how certain products work. After all, you’re an expert, so it’s a great way to show people precisely how your brand can add value to their lives. When running through the tutorial, focus on showing how easy your product is to use and how it solves an obvious problem that your audience has.
It’s so important for your tutorial to be relevant to your followers, or you risk alienating them from the entire process. So, consider which of your products are likely to solve a particular problem and plan a detailed live broadcast that shows precisely how to use it. This is a great way to engage people and offers something tangible alongside the product itself.
4. Consider a giveaway
While it might seem counterintuitive to give your product away for free during a live broadcast, it can actually be a great way to get people interested in your brand in the first place. While it’s entirely up to you how you do it, you could potentially offer a freebie to one of the people who attends your live broadcast, selected at random on the day of the gig.
Alternatively, you could offer an exclusive discount to everyone that joins the live broadcast, be it free shipping or a percentage discount off the retail price. Everyone loves a freebie, so incorporating a giveaway into your live broadcast can be a super helpful way to stimulate interest and increase engagement.
5. Ask for feedback
One of the most useful types of content on social media is user-generated. A great way to get your hands on UGC is to ask your followers for feedback about your brand, as well as the actual products that you sell. This might be in the form of reviews, or it may even be real-life examples of your followers using your products.
At the end of the live broadcast, ask your followers directly to offer you feedback on your brand and products, and you will find that it provides you with a great opportunity to maximize the benefits of user-generated content, which will help your long-term social media strategy.
6. Bonus Strategy: How to increase your audience on Instagram
Of course, the most successful influencers and brands on social media are those with lots of followers and high engagement rates. When making a transaction, people want to know that they can trust a particular brand, and engagement rates and follower numbers are important metrics when considering a brand’s success.
At Managergram, we can help you increase your audience on Instagram in various ways. Our Instagram Growth Plan is a great place to begin, helping you acquire monthly followers, automatic likes and views, and various other forms of engagement, including profile visits, post saves, and comments. There are plans available to suit every budget, and instigating an Instagram growth plan is a great way to progress your online business.
Alternatively, you might want to buy Instagram followers, which is excellent for the credibility of your profile and will help you significantly when it comes to live shopping broadcasts. Not only will they attract bigger audiences, but your increased follower base will ensure that people see your brand in a different light, which will help you build authority and credibility within your niche.
No matter how you look at it, investing in the growth of your Instagram profile is extremely important if you want to get the most out of Instagram’s live shopping feature.
Recap
Instagram’s live shopping feature has taken the social media world by storm and has provided influencers and brands with an excellent opportunity to market their products to their online audiences.
So, we hope you use the above tips and strategies to get the most out of your live shopping broadcasts on Instagram, whether you’re new to Instagram commerce or are looking to grow your profile on the platform.
Now it’s your turn to grow
If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media so that more people can have access to it.
If you are interested in delving into the subject, then keep reading the contents below:
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