Want More Sales? Here’s How You Can Use Instagram To Get More Sales

Social media is a powerful way to get more sales. There are still people who believe that social media isn’t worth investing time and money into because it seems unprofessional. However, social media is changing the business world, and it’s a tool that can greatly change your business.

While most social media platforms are great, we’re going to talk about Instagram specifically and how you can leverage it to make more sales, whether you’re selling products (tangible or not), books, or online courses. Just as a heads up, we won’t be covering the basics—use hashtags, don’t sounds too sales-y, and have a call-to-action.

How to use Instagram to get more sales

1. Build excitement

Before you launch your product, book, or e-course, you want people to become aware of it by building excitement. How do you do that?

Talk about it. A lot. Create your usual posts and after your caption for said post, add that you’re book is coming out soon and to keep an eye out. Create posts specifically to announce that your course is launching in ten days; you can also make a countdown sequence with these. When you’re Live, mention it before signing off, and in your stories, use stickers to ask people if they’re excited. Talk about it on IGTV.

Give sneak peeks, too. Take pictures of a certain corner, release a free video, or give the first ten pages of your e-book for free. Build as much awareness as you can.

2. Promote

Once you’ve launched your product, you’re going to continue to do the things we mentioned above. You’re going to talk about it in your story and lives, and create content around it. This time, however, you’re going to reveal the entire thing.

For example, say that you have a new hat in your merchandise store. Before, you had only announced that you’d be releasing a hat, but this time you’re going to take a full picture of the hat. Now you’re giving all the details.

When you promote what you’re selling, you’re going to talk about what your customer is getting, how they can get it, and where. Tell your followers to “Swipe up” or to find the link in your bio. This is where you unashamedly talk about your product.

3. Run ads

Instagram ads are worth every penny. You can easily run ads by yourself, but you may also hire someone. When you them, you want to know exactly who you’re targeting—this is the most important step. You get an option to choose who you’re targeting, their interests, and so on, so you must know who your ideal target customer is.

You can run ads on a single picture, a video, a carousel, or story ads. In your ad, tell people what they’ll be receiving if they buy, the benefits, what steps to take, and then give the final call-to-action.

You might have to experiment in the beginning, but it’s worth the time and money. Once you’ve figured out your audience, retarget those same people after your first ads.

4. Connect with Influencers

Working with an influencer is one of the smartest tactics on Instagram. Influencer marketing is powerful because you get to tap into their huge audience, and make money. Find a person who shares your message and whose followers you’re positive would be interested in what you’re offering.

You can’t work with just anyone or else the impact won’t be as great as you hoped. Of course, you have to pay an influencer. Depending on who you’re working with, the terms may be different. You could give them a percentage of what you earn, they might ask for a one-time payment, or you could give them a coupon code specific for their followers.

If an influencer recommends something, and have a coupon code, their followers are likely to buy.

5. Get creative with your content

We’ve mentioned that whether you’re building up excitement for your product or promoting it after it’s launched, you need to create content around it, be it pictures, videos, stories, or lives. However, what type of content do you create?

Create unique content that stands out, content that stops someone from scrolling. You don’t necessarily have to create content that no one else has created before, but reimagine the content. Use text that pops out and doesn’t look cheesy. Make them laugh. Don’t be stiff. Smile. Avoid basic colors. Tell stories.

Do something that makes people forget you’re trying to sell them something.

6. Get people onto your email list

Selling to your email list has great outcomes. The people in your list are usually your biggest fans. They’re the ones who open the emails, click the links, and buy.

While this tactic doesn’t get people to buy directly from Instagram, you can get people onto your list through Instagram. If they’re on your list, they’re more likely to buy because, like I said, those subscribers genuinely like you.

Get people onto your email list through Instagram by offering a freebie; this is the best way. Make a great free product, tell your followers that your link is on your bio, and your job is done.

7. Offer discounts

Offering discounts may not make you as much money as you’d like, but it’s going to make you money nonetheless. You can offer early bird discounts, discounts specifically for your Instagram followers, or offer them when you run ads.

The sale discount is up to you, but make it something worthwhile. People love getting things for sale, so your sales are likely to boost when you do this. You can also pair discounts with gaining more followers.

For example, you can offer 50% off your $1,000 course for five people who comment below your post and follow you. It would be like a giveaway, and you would choose the person using a random-winner generator. If you’d like to learn more about giveaways, check out this post.

This is how you get more sales on instagram!