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In this jet age, Social Media is evolving at a very rapid rate with so many platforms present on the internet today. With 500 million people accessing the app daily, Instagram has made a distinguished name in the industry in spite of arriving a bit late than the major players like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. The photo-sharing app is a visual delight for its users who never get tired of scrolling down and double-tapping on Instagram’s posts. It has been observed that 64 % of the overall Instagram users are 18-29 years old, thereby making it a fruitful platform to target youth. Instagram is a platform that is equally fascinating for users, influencers, and businesses.

It’s imperative to note that 8 out of every 10 accounts on Instagram follow a business account and 1 out of every 3 stories are related to some businesses. So, ultimately Instagram is turning out to be a good platform for businesses to market their products and services.

As the popularity and user base of Instagram are increasing exponentially, the photo-sharing platform is not just limited to the marketing purpose of businesses. Instagram is smartly moving the goal post further and taking a lofty dive into the direct product selling segment as well. 

“We have been promoting our jewellery on Facebook and Instagram since the last few years. During this time we have learnt a few things. Instagram has been a better medium for us for the age group of 18-35, Whereas Facebook has been fantastic for us for women between 35-65. It’s not more sales over these platforms but updating our current clientele about our latest collection. When it comes to sales we have sold jewellery to our existing clientele more then to new clients.”    
– Sorabh Jain (CEO, Sam Jewellers)

Social Buzz has come up with facts of why Instagram shopping is different and more compelling from other platforms.

Instagram Shopping through Posts

Instagram has an appealing feature of product tag through which users can know the prize of the product just by tapping on the product displayed in the post. Apart from the product tag, following are the factors which influence the activity of the users following the business account on Instagram.

• Showcasing the product as a part of the lifestyle:One of the most impressive features of Instagram shopping is that the businesses are able to showcase their products directly as part of the user’s lifestyle. This creates vivid imagery in the user’s minds using the product and thereby helping them to initiate the purchase. The user just has to tap the product displayed in the image to know the price of the product in the image itself. This Instagram’s product tag makes it really effortless for the user to shop on Instagram
• Creating user-generated content: Whether it’s a memorable dining experience or visit to any awful tourist place, people love to share their experience on Instagram to charm their followers. Businesses can make gainful use of this fact as the users might be enjoying their products and at the same time posting about the same on Instagram. Inculcating these posts along with the product-centric posts will boost the business’s Instagram handle qualitatively and quantitatively.

“Facts Tell, Stories Sell”

Instagram shopping through stories

There is an impressive growth in the popularity of Instagram stories with more than 400 Million accounts using these stories all across the globe. It’s a pretty fascinating fact for businesses that one-third of the most viewed stories are from business/brand accounts. It is interesting to note that users find Instagram stories more natural than posts displayed on Instagram feeds. This natural behaviour of stories on Instagram prompts more users to swipe up and engage directly with the brand’s website. 

The following are the ways by which businesses can make their stories more appealing to the users.

• Videos : Videos are an effective way to educate and entertain your customers to get fruitful results in selling. It is observed that 64 % of social media users are more likely to purchase the product after watching a video. Moreover, 15-25% of story viewers swipe up to follow a link and engage directly with a brand’s website. Videos help in entertaining as well as educating the audience about the product and creating a positive impact on the overall sale of the product.

• Stickers: Usually, Instagram stories were used to direct traffic towards the website by prompting the followers to swipe up after watching them. Direct selling through stories was somehow limited until the launch of Product stickers in stories. By clicking on these product stickers in the story, users can discover more about the product and after tapping again, the users will be taken directly to the product page for purchase. The product stickers feature in Instagram stories shortens the gap between the user and the product.

Due to the increasing popularity of this photo-sharing app, more and more businesses are trying their hands on Instagram shopping. It is not only gaining attention of the established brand, but it is also persuading new businesses to enter this huge sea of online shopping

About the Author
Working as a Digital Marketing Executive at Social Buzz, Abdullah Khalid is a certified competent communicator and an award-winning humorous speaker. Due to his incessant love for Public Speaking, Abdullah Khalid is also recognized as a young Motivational Speaker and a Public Speaking Trainer.