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7 Lesser-Known Facts of Instagram Marketing New E-Commerce Owners Tend to Miss

Instagram is proving to be the hottest social platform for new e-commerce business owners. The social platform recently crossed one billion active users across the globe, offering tons of opportunities for small and big businesses. Further, eight out of ten Instagram users tend to follow business accounts.

Owing to its fascinating features, Instagram has the highest engagement rate across all social media platforms. In fact, research by TrackMaven reveals that the customer engagement ratio on Instagram is eight times greater than any other social media platform.

Over the past few months, Instagram has released awesome features and tools, enabling e-marketers to engage their audience and drive conversions. The platform keeps introducing new features to help entrepreneurs and business owners sell more products. No wonder, the world is going Instacrazy, including e-commerce owners.

If you haven’t jumped on the Instagram marketing bandwagon yet, we are sure you will after reading the exciting and lesser-known Insta facts shared below.

 

  1. Shoppable Video Is Not Just Another Instagram Feature

Though the Instagram Shoppable feature has existed for some time, it is still new territory for most business owners. Shoppable videos on Instagram enable marketers to set interactive touch points in any video, enabling the audience to view their product catalog and find more information.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/outdoorvoices/

In other words, using the Shoppable video feature you can transform any video into a fully-integrated retail experience, thereby boosting the user experience and shortening the customer journey.

 

  1. IGTV Is Disrupting the Advertising World

Instagram rightly proclaims, by 2020, 75 percent of the content we consume will be in motion. According to new data shared by HubSpot,  83% of customers are comfortable sharing relevant video content with their friends. Further, people are watching less television and welcoming digital videos into their lives.

In fact, by 2022, digital video will account for 79 percent of the total mobile data traffic. No wonder, an increasing number of marketers are expected to dive into IGTV to engage their audience and drive conversions.

Unlike the regular one-minute videos on Instagram, IGTV allows businesses to share video content with a longer duration. Thus, IGTV mirrors your social media marketing efforts on platforms like YouTube, allowing you to share crafted videos with content like How-to’s, interviews, DIY tutorials, and more.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/kyliecosmetics/

Kylie Cosmetics regularly posts full makeup tutorials on its IGTV channel to help its audience get the perfect look for any occasion. No wonder, it’s one of the most popular beauty channels with nearly 21 million followers.

 

  1. Instagram Checkout Will Open a New Revenue Stream for Businesses

Instagram is constantly evolving as the most-preferred e-commerce platform. With product tagging features, live stories, and shoppable updates for Instagram feeds, the social platform has made online sales transactions a cake walk.

According to a survey report released by Facebook, 87 percent of people share that they had taken action after reading the product information on Instagram. Further, 46 percent of this cohort actually made a purchase online or offline. Encouraged by this trend, Instagram is testing a new feature, ‘Checkout on Instagram’ which is still in the beta testing phase. This feature will allow customers to buy from select brands without leaving the app.

So, once the users select the product they can tap on this button and check out to make a purchase after entering details, such as name, email, payment information, and shipping and billing address.

 

The feature is not only expected to boost user experience and convenience but also help e-commerce owners drive conversions.

Note that as this feature is akin to selling your product from a product page on your e-commerce website, your product’s images on Instagram must follow the same level of high standards as they normally would on your product page.

That is, your product’s primary images should be well-lit, of high-resolution with a white background, accompanied by some lifestyle images to showcase its usage in real-life. Use online tools like AutoClipping to swiftly and effortlessly remove the background of your image and make it pure white.

 

  1. Instagram Hashtags Are Here to Stay
Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx0HabsA0un/

It sounds cliché, but Instagram and hashtags go along like fish and chips. Hashtags are an inseparable part of an effective Instagram marketing strategy as they can have a huge impact on the number of impressions your post receives. When used appropriately, hashtags can raise the engagement of your audience, expand your network, improve brand awareness, and drive traffic to your e-commerce store.

 

  1. The Instagram Algorithm Will Change Your Feed

With its posts enjoying the highest engagement rate among all social platforms and the cut-throat competition for eyeballs, it was only inevitable that Instagram entered the A-league. According to Kevin Systrom, the co-founder and CEO of Instagram, people tend to miss nearly 70 percent of the posts in their feed. The Instagram algorithm will make sure that the 30 percent that’s seen is the creme de la creme.

Thus, e-commerce marketers creating top-quality contentwill rise up the algorithm. Simply posting images and videos with the right hashtags will not work anymore. Your Instagram strategy will need to satisfy ranking factors, such as the quality of relationship with the user, the interest expressed by the user, and the recency of the post.

Hence, as a marketer, you will have to find innovative ways to build a relationship with your audience. For instance, you can encourage your audience to share their thoughts on a post, share user-generated content, or create engagement-building posts that invite people to tag a friend. You can also leave interesting comments on content from relevant influencers or potential customers in your niche to boost engagement.

 

  1. Using Instagram Live Can Move You Up the Instagram Algorithm

Most e-commerce business owners are aware of the benefits of using Instagram Live. But did you know that the social platform’s algorithm rewards business accounts that use this feature? Instagram Live generates notifications to your followers, putting your content above everything else. What’s more, after broadcasting your live video you can post it to your story which will be available for another 24 hours.

Thus, Instagram Live is the ultimate tool for e-commerce owners to engage their audience and build strong relationships. This improves your ranking in the algorithm, thereby enhancing your brand visibility.

 

  1. Automatic Post Scheduling Can Make Life Easier

Instagram has finally allowed business accounts to schedule their posts, enabling e-commerce owners and social media managers to focus on revenue-generating tasks, namely addressing customer service questions, conceptualizing fun stories, and driving sales.

As a new e-commerce business owner, you may have a lot on your plate. Use scheduling tools like Later, Planoly, Agorapulse, Autogrammer, Buffer, and SproutSocial to automate your Instagram post scheduling without having to worry about the perfect posting time.

 

Final Thoughts

Since its inception, Instagram has proven to be the most lucrative social media platform for new-found e-commerce owners. The platform has constantly been introducing innovative features like tagging products, live videos, stories, and shoppable feeds, enabling e-commerce brands to funnel their followers.

With over 80% of people trusting reviews as much as a personal recommendation, and 92% of consumers reading online reviews (source: Trustpilot), building solid social proof on Instagram is indispensable for any business today, e-commerce or otherwise.

The lesser-known Instagram facts shared above will help you fuel your social media marketing efforts, thereby putting your venture on the fast track to success.

 

Author Bio:

Tim Ferguson is a writer and editor of Right Mix Marketing blog. He enjoys writing about SEO, content marketing, online reputation management, social media, AI and Big Data. When he is not writing and editing for Right Mix Marketing, he spends time on learning more about content marketing and getting better at it. You can follow him on Twitter at @RightMixMktg

Written by Social Buddy

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