Launching a new product requires a lot of resources and finance, not to mention effort and worry, for a small business, entrepreneur, or even someone from a big company. Instagram, on the other hand, offers easy access to an audience of multiple million without much hassle at all. Instagram has its own shopping section and even product launch features, which make a product launch go smoothly.
Instagram frequently posts updates about features and their uses on its website. This article will give you a comprehensive overview of how you can increase your product reach and sales.
Step 1: Check Eligibility
As Instagram makes up a world of its own—a world that is easier and more fun—it’s only fair for you to open your store in the world of Instagram as well as in the physical world. In fact, you do not need to have a physical shop; you can set up an Instagram shop without it, too. All you need to have is a product you sell, a website you sell it on, and a professional or creator account.
The shopping icon on Instagram—a shopping bag—houses all shops. It’s like the shopper’s search feed. Those who wish to buy or are in the mood for shopping scroll through it. This is your chance at visibility and huge sales.
Here are a few things to make sure of before you can proceed:
• To comply with their policies
• Be the real representative of your business
• Be in a supported country,
• Have an authentic account
• Provide genuine business and product information.
• Link Facebook Account
• A Business Manager account (if going with Commerce Manager)
Once you have these requirements met, you’re ready to open your shop.
Step 2: Set up Shop
Onboarding Platform
Commerce Manager is a platform where you can manage your commerce, such as catalog and sales. You could either choose to onboard through Commerce Manager, any other supported platform, or directly through the Instagram App itself.
The Setting up
This is where the Commerce Manager will ask you to fill out the details of your products and their information. You will also have to choose the checkout method through which you want the buyer to pay. If you choose to go with Instagram Checkout, you will get benefits through product launch features.
However, Instagram Checkout is currently only available for US-based businesses, though they do plan to make it available internationally as well.
Setting up an Instagram Shop shouldn’t be a difficult task at all. There is no lower limit on followers, though once you hit 10k, you can employ the ‘swipe up’ feature in your stories.
Step 3: Product Launch Best Practices
Increase Followers
This isn’t a necessity for launching products, of course, but it matters tremendously how many followers you have. A large following is an indicator of your product and business being in demand, which makes it in favor of Instagram to increase your visibility and circulation. Not only that, but a lot of followers means you are authentic and a reliable source, which makes more buyers put their trust in you.
The best option is to create high-quality content and post it constantly. However, when a product launch is nearing, and you need a bit more volume in your follower’s section, a good option is trying out Blastup’s followers packages.
Though it is best to mention that these followers will not be buying your products, they will be simply bringing in authentic followers who are likely to turn into buyers.
Stories
Get the ball rolling once the launch is two weeks to ten days ahead. Put the schedule and launch date out there through posts, videos, and stories to create anticipation.
For stories, launch stickers and reminders can be used. Come up with innovative and creative ways of reaching out to your followers. Once the launch nears, make sure you put up stories every day so as to keep the momentum going.
Posts
Viewers can be notified about launches if they add them to a reminder notification. Use this feature so that even if they forget, it pops up in their notification, bringing it to their attention again.
Make use of trending content elements like memes or threads. The post can be a graphic or an individual, or it can be a video as well.
Reels
Reels are quick, eye-catching, and effective. You can make use of product launch tags here as well. Brainstorm considering your target audience, their mindset, attitude, and what they prefer.
Lives
Going live adds a personal touch to the whole thing. You can also add tags and stickers to a live feed.
Tags are of great importance, as using them gets you in the shopping section. Your product and the post on which you tagged it will be visible depending on how much you have made use of tags.
Partnerships
Partnering with celebrities or influencers adds a huge edge in your favor. It is indeed noticed that products marketed by famous individuals have received more traffic and sales than others. If the expensive celebrities are out of your league, the small influencers can also be partnered with. Small influencers are especially helpful when a product is local or centered in a particular region.
Live Shopping
On the day of the launch itself, create as much hype as you can. This can be through countdowns, pictures or videos from the physical shops, or a live shopping option accessible for the buyers as they can click on tags and begin the purchase.
Ads
Once the product is launched, you can begin marketing and advertising it for good. The hype element needs to come to a culmination right on the launch day. After that, ads, partnerships, posts and other practices can be made use of. Linking detailed pages or product tags makes it easier for the buyers to get to know more about the product and to make the purchase.
Conclusion
Product launch has been made simple by Instagram. Instagram offers various features and elements that make it easier for you to increase the visibility and hype of your product before it launches and the sale after it is launched.
The features include tags, detailed pages, stickers, a shopping section, and other means through which buyers can begin purchasing with a single tap.
