Putting The Point Of Purchase At The Consumer's Fingertips
There is no denying the power of having an engaging and easy to follow website for your brand to post product information and provide a means for purchase. However, with the power of social media rapidly taking over traditional marketing efforts, it may be useful for your brand to engage with features like Instagram’s Shoppable Posts.
If your brand is already using social media to spread awareness about your brand and what it offers, why not tap into the ability to actually link your consumers to a point of purchase for the products they are seeing? In this blog, Hollywood Branded explains the Instagram Shoppable Post feature, and how it may be beneficial for your brand to utilize in their social media marketing strategy.
What Is The "Shoppable Post" Feature?
Instagram’s Shoppable Post feature was rolled out in the United States in 2016, but was just recently expanded into international markets in March 2018. These international markets include Canada, Brazil, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Australia. Instagram made the choice to expand this feature after seeing positive results in the U.S market. According to Instagram, one U.S brand has increased its revenue by 8% as a result of using this feature since it’s rollout in 2016.
The Instagram Shoppable Post feature allows brands and businesses to tag up to five products in their organic posts. Consumers can tap on the product to see its’ name and price point. Consumers are then offered a “shop now” link in which they can tap and be redirected to the brand’s website to make an online purchase.
Currently, Instagram does not allow for personal or business profiles to post links in their captions. The Shoppable Post feature is intended to streamline the path to purchase between a consumer and an online product. Tapping and choosing to “shop now” is a much easier process for the consumer, versus searching for the product they’re interested in themselves on the brand website.
Is It Worth It?
Although brands in the U.S market have seen success using the Instagram Shoppable Post feature, brands in the international market are unsure of its benefits. For example, the widely popular European fashion brand ASOS is wary about having consumers engage with their Instagram posts rather than their traditional brand website. A lot of brands pride themselves on their user-friendly websites that not only get people purchasing, but also help to translate their brand image. Brands can develop a website that fits with their specific color schemes, projects their brand logo, is interactive and fun, and beyond. Moving the point of purchase away from these carefully crafted websites towards Instagram may seem risky.
In reality, not offering consumers a streamlined purchasing process through Instagram Shoppable may be riskier than avoiding it. More than ever, consumers are looking for shopping methods that offer instant gratification. A consumer who scrolls through Instagram and sees a shirt they like will want to be able to order it right away, with a quick payment and delivery process. Basically, what consumers see, they want to have in their hands immediately.
Instagram says that today, more than half of its daily active users are also active shoppers. People scroll through their feed looking at brand and influencer profiles for inspiration on what to wear, eat, make, do, etc.! Not only does using the Instagram Shoppable feature offer consumers this instant gratification of seeing and instantly ordering a product, it also helps to ensure that consumers are actually following through with the entire path to purchase process. A consumer who sees a shirt they like may be less likely to later search for the shirt themselves online, plug in their payment and delivery information, and place their order. Using the Shoppable feature puts the point of purchase right at the consumer’s fingertips, to be done quickly while theproduct is still at the forefront of their attention.
How Can It Be Used?
The Instagram Shoppable feature can be useful on brand profiles. When a brand posts a picture, they can tag up to five of the products featured to include the “shop now” link. For example, one company that uses the Shoppable feature consistently on their posts is fashion brand Urban Outfitters. Urban Outfitters posts organic pictures of girls wearing their merchandise and uses the Shoppable feature to tag the various products that make up the outfit.
Not only is this feature useful on the brand’s Instagram profile, this can also be useful when working with an influencer. Influencer partnerships involve having an influencer post photos with your product to increase awareness and engagement with your brand. Influencers offer information and recommendations for your products, and sometimes even discount codes or giveaways. Influencers cannot use the Shoppable feature to link their followers to a brand’s “shop now” pages, however the content your brand repurposes from this influencer partnership can! This makes it easier for consumers to see your brand recommended by their favorite influencer, click through to your tagged brand profile, and finally using the Shoppable link to purchase your products.
Understanding and taking advantage of the Shoppable feature on Instagram is just one way to make your social media marketing strategy profitable.
Make sure to check out Hollywood Branded’s other blog posts about how to develop the best Instagram profile for your brand and generate worthwhile influencer partnerships!
- 3 Qualities To Look For In A Social Influencer
- Influencer Marketing Cheat Sheet (Infographic)
- 5 Steps For Brands To Stand Out On Instagram
- How To #13: 10 Ways To Create More Successful Instagram Posts
- 139 Facts About Instagram You Should Know
- 5 Daily Tips To Make Your Instagram Story Pop
- 9 Tips To Organically Market Your Brand On Instagram5 Tips For Brands To Stand Out On Instagram
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