How to rock your Instagram account for your online store

How to Rock Your Instagram Account for Your Online Store

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” - Maya Angelou

If you’re an entrepreneur or online store owner, Instagram is a fantastic tool for showcasing your products and communicating directly with your customers and potential customers. It’s a visual platform to post videos and photos in a variety of forms to engage your customers on every level from a behind-the-scenes peek at your production to answering their most pertinent questions, Instagram and online commerce are a very good pairing. So, to make the most of your precious Instagram account, we’ve put together a short guide on all of Instagram’s features and how you can make the most of them to boost your online sales and reach new people.

In this article:

Elements of your Instagram account
Your account handle and bio
Your gallery & tagged gallery
Your products and online store
Videos: Reels, stories and IGTV
The all-important look and feel

Elements of your Instagram Business Account

Your Instagram account consists of a number of elements that require your attention, some are optional while others are absolutely vital: your account name and @handle, your bio and call-to-action link, your business account information (operating hours, physical address, auto responses etc. which you will find under settings), your gallery, tags-by-others timeline, IGTV, stories, highlighted stories and reels. So many opportunities to have fun and showcase your products! You can find out more about setting up your Instagram business account here.

Tip: for an extra nod of authenticity, Instagram offers a verification badge so followers can know they’re following the genuine article and is useful if you’re using Instagram Shopping to sell products. You can find out how to verify your account here.

Your account and bio

Let’s use an example to introduce these: your business name is Yellow Earth and you sell dried fruit products. If you find that your business name’s @handle has already been used (@yellowearth) - don’t worry. @yellowearth may be taken, but try @yellowearthza to differentiate for your clients and be more location specific or try @yellow.earth or @yellow_earth. But, we like the ZA, which makes it easy for clients to know which Yellow Earth they’re following or tagging and that’s good for your business! Your bio is where you introduce your products and welcome your followers: it’s an important opportunity to not only explain about your business but also welcome Instagram users to the space and encourage them to follow you. Your character limit for your bio is 150 and, while you can use hashtags(#) and emoticons, use sparingly. Finally, Instagram provides one call-to-action button which would usually go to your website or online store.

Tip: Check out 10 Instagram bio ideas - with templates on Hootsuite

Your gallery & tagged gallery:

If you’re a visual person, then the Instagram gallery (or feed) would be your happy place. The items you post here will appear in the newsfeed of those who follow you and, over time, they build up a beautiful catalogue that can tell an incredible visual story of your business. It can also serve as a product catalogue and your brand in action (think: people using your products). The feed is where your personality can begin to shine through. Because the feed is three posts per line, I like to think in multiples of three: 6,9,12 and how each of those 3 or 6 posts, if seen alone, would tell the story of your brand or introduce your products. Because social media will show the newest posts first, your most recent 3,6 or 9 posts will always be the first thing someone sees when they land on your profile. Food for thought.

The other gallery that you have is tagged posts or posts by others. This gallery appears to the right of your normal feed and features posts from fans and followers who have tagged your product. Be sure to review regularly, comment, like and share when appropriate. This user-generated content is authentic and invaluable, and can be a great source of content for your own gallery feed. Be sure to credit the post to the original creator.

Tip: Search & explore topics that inspire you - Instagram

Your products and online store:

Instagram offers online stores the opportunity to showcase their products directly in posts. Users can simply tap the photo for a brief description and price of your tagged product which can be anything from a handbag to a beach towel, and follow the product link directly to your online store. Hello, happy customers! You can find out more about setting up your online store on Instagram here.

Tip: Here’s a super-fun resource on brand building on Instagram: Build your brand and share it with the world

Videos: Reels, stories and IGTV

In recent years, with the rise of Youtube as the world’s second largest search engine, Snapchat and TikTok, Instagram has evolved both its video and short-term content features and now offers a very cool array of options fanning out from the traditional gallery feed.

Here are some features that you may find useful:

IGTV (Instagram TV): This is Instagram’s answer to Youtube but optimised for portrait-styled mobile viewing. IGTV videos can be up to 60 minutes long, so content creators are really well set for IGTV. Check out this Ultimate Guide to IGTV.
Instagram Reels: Reels are short-form videos (often with music, emoticons and text) that are similar in format to TikTok. Reels can be compiled from other accounts’ Reels and your own making for a nifty little video editing feature limited from 15 to 60 seconds. Find out more here.
Instagram Stories: As with Facebook Stories (which can crosspost with Instagram and vice versa), stories allow you to share short clips, text posts or snapshots that are only online for 24 hours. You can choose your favourite stories to highlight on your main Instagram profile. Be inspired here.

Tip: Hashtags (#MotivationMonday #TravelInspiration #DreamItBuildItSellIt) are a word or phrase preceded by a hash sign (#) used on Instagram to categorise or identify posts on a specific topic. They can be general: #ocean #travel #shopping or specific: #worldoceansday #knysnaoysterfestival #getoverit. You can choose a specific hashtag for your business page (your tagline, maybe) and use hashtags that your target customers could be following. Try to keep it relevant and don’t overdo the hashtags. Check out this 2022 Guide to Hashtags for more information.

The all-important Look and Feel:

Instagram is a visual platform and our galleries have evolved from a quirky, slap-dash and hodgepodge collection of images trying out different filters to highly curated, on-brand images and videos that evoke an emotion with our customers. Some instagram accounts are works of art. Our advice to you on the look & feel of your photos, posts and videos is to keep the personality in line with your website and keep telling good stories inspired by that personality. Check out these accounts for a beautiful, consistent aesthetic: