Easy Guide To Using Instagram For Your Dropshipping Business
The importance of social media for e-commerce is undeniable, and time and again, Instagram has been proven as one of the best social channels to grow your business. Now, if you want to grow your dropshipping business, then utilizing Instagram becomes a top priority. Using Instagram for dropshipping is one of the first steps to setting up your brand for success. Now, if you aren't sure how to use Instagram and Instagram influencers for dropshipping, then you've come to the right place.
At Dropship USA, we work with dropshipping hopefuls and help them create successful e-commerce brands. Our experience working with dropshipping entrepreneurs gives us a unique insight into how to use Instagram, and we thought we should let you know how to do it. You may wonder why we are putting so much emphasis on Instagram, and that's because Instagram offers a wide range of ways for dropshippers to find and connect with potential customers.
Plus, it has a suite of targeting and advertising options that allow you to choose exactly which of those billion users you want to get in front of. In the following passages, we will provide you with an easy guide on Instagram marketing for dropshipping. So let's start going into the guide by discussing the basics and move forward from there, so without further delay, let's begin!
Instagram Basics
So before we go into the nitty-gritty, let's first discuss what Instagram is and all other essential information you need to know about. Well, Instagram is a visually-focused social media network and app that provides a platform for users and brands to share photo and video content with their followers.
It started its journey as a simple photo-sharing app. Since then, it has evolved into a multimedia platform with paid advertisements, Stories self-destructing messages, and live broadcasts through IGTV. With over 1 billion active users, it's the perfect platform for brands to connect with consumers.
What's most intriguing about Instagram is its split on male to female ratio. Instagram is almost evenly split amongst male and female users, with the audience being mostly between 25 and 34 years old. That's why it has become a hotbed for dropshippers who usually look to reach the young demographic. Now, to start, you will need to download the app, and it's available on all the major platforms. For Android, you will find it in Google Play Store, and for iOS, you will find it in the App Store.
It's free, and you will be prompted to create an account to use the app. Now that you know where to find the app let's talk about the types of posts you can publish on Instagram. If you want to promote your dropshipping business on Instagram, you will need to know about the content you can post. Here are the types of posts you can publish:
Organic: Organic posts can be anything from photos, videos, or galleries of visuals, and these posts show up in your followers' feeds, on any hashtags you include in the copy, and potentially in the Explore section.
Stories: Out of the billion active users on Instagram, around 500 million use Instagram stories daily, and one-third of the most-viewed Stories are from brands, not people.
Influencer posts: Now, you may think that consumers and followers have already caught up with influencer marketing, but the stats suggest otherwise. It is still one of the most effective marketing strategies. Influencers create sponsored content either share the content on feeds or your brand's or both. It enables your brand to reach a new audience and add credibility in the form of social proof.
IGTV: IGTV is one of the newest features that Instagram offers that has been created for long-form video content. It allows users to broadcast live, and the video will live on the profile once the live event has ended.
Ads: Instagram marketing is a massive opportunity for dropshipping growth because it has a billion active users. Now, odds are you won't need to target all of them, and you can use Instagram ads and set parameters for who is shown your ads, making sure they fit your ideal customer profile.
So now that you know the basics of Instagram and the types of content you can publish let's check out how you can create an Instagram Business Account for your dropshipping operation.
How To Create An Instagram Business Account For Dropshipping?
If you want to start Instagram marketing for dropshipping, then you will need to create a company account. To make things easier on you, here are steps to create an Instagram Business account:
Go to the profile and tap the menu at the top right corner.
Select "Settings" and check whether or not you can switch to a professional account from this menu. If there isn't an option, then select Account > Business.
Make sure you sync your Facebook business and Instagram accounts. Once you start the process, Instagram will provide you with all you need to do to sync your accounts.
Choose a category and enter contact details.
Start adding details about your business in the given fields, and after that, press "done."
There you go, you've finished creating an Instagram business page. Now you need to spend some time and optimize your account. So let's check that out next!
How To Optimize Your Profile For Instagram Marketing?
Optimizing your Instagram profile is one of the basic foundations for a successful Instagram marketing strategy. It ensures the right people find your dropshipping business. Here are some optimization tips that you need to implement on your Instagram business account.
Optimizing Instagram Bio
The first step to optimization for Instagram marketing is optimizing your Instagram bio. The Instagram bio is a bit of text where you share a bit about your brand, who is behind the account, and what to expect from your account. You will also find a place for the brand's description and profile photo. Make sure to use your company logo to build brand recognition. Also, add the link to your site with tracking parameters in your Instagram bio to ensure you get to optimize your account further in the future.
You can put up your unique selling points in the bio to encourage trust and drive conversions. If you have a brick-and-mortar location, then make sure you add your address in the bio so that the shoppers can easily find you. Remember that your profile link is a vital part of bio optimization. Unlike other social media channels, Instagram isn't link-friendly and only allows you to put a link in your bio. You won't be able to incorporate links into individual posts.
However, for paid Instagram marketing, it's an entirely different story. Now, you can update your bio link as many times as you want, so make sure it redirects your followers to your website, a landing page, a product page, or somewhere else that you want people to visit. One of the common strategies for dropshipping Instagram marketing is to link to a specific page about a sale, post a picture about it, and then update your link in the bio.
Launching An Instagram Shop
Instagram is one of the best social channels to grow your business and generate revenue. That's why the next step to optimizing your Instagram Business account is to launch an Instagram shop. It's an e-commerce channel where customers can purchase your product from within the Instagram interface. You can simplify your customer journey with an Instagram shop as it won't force your followers to leave the app to buy things from you. As a result, it's a fantastic tool to grow your business as it vastly impacts your conversion rates.
How To Create An Instagram Content Marketing Strategy?
Instagram is the perfect branding tool, and it is imperative that you create a comprehensive Instagram content marketing strategy. To bring your brand's persona to life, you need to develop a cohesive feed of product photos, lifestyle imagery, user-generated content (UGC), Instagram shoutouts, and other visuals.
The idea is to showcase how your brand and products can be a part of the followers' life. To create a comprehensive Instagram marketing strategy, you have to have a goal-driven, strategy-first approach, and it should contain the following:
Setting Instagram goals that support overarching marketing and business goals.
Set specific KPIs that look to determine performance.
Define the audience you are targeting on Instagram.
Define the type of content you are going to post on Instagram.
Set clear decisions on who is managing the account and creating the content for Instagram.
Now, hitting a home run on your first try at Instagram marketing is a bit of a stretch. But, your growth will be organic, and as time goes on, you will understand how to choose content on Instagram that will help you meet your goals. Always ask yourself questions like "why do people use Instagram?" and "why they follow brands?" Make sure you keep these questions' answers as the foundation for creating a comprehensive Instagram content marketing strategy.
How To Get Followers On A Instagram Business Account?
The first goal for developing any social media profile is to build a following that will help you generate more sales, and it's true for Instagram as well. As we said earlier, Instagram marketing requires a long-term, strategic approach. One tip we can give for your dropshipping Instagram marketing effort for growing your follower count is to start following other accounts with audiences who might also be interested in your brand. You can go to the "Discover" section to find the accounts you can follow. You can also start following brands similar or complementary to yours.
Once you are set up completely, you can try to grow your network by following the brands or influencers who might be interested in your brand and product. If you want to siphon followers from other accounts into your account, then you have to be strategic about whom you follow. Also, remember that the best way to build up your following on Instagram is by building a relationship with your existing audience.
Make sure you like and comment on other profiles. Keep in mind that it's not about the act of following but about engagement. Now, you won't see immediate results from this sector of dropshipping Instagram marketing. Still, if you remain patient and keep combing Instagram for the right accounts to feed your network on the site, you will start seeing the results you want.
Timing & Frequency Of Dropshipping Instagram Marketing Efforts
Like most other dropshipping social media marketing, Instagram marketing for dropshipping requires a unique approach to strategy. To make Instagram work for your dropshipping brand, you can start posting at least once a day. However, anything ranging from 4–5 posts a week or even a couple of posts a day is acceptable. The main thing here is ensuring consistency and intense focus on high-quality content.
According to Forbes, there isn't any limit to how much you can post on Instagram, so make sure you test out your Instagram marketing strategy and find out what works for you and what doesn't. So start by posting once or twice a day. From there, start tuning your strategy as you move along. Now that you know about the frequency, you may be wondering about when to post on Instagram. Well, that depends on a few different factors. They are:
Where you're located?
Where is your audience located? And
What your audience's Instagram habits are.
A good common sense rule about timing is to post during lunchtime, and that's between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m and during in the evening between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. As for the best days on Instagram, they are Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Sunday is usually the worst day to post, but it can be different for you. So make sure you keep checking your posts' performance.
How To Promote Your Dropshipping Brand On Instagram?
Instagram is a versatile social media platform for e-commerce businesses. It provides you with the perfect visual platform to build a dedicated following and generate revenue for your dropshipping brand. Here are ways you can use Instagram marketing to promote your dropshipping brand.
Posting Photos & Videos
Instagram is a visual platform, so you have to make sure you give credence to how the photos and videos you post will look. Make sure you know what you are capturing in the frame? Find out how it will appear on a mobile device? See if it will showcase the product details that you want front-and-center. Check if it matches your brand aesthetic?
Now, with Instagram, you are curating an entire feed, so the visuals must be cohesive. Remember to stick to your brand and your products and not the other things accompanying your product. Make sure you specifically exclude items that you know don't make sense for your account.
Choosing A Color Palette & Font
Color palettes help create synergy between what you want to say and what the audience understands. Now that doesn't mean you should be limited to approved colors only. However, you have to be careful about the colors you choose so that there is a similar aesthetic and is complimentary of one another rather than a ragbag of posts. Instagram also has built-in filters that let you adjust the look and feel of your posts. You will find filters like sepia, black-and-white, and several other effects that you can use to touch up your posts.
However, we suggest you should apply filters outside of the app in your own photo-editing software. That way, you will be able to apply the filters to content that you won't be posting on Instagram. Along with a color palette, you should look to choose a font for your Instagram profile. Make sure you look at the font type, style, and point size. We suggest you choose the font you use on your website to create synergy among different channels for increased brand recognition.
Leveraging Captions
Your Instagram posts aren't limited to visuals. With each post, you will have 2,200 characters worth of text real-estate to unleash your creativity. Make sure your captions are easy to read and on-brand. Also, try to make sure there's a level of sophistication to your captions and keep experimenting with emojis. Remember, if your captions are playful and conversational, it will help your dropshipping Instagram marketing efforts. Consistency is key on Instagram. However, you can change your tone as long as it remains true to your overarching brand voice.
Using Hashtags
Hashtags are a vital part of the social media ecosystem, and it's the same for Instagram as well. Make sure you are consistently including hashtags in the descriptions and comments. Remember that using hashtags for your Instagram marketing strategy is a fantastic way to boost engagement on your account.
When users click on a hashtag on Instagram, they are taken to an entirely different feed with every post that includes that hashtag. It's good news for your business as your posts become discoverable to new audiences who may not already interact with your account. You can find out which hashtags to use. You can check your competitors, influencers in your niche, and the hashtags your followers use.
Running Paid Ads
Any great Instagram marketing effort for your dropshipping brand should include an organic growth strategy along with paid growth strategies. Once you create ads on Instagram, they will start to will appear in your targeted audience's newsfeed just as pictures and videos of the accounts they follow. Make sure you create ads with a single photo or video to highlight a specific product or promote a collection with a gallery.
Also, you can promote ads in Instagram Stories. To start your paid Instagram marketing effort, you will need to set up a Facebook Ads account and add the channel from your Business Manager page. From there on, it's the same as operating on the same system as Facebook ads.
Tracking The Progress
If you want your Instagram marketing efforts for your dropshipping brand to succeed, then tracking your progress becomes an absolutely essential part. Then, you can create your marketing strategy and make adjustments to improve performance as you go along. Here are some KPIs you need to think about on Instagram include:
Followers: total, growth, etc.
Engagement: likes, comments, reposts, views, etc.
Visibility: impressions, reach, etc.
Conversions: clickthroughs, referral traffic, sales, etc.
You can find what to improve on your Instagram marketing efforts by checking out and comparing the number of views on your profile with the number of followers you get. It's highly beneficial in determining whether or not you need to up your engagement to make more followers out of the people who are only viewing your profile.
Summary Of How To Use Instagram Marketing For Dropshipping
So there you go, these are all the things you needed to know on "how to use Instagram marketing for dropshipping brands?' By now, you should have all the building blocks to create a comprehensive Instagram marketing for dropshipping. Make sure you are patient and give yourself the time you need to turn your account into a revenue-driving machine. Here is the summary of the entire guide here:
Setting up your account with your username handle, profile photo, Instagram bio, and link with tracking parameters.
Create a comprehensive strategy that considers your Instagram content calendar, publishing cadence, hashtags, and targeting.
Make sure to follow and engage with other accounts, especially in the beginning.
Make sure you build your following organically along with experimenting with targeted Instagram ads to reach your intended audience.
Tracking your performance is the final key to unlocking Instagram success for your dropshipping brand. Once you track your performance, you can optimize the strategy to generate the most ROI for your efforts.
So that concludes our guide to Instagram marketing for dropshipping. Make sure you follow the guide to ensure your complete success. Now, to ensure the maximum impact from your Instagram marketing effort for your dropshipping brand, you will need a top-notch, highly optimized website, and that's where Dropship USA can help you.
Our years of experience working with dropshippers have made us an expert on creating the perfect dropshipping website that will ensure sustainable growth. So if you are looking for one, then feel free to get in touch with us, and we will help you out. Also, if you have any other questions regarding dropshipping or Instagram marketing, then drop them in the comments below or hit us up on our socials, and we will help you out. And with that being said, that's about all we have for you today. We will come back with something new for you soon. Until then, see ya!
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