Tap Instagram on Cyber Monday for Affiliate Success
Cyber Monday is a big deal for affiliate marketers, and it’s only going to keep getting bigger. In 2017, 81 million visitors shopped online, spending $6.59 billion. If you want a slice of that pie in 2018, you’ll want to maximize all your marketing options – and in 2018, that includes Instagram. As of June 2018, 500 million people use Instagram every day, a number that has probably grown even more by now. Here are our tips to help you make the most of Instagram to drive greater sales volume on Cyber Monday 2018.
Insta-tip #1: Focus on Promoting High Commission Items
Many companies that use affiliate marketing don’t pay high enough commission for the sales that you drive. If you can show that you’ve been successful at driving traffic to their site and converting clicks into sales throughout the year, then you are in a good place to ask for a higher commission rate. The worst that you’ll hear is “no.”
As well as asking for a better affiliate commission rate for Cyber Monday and Black Friday, you should do your homework when deciding which products to promote. You’re bound to have some affiliate links that earn a higher commission than others. These should be the ones that you put the most effort into marketing to your followers.
Insta-tip #2: Make the Most of Shoppable Instagram Posts
Shoppable Instagram posts may just be the biggest and best way to drive sales from your Instagram feed. With an Instagram Shoppable post, you can incorporate “tags” that look like shopping labels. The Shoppable labels can be tagged onto any item in an Instagram post, whether it’s on your profile or appearing in your Instagram Stories feed. Shoppable labels hold information about the product, and when a follower taps the icon, they’ll be taken direct to the product URL to make a purchase.
Shoppable Instagram posts make it seamless for users to buy products right within your feed, without becoming distracted from your platform. They don’t get in the way of your storytelling, you can still use all your familiar Instagram filters and hashtags, and you can customize the color of the tag. Because your Instagram feed reaches people who are already engaged with your narrative, Shoppable posts have a high conversion rate for affiliate marketers and influencers.
Insta-tip #3: Leverage Promoted Posts to Gain Followers
No matter how much engagement you’re getting for your Instagram posts and videos, you’d never refuse a little more. Instagram Promoted Posts and Instagram Sponsored Posts are a clever way to take your existing Instagram posts and share them with even more eyes. With Instagram Promoted Posts, you can choose the age, interests, and location of your target audience, and pay to have your ad boosted in the relevant Instagram feeds. It’s a great way to attract more followers. You can add links and call-to-action buttons, and you can do all this in-app. Your original post will be displayed with all the comments and reactions it’s already received, just to more people.
Instagram Sponsored Posts are very similar, but offer more retargeting options and can be used to cross-post to Facebook as well. It’s a little more complicated to master, but even more effective. Both types of posts use content that you’ve already added to your feed, so you don’t need to create something new. Just wait a little to see which posts perform the best, then boost them as Sponsored or Promoted posts to maximize engagement.
Insta-tip #4: Promote Stories, Highlights and Video Content
Video content is only getting more popular as time goes on. In 2017, video content generated 1200% more social media shares than other types of content. This year, video posts got twice as many shares and 38% more engagement than posts with photos. In 2016, Instagram users watched 40% more video than they did the year before. If you aren’t maximizing video content, you’re leaving a significant portion of sales behind.
Micro-stories told through video and photos on Instagram Stories are very successful at driving engagement. Story ads have been proven to increase brand recognition, ad recall, and message association. When you use Instagram Stories, you have the perfect opportunity to draw in followers and engage them with your story. Instagram Story ads can be as simple as a short video of you using the product, or as complicated as a scripted micro-drama. Don’t forget that you can use Shoppable posts as part of your Instagram Story ads.
The downside to Instagram Story ads was always that they disappear after 24 hours. But as of December 2017, you can use Instagram Story Highlights to keep your best Story ads accessible forever. Highlights sit just below your bio on your Instagram feed. When a follower taps on your Highlights, the archive plays as a standalone Story. You can curate Instagram Story Highlights by choosing which Story ads to include in your Highlights, adding a title, and a cover photo to connect them all into a single themed display. Instagram Highlights is a great way to display a collection of products, present items according to categories, and promote a seasonal portfolio of Black Friday and Cyber Monday items.
Use Instagram for Cyber Monday Success
With so many tools to help you drive engagement, Instagram is an indispensible platform for affiliate marketers. With some top content, memorable hashtags, and our Instagram marketing tips, you too can succeed at tapping Instagram for success on Cyber Monday.
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