6 Cost-Effective Ways to Promote Your eStore on Instagram

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Val Razo, a freelance SMM consultant and guest blogger.

With the rising popularity of social media for businesses, eSellers have proven that Instagram is another great way to promote your eStore. As one billion people use Instagram each month, more and more businesses are jumping on the bandwagon to reach their target audience and promote products in-app.

Moreover, Instagram has great sales potential for eSellers, and the numbers speak for themselves:

• 90% of Instagrammers follow at least one business profile on the platform
• 83% of people use this platform for product discovery
• 130 million users tap on product posts to learn more each month

Want to know the best part? Although the competition is high on the platform and it can be daunting to cut through the noise, there are still several cost-effective ways to promote your eStore on Instagram.

Let’s take a deeper look…

1. Create a Cohesive Instagram Feed

A majority of people are visual learners which means they learn and absorb information through visual communication. Since Instagram is a visual platform, it’s no wonder that users pay close attention to eye-catching and high-quality images on the app.

When it comes to promoting your eStore on Instagram, you need to showcase your products from all sides, but it’s not enough to hook the attention of your potential customers and give them a reason to come back for more.

If you want to stand out from the crowd of competitors who want to reach your target audience, it’s important to have a beautiful and cohesive Instagram feed. Here’s what it can look like:

Pro tip: If you don’t have many photos of your products then it’s a great idea to check out a stock imagery site like Depositphotos to find eye-catching visuals that fit your brand identity and mix stock photos with product ones.

2. Run a Sale 

With the popularity of in-app shopping, selling through Instagram is a great way to acquire new customers and boost eCommerce sales. In addition, if you want to spread the word about your eStore and cause a buzz around it, it’s a great idea to run a sale.

Not only does it create a sense of urgency and motivate customers to make the purchase decision faster, but it also encourages them to tell their friends and family about the opportunity to save money. All in all, it helps to promote your eStore without putting much time or effort.

Pro tip: To reach more potential customers, consider working with niche influencers and offer them exclusive promo codes as you can enter an already-established community of their followers and boost sales.

3. Feature User-Generated Content

The idea of posting user-generated content isn’t new. Since people seek out a social proof before making the purchase decision, they pay high attention to fan-made photos that give a reason to trust your company.

When people upload user-generated content to their profiles and tag your account, it helps you reach more potential customers who might be interested in learning more about your company. All in all, featuring user-generated content is a must, and you need to motivate your loyal fans to publish it on Instagram.

Check out how Lulus, an international fashion brand uses its Instagram bio section to encourage user-generated content:

The company runs a contest that allows all customers to win a $250 gift card in exchange for getting user-generated content. Obviously, it also stimulates people to take photos of themselves with Lulus’ products and therefore spread the word about the company on Instagram.

Pro tip: To promote your store and collect user-generated content with ease, create an exclusive branded hashtag for fan-made photos. Keep your hashtag short, consistent, and unique.

4. Set Up a Referral Program

With the number of sponsored posts and paid ads, people trust peer recommendations more than ever. In other words, word-of-mouth marketing is a powerful way to build brand awareness and increase brand loyalty & trust.

If you want to motivate your loyal customers to promote your company, it’s a great idea to set up a refer-a-friend program that offers rewards for loyal customers who have successfully referred new members and new consumers.

Pro tip: Once you’ve reached 10K followers on the platform, you can use Instagram Stories to promote your referral program and include a swipe up link that helps interested followers learn more about referral rewards without leaving the app.

5. Work with Nano-Influencers

One of the easiest and most effective ways to promote your eStore is to work with Instagram influencers. Why? As specified in one research by SocialPilot, 75% of Instagram users will take action after viewing a product on the platform. Furthermore, posts with handle tags receive 56% more engagement.

Today, influencers come in all sizes and shapes, but you can save money if you team up with nano-influencers, opinion leaders who have less than 1,000 followers on the platform. Since these influencers have in-person connections with their followers, they generate higher engagement rates which helps eSellers reach more potential customers without spending much.

Here’s how Missguided, an online fashion store collaborates with nano-influencers to promote its products:

Pro tip: To go the extra mile, you can collaborate with nano-influencers to promote your customer satisfaction survey and encourage consumers to share their thoughts on your eStore.

6. Sponsor a Giveaway  

Free stuff is irresistible, so it’s no wonder that Instagram giveaways can help to increase reach, attract potential customers, and cause a buzz around your business. If you organize a giveaway, that’s great, but if you sponsor a giveaway, you get an opportunity to see better results faster.

It takes time and effort to build an Instagram community, but sponsoring a giveaway is an easy way to reach your potential followers if you’re speaking to similar audiences. Check out how Milani Cosmetics sponsored a giveaway to promote its brand on Instagram:

Being a giveaway sponsor is a great way to increase organic reach, find new customers, and establish long-term connections with your collaborators. However, it’s important to choose brands/influencers who have the same target audience as you do if you want to bring your products to a wider audience.

Pro tip: When sponsoring a giveaway, offer gift cards as the prize to provide participants with the flexibility of choice and therefore meet customers’ needs.

In a Word

Instagram is on the rise, so it’s no wonder that more and more eSellers want to make the most out of this platform to promote their eStores, attract new customers, and increase eCommerce sales. Although the competition is high there are cost-effective ways to promote your eStore and get wonderful business results without spending much money.

Val Razo is a freelance SMM consultant who helps small businesses promote their products and services on social media. Val also writes for top-notch marketing blogs to share her tips with other people and find like-minded marketers to get in touch.