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In today’s digital market, there’s a good chance you’re using social media platforms to showcase your brand or online business. Instagram can be an incredibly effective tool when it comes to developing a visual brand aesthetic as well as raising brand awareness for your business. According to the company, it’s also becoming a valuable ecommerce platform for business owners. Seventy percent of Instagram users say they use the platform to discover new products. (Note: Squarespace partners with Instagram's parent company, Meta, for product integrations as well as for marketing purposes.)
If you manage an online store within your Squarespace site, you can go one step further by using Instagram to sell directly to potential customers engaging with your posts. Once you set up Instagram Shopping and sync your store, you can drive sales of your physical products by adding hashtags and shoppable posts to the content you’re already sharing in your Instagram feed. You’ll also be able to include a Shop tab on your profile. (Note: This feature is available to people using Commerce Basic or Advanced plans.)
Integrating with the platform makes it easier for your small business to reach its target audience. And integrating with Instagram means you can make sales and take care of some of your social media marketing from the same platform. Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting started with selling on Instagram.
1. Create an Instagram Business profile
Make sure that you have an Instagram Business account in one of its supported countries, and that all of your products adhere to Meta’s Commerce Policies. Use the same business name you use for your online store so your current fans can find you.
In the same vein, add links to your business website in your Instagram bio, so current customers can confirm it’s the same business and new customers can learn more.
2. Review the Instagram Shopping requirements
Spend some time reviewing the requirements for Instagram Shopping to ensure your online store complies with their platform’s rules. Note that selling on Instagram primarily works if you offer physical goods. This shopping feature works by adding ecommerce tags to images of your products, so make sure your shoppable Instagram posts include plenty of high-quality visuals to show off your product catalog.
3. Create a catalog in Facebook Business Manager
In order to tag and sync your products on Instagram, you must first build a catalog in Facebook Business Manager. You’ll also need a Facebook page for your business and an ad account to run Facebook and Instagram ads for your products and view performance metrics.
After you have that set up, you can import your Squarespace products directly to that catalog so they’re available to sell on Instagram. From the Commerce panel in your Squarespace account, choose the platforms where you’d like to sync your items. The sync will bring the ID, product name, product details, image, and price over from each item in your store.
4. Wait for Instagram to approve your store
After you’ve added your inventory, Instagram will review your store, which can take a few days to complete. Once your store is approved, you’ll see a “Shopping” option in your Instagram account. From there, you can start making Instagram sales.
5. Start selling on Instagram
To start selling, start tagging products in new and previous Instagram stories and posts on your business page. Take advantage of the sales channel and work it into your marketing strategy:
Use stickers to count down to a product launch and link to the product page.
Boost user-generated content from your customers with links to the featured products.
Make carousel posts or Reels to share multiple products at once.
Give followers the option to go through checkout without leaving the Instagram app.
For more information, visit Instagram’s support page or contact Squarespace Customer Support at any time. Want to learn more about kickstarting your store? Check out this webinar.
This post was updated on January 23, 2023.