15 Instagram Ecommerce Tools for the Brand Owner
In the last few years, Instagram has undergone a major transformation, and is now one of the foremost marketing tools in the ecommerce space.
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In fact, according to data from TrackMaven, Instagram is the single-most effective platform out there in terms of customer engagement—even more so than Facebook.
Though you can use Instagram like traditional social channels, simply posting content for your customers—and potential customers—to like, comment on and share, there are also dozens of other ways you can utilize the platform to better engage users, monetize your efforts and even close sales.
So which Instagram ecommerce tools can help you do this? And how should your brand be using the platform? Here are a few recommendations:
For Advertising:
1. Instagram Business
2. Facebook Power Editor
Creating ads on Instagram is pretty easy, and similar to Facebook, you can even create photo-filled carousel ads that really engage and impress the user.
Instagram advertising also offers the same drilled-down targeting options that Facebook does, and you can control your campaigns through either Instagram Business or Facebook’s Power Editor, whichever you’re more comfortable with.
For Sales & Shopping:
3. Scoutsee
4. InstaOrders
5. Have2Have.it
6. Showcase
7. Like2Buy
Official Instagram Shopping is rolling out slowly (only a few major brands can use it at the moment), but in the meantime, there are dozens of tools that can help you monetize your posts and help you sell products right within the app.
With Scoutsee, you create your own storefront within Instagram that users can browse and purchase from.
For Curating Content:
8. Taggd
9. Yotpo
Curate the best content to show your followers with tools like Taggd and Yotpo. With Taggd, you get instantly notified when a user has used one of your hashtags in a post.
You can then use a tool like Regram or Repost to share it with a larger audience, or you can use it to feed your main website and show off the real-life customer feedback.
Yotpo lets you identify top user-generated content across the Instagram platform and then share it with your followers.
BLOG POST: User Generated Content Drives Facebook Sales
For Running Contests:
10. Wishpond
11. wyng
Contests have long been a way to engage users on social platforms, but on Instagram, those contests have often been pretty unwieldy to manage—especially for brands with larger followings.
Handy tools like Wishpond make Insta-contests easy. Wishpop is designed for hashtag-based contests, and it can help you optimize based on your specific goal (gaining followers, increasing visibility, etc.)
For Analytics & Measurement:
12. Iconosquare
13. SocialRank
Monitoring the analytics of your Instagram efforts is crucial if you want to keep improving and gaining more followers.
Though the platform does have built-in metrics tools, those are a bit limited, and they often won’t give you the detailed insights you need to really drive strong strategy. Fortunately, Instagram ecommerce tools like Iconosquare and SocialRank are there to step in and help.
Iconosquare is widely thought of as tops in this arena, allowing you to compare your Insta performance to that of your competitors, your past posts and more. It also lets you track follower growth, get detailed follower insights and analyze your performance in real-time.
For Improving Your Photos:
14. VSCO
15. PicFrame
At its heart, Instagram is a visual medium, so you always want your images to look top-notch. Luckily, there are hundreds of tools that can help you easily and quickly ramp up your photos without much training or time.
VSCO offers filters and manual editing tools that can transform your photos instantly. PicFrame is great if you want to combine multiple images into a collage (though use this tool sparingly; Instagram now allows multiple, scrollable photos, and this tends to look better on mobile devices).
Use Instagram to Your Advantage
Are you leveraging the full potential of Instagram for your ecommerce brand? If not, these Instagram tools can help.
Be sure to check out my recent post on ecommerce video tools; Instagram allows videos of up to a full minute, offering yet another way to attract and engage customers.
To learn more about Instagram ecommerce tools, email [email protected].
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