One tip to sell on Instagram: 30+ expert suggestions

Selling on Instagram can be a hard task for new businesses on the platform, as it is not so easy at first to get a good following, to market products or services the right way, and to reach a target buying audience, without having to pay for ads.

However, there are plenty of tricks, simple or more complicated, that can be implemented in order to manage to conclude sales from Instagram.

Most of these tips have one thing in common: they require you to take care about your audience and make sure that you provide them the right content that will have resonate with them.

We've asked the community following questions, and gathered some of the best tips to sell on Instagram and take your business to the next level using this powerful social netowrk.

Have you been using Instagram to sell your products or services? What is your ONE tip to sell on Instagram?

Ryan Popoff: be consistent and post more than once per day

We use Instagram as our primary driver for new sales. The best way to sell anything on Instagram is to be consistent and post more than once per day. We saw a noticeable uptick in followers when we started posting 2x a day, then even more when we posted 3x a day. And the more eyes you have on your feed, the more customers you make. It doesn't matter if you're not 'good' at photography. Just start doing it. You will get better if you're forcing yourself to be consistent, it comes through discipline and becoming a habit.

Josh Burch: Make your posts bingeworthy

I am a social media marketer for the largest magic shop on Earth. My biggest goal is to help as many people as possible to love magic. One of my main strategies is to post content that new and old magicians can't resist watching.

If we can hook you with a clever or beautiful magic trick, that causes you to search for more beautiful magic tricks on our site we've done a goo hing for the art and for our company. If our videos drive you to want t replicate the cleverness and beauty of our magic tricks, then that's eve better! We hope you go down the rabbit hole and love it!

Lauren Mendoza: supply their needs with the right content

One tip to selling on Instagram is: knowing your audience and posting valuable content that would help your clients know what you have to offer If you can get followers' attention quickly, they most likely buy from you.

Social media is all about giving your followers the correct information and responding very fast to their needs. Since we are living in a world nowadays where information, products, and services can be given instantly, you want to make sure that you supply their needs with the right content for them to make the decision.

Have amazing customer service through Instagram, let people know you are there reading what they need, and give them that confidence that your company is trustworthy and that they can find in you what they are looking for.

Dan Bailey: curate your Stories Highlights

One thing I feel marketers overlook is the power of Story Highlights to position messages you want Instagram users to see when they visit your page. Obviously Instagram ads are what get them there, but once they're there, you need to sell them on your brand and product.

The best way to do this is to curate your Stories Highlights. Create an album in which you upload the Stories you want to be seen first LAST. This will ensure they show first in the album. Because many people will never get past the first one, you need to put your best foot forward and make your messaging clear.

Janice Wald: have over 10,000 followers

This causes several things to happen that will help you monetize:

You get a Swipe Up link in your Stories.

The Swipe Up link allows you to take your Instagram Story Viewers anywhere you want them to go. You can take them, for example, to Amazon if you sell there. You can take them to a landing page on your website if you sell there. You can take them to your email list sign up form if you plan on marketing to your list.

One suggestion I’d like to make that has helped me enormously if creating a bit.ly link. Bit.ly is a free link shortener with helpful analytics. With Bit.ly, you get a great return on your ROI since you can see how many people are clicking on your links and from where.

Something else occurs when you have 10,000 followers. The Bandwagon Effect kicks in. The Bandwagon effect is a psychological phenomenon that tells people if something is popular, it must be good. If you have over 10,000 followers, people assume you have a good account and are more likely to follow you than if you have fewer followers. This, in turn, helps you get even more followers to market your products and services to.

Rizwan: post during effective time to gain more exposure

As a user of Instagram, we have to understand the basic functionality of the app and how this piece of social media works. It is very much like a celerity, the more popular the user/account, the more followers the account will attain. This will automatically results in more engaged followers who will more often like and comment on your posts.

As a business we have always tried to post during effective time to gain more exposure for our products. One of the most effective times is certainly the rush hours of the day as this is the point at which most commuters are using the electronic devices and would certainly be spending their time on social media. These times will usually be 8 am to 9 am and just around work between 5pm to 7 pm. The chance of your post being viewed with certainly be a lot higher than any other times during the day, due to the sheer number of users of the app.

Another popular technique is to post and upload a post with the correct and popular hashtags as seen whilst selecting the hashtags on Instagram inregards to the popularity. However selecting a popular hashtag along with some not so popular is very effective. The reason for this is due to the number of posts with a popular hashtag will result in the post being seen less by many users, However if you also select some less popular hashtags, we would find this to be present for longer at the top of recent posts.

Stories have long been known to be popular, However adding a link in your story directly to the post will certainly increase the clickthrough rate and prevent user needing to access your profile and finding the post before they can like and comment. Ofcourse posting and multiple stories can also result in an increase in loosing followers.

Quality of the post can sometimes be regarded as huge reason for someone to like and comment expressing their views of the post. On Instagram many users feel it is necessary for them to gain something from the post. An example can just be relating to a quote or feeling they have experienced something similar or may just like a scenery picture you have just posted. What this tells us is that to gain a large number of likes and comments, we have to work on the post and place effort before expecting the results.

Influencers will enable you to gain a large number of likes and comments via Instagram. This can be achieved by touting fellow users on Instagram to allow them post stories of your recent post by doing the same favour on your account. This technique greatly increases the exposure of the profile and therefore attaining more followers and more like and comments.

Liam Gill: you need to ensure that there is authenticity

If you want to sell on Instagram there is one thing that you need to have, authenticity. I have run many Instagram marketing campaigns for my brand and others. While any decent campaign can get you a large amount of leads, only those that are authentic, where the product and brand being promoted matches the content of the page, not just it's audience, are successful. I recently ran a campaign for someone more concerned with impressions than anything else. He was convinced his 'site would sell the product' for only $100 we got over 3500 people to his site in one day. He converted only 4.

The key was that he was reaching his target audience, getting them to come in droves but he was reaching them at the wrong time. If you go on Instagram to relax or see memes or any specific reason, although you may be interested in a product that is unrelated, you won't have the energy or will to purchase it. You need to ensure that there is authenticity, that the pages you partner with with perfectly with you, your product and your brand.

Linda: optimize your business profile on the platform

My top tip for selling on Instagram is to optimize your business profile on the platform.

More and more consumers are turning to social media apps instead of search engines when looking for brands to purchase from. Statistics show that 75 percent of Instagram users take action (e.g. visit a website or make a purchase) after looking at Instagram ads.

Your Instagram business profile is usually the first point of contact a customer will have with your brand, so it’s important to spend as much time and effort curating a well-designed Instagram feed, the way you would when creating a website. It’s important to make a great impression and entice people to follow your business.

My company offers health and fitness services to women in their 20s to their 40s. So I work with our social media specialist to design a beautiful Instagram business profile with a consistent aesthetic as well as an eye-catching bio and branded profile photo.

By creating a consistent brand story through photos and videos, we’ve been able to turn new customers into devoted followers. And from those followers, we’ve been able to significantly increase our existing clientele.

Brian Robben: a series of stories in incredibly powerful

Posting a series of Instagram stories is incredibly powerful for driving new business. Think about it. You can educate your audience, show benefits, describe solutions to problems, provide examples, and answer questions all in a series of five to 10 stories. Then, once you've clearly explained the value, offer people the opportunity to click the link in your bio, or swipe up (assuming you have over 10,000 followers), to drive website visits. This moves your followers down your sales funnel until they purchase. Put extra effort into your Instagram stories and see how the needle moves.

Steve Bourie: convert your profile to a business profile

It is so important to convert your Instagram profile to a business profile if you are trying to sell a product or service on social media. This will give you analytics of your page in order to help you understand how to best serve your audience. Instagram will be able to see how many people visit your profile and what posts get the most engagement. You can also see the location, gender, and ages of people who are visiting your site. This will help you market your product or service correctly and thus, sell more.

Edward Stevens: Use the first comment to spark conversations with customers

This is one of the most overlooked elements of posting on instagram but the very first comment on your post can really help to drive engagement with your customers. We found that by asking quick questions such as What was your best ever vintage find?” or “How are you all feeling about these 80s shades?” our engagement in posts increased by over 20%! As an added bonus the reach for these posts would go much wider as Instagrams algorithm promotes posts that have greater engagement.

The other technique we have used effectively in our first comment is to use it to solicit direct messages from customers in order to get a personal discount code. We post an image from a classic movie and then put “DM us the name of this classic flick and we will send you a discount code. This is a great way to increase conversion from your instagram feed as you can share links to your site and provide a really personalised service within the direct messaging platform. Never forget that connections are what social media is all about at it’s core, direct conversations with your customers.

Alexander Porter: Use video content

It's easy to get caught up in thinking Instagram is best suited to photo content - after all, that's what the majority of other people are using.

This misses a powerful opportunity to drive sales over Instagram.

Think of it this way, why do people shop in stores?

To see how their favourite products will fit in their life!

What do the shoes feel like? How does the shirt look? Will this microwave suit my kitchen?

Consumers transport themselves to a future where they've bought your product, without ever leaving the store. If that future makes their life simpler, easier, happier - you're on your way to a sale.

Using video content on Instagram makes the journey to an imaginary future that much more real. Showcase your products being used by people so your audience can picture themselves.

This will help people gauge whether your products are right for them, without them ever having to leave home.

Compared to photo content of the same products, which end up looking static and uninspiring, video content is the dynamic addition your Instagram profile needs to drive more sales.

James Dyble: you need to show how you will fix the issue your customer is having

Selling is all about resolving a customers problem. You need to show not tell how your service or product will fix the issue your customer is having. Therefore, my number one tip is to identify the customer's problem first and then clearly state how your service or product is the answer they have been looking for, maybe without even knowing. Concentrate on this dogma, and your sales will naturally increase.

Ahmed Ali: Instagram stories to connect with audiences on a more personal level

There are numerous different ways to boost your Instagram marketing strategy but in my view, using Instagram stories is the most trendy and effective way to boost your sales.

Instagram Stories - If you are thinking about generating more leads, Instagram Stories are here to help. Instagram stories differ from regular posts because they come in a “slideshow” format, stories are live for 24 hours only. In my opinion, Instagram stories provide an ideal opportunity for businesses to connect with their audiences on a more personal level.

That way you can also make sure that you are connecting with your audience rather frequently.

Benefits - Instagram Stories for brands are truly endless:

• 1. Instagram also makes it easy to experiment with different types of content in the Stories feature, like photos, short videos, etc.
• 2. You can add unlimited posts on your Instagram stories, and the feature is available to all businesses worldwide.
• 3. It will help you to grow your email list, generate traffic, and sell more products.

Relevant Statistics:

• 1. One-third of the most-viewed Instagram Stories are from businesses.
• 2. 15%–25% of people swipe up on a link in branded Stories.
• 3. Instagram Stories accounts for 34% of Instagram’s sponsored content.
• 4. 500 million daily active users.

In addition, *62%* of people say they have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in stories.

Jack Wang: create teasers on your other social media platforms

My best tip would be to make exclusive offers that can only be found on the platform. This works well for products like food businesses or apparel that rely on images to grab a potential buyer’s attention.

The best way to create some buzz for your Instagram-exclusive offers is by creating teasers on your other social media platforms. Be sure that these are also catch enough to hook people into looking your way.

Aastha Shah: talk about making life of your potential customers better

Selling on instagram can be effective if you can show the audience how your product or service is going to make their life better.

Instead of flaunting the features that you offer, talk about making the life of your potential customers better.

They are concerned how your business is adding value to their life.

Instagram can be a platform to show these points visually.

Jennifer Willy: your Instagram bio needs to make a great first impression

The bio is one of the most important things while using any social media platform and Instagram is no different. In just 150 characters, your Instagram bio needs to make a great first impression, convey your brand personality, and tell people why they should bother following your Instagram account. Several brands are using Instagram right now, to reinforce their commitment to their community and show care and positivity during these uncertain times. For example, Nike, the sports company is sharing and encouraging the community to share stories with the hashtag #playinside. Apart from that Insta users should also enable online services instead of in-store business as it can be very crucial after the pandemic. Interactive video experiences can also be very helpful in educating and informing customers about various important information.

Ali Rizvi: get approved as a business profile

• Get approved as a business profile.
• Wait for your account to be reviewed by Instagram and approved for shopping.
• Turn on shopping features in your account.
• Selling tips via Instagram
• Tag a single image or a carousel.
• Tag multiple products in one post.
• Make sure your tags are attached to the right products.
• Create a consistent shopping experience.
• Use descriptive hashtags.
• Focus on high-quality images and videos.
• Share your products in action.

Ben Culpin: focus on optimizing product images

Our experience has been positive in helping multiple clients sell effectively using Instagram. With the right formatting and data in the product catalog for Facebook and Instagram from day one, we've consistently seen a positive ROI for all those clients whom we've helped.

My ONE tip would be to focus on optimizing product images. As you have on average 1.6 seconds to capture Instagram users attention we focused on optimizing our client's Images - adding logos, consistent brand colors and promotional messages to encourage greater engagement and clicks.

For example, we helped a major sportswear brand called to increase their Return On Ad Spend by 113% year-on-year, while boosting clicks to their product pages by 15% in the same period.

My advice to others looking to sell more on Instagram would therefore be to focus on the visuals - think about how you can make the product image more appealing and engaging and you'll be more likely to boost your ROI.

Vedika Jhall: Building a Shoppable Instagram Feed

This will allow the interested buyers to view your product through a price tag of each product you are willing to advertise on you instagram profile. The truth is while scrolling through the intsagram feed, an interesting and attractive post pops up, eventually you scroll through the entire profile. Therefore, these shoppable galleries will make it easier for you to make business sales.

Andy Wood: anyone can find clients - I call it the ‘IG Search Trick’

There is a neat little trick anyone can use to find clients or customers on Instagram that is totally free - no paid ads necessary. I call it the ‘IG Search Trick’.

Do this several times a day…

• 1. Go to instagram on your mobile device
• 2. Search for your niche eg ‘’ Example - Fitness Coaches
• 3. Choose one of them
• 4. Click on their name
• 5. Click on email - you now have their email address

Tip: At Step 2, you can refine this by adding a location, so , e.g. Fitness Coaches London. You may have to choose TAGS in the results and then go to step 3.

• 6. Subject line “Quick question”
• 7. Tell them what you do using your elevator pitch
• 8. Ask them to ping back to you if they are interested in [getting high-quality leads] (etc).

Isaac Hammelburger: use high-quality product shots

Instagram is a platform to post pictures of anything a person can think of. It can also increase the visual aesthetic of a product or service. One tip is to use high-quality product shots when posting an item or service. Using influencers in your product shot can already be an advantage for you. Your company has to have a specific style so that you would be able to showcase your product more efficiently. People are attracted to things that look more appealing. By increasing your following, you can reach more people and also potential customers.

Shiv Gupta: Utilize Instagram Influencer Marketing to Sell More Products

Firstly, you should work with Instagram influencers to improve the quality of your content and make it more user-centric. Influence the ranking of your content is the easy trick to gain potential customers on Instagram. Such content is more likely to find traction amidst your target audience. Secondly, when an influencer shares your content on their social media profiles, their audience will also engage with it.

Domantas Gudeliauskas: Be sure to utilize user-generated content

Social proof drives conversions. You've got plenty of different products offering incredibly attractive value propositions that often seem just too good to be true. Naturally, your potential customer is going to be a bit skeptical. How do you calm their anxieties down and ensure them your product is legit? Social proof.

Use stories and posts that highlight reviews, shows how people use your product, etc. Be sure to utilize user-generated content. If someone posts your product on a hashtag that's relevant or @s your company in a story – share it. That's the best kind of social proof – real, organic, and impactful.

Cassie Moorhead: Focus on Micro and Nano Influencers:

Focus on finding the right micro and nano influencers on Instagram for affiliate marketing, contests, giveaways, and sponsored posts.

Consumers today trust a brand recommendation from a friend or authentic social media influencer more than a generic marketing ad. Newly launched and up-and-coming brands often can’t afford a sponsored ad from a celebrity and don’t know how to find the right type of brand ambassadors. Brandbass connects brands and nano and micro-influencers who are looking to discover brands and products in their specific niche (ex. fitness enthusiast, student, mommy blogger).

Many brands, especially smaller ones, prefer to work with micro and nano brand ambassadors because of their authentic voices and authority in their niche. The days of celebrity influencers are over; instead, brands are working with real people. Brandbass is a community for both brands and brand ambassadors to connect and create mutually beneficial relationships. We make it easy for customers to become ambassadors for their favorite brands.

Chad Hill: one of the best things is to increase your following

One of the best things to consider for a perfect Instagram selling strategy is to increase your following. Followers are the first thing in your profile that indicates your credibility as a business. Contents such as customer feedback and proof of transactions and proof of legitimacy would come next. So before doing anything in your business profile, make sure to solicit and prioritize your followers first because it could be the one thing to attract your potential customers.

Naheed Mir: post what's unique about your product

One simple tip I’d like to handout for your Instagram Business, and trust me it’s gonna increase the amount of your sales with an extra share. Don’t pull your customers into buying your products directly by posting the price and so on, but play safe. Post what’s unique about your product, talk about its exclusive features; but don’t ask them to buy. That something different will make them buy itself. Manipulate your products as well as your customers, but don’t overdo it either.

Maria Grace: highlight products and services in a different way

My advice for selling on Instagram is to highlight products and services in a different way. For example, I help small business with online marketing and Search Engine Optimization. Rather than talk about the details of what exactly I do for my clients, I feature client stories on my Instagram. This allows me to show the variety of clients I serve, talk about what I do in a fun and engaging way, and give visibility to other small businesses.

As a result, these posts are often shared on Instagram, my business is further legitimized, and the captions and photos are more engaging than a typical buy now type of post.

Rahul Vij: Stories With Product Links, Shoppable Instagram Feed, Instagram Influencers

Instagram allows users to include links in Stories. It is a great way to display products and drive people to the inbox. Also, the feature allows users to add text directing viewers to ‘Swipe Up’ for more information.

Shopping features on Instagram is a great feature to display products and encourage people to purchase them. Brands can post pictures of their products and tag items available for sale. Using the Instant Purchases feature, users can buy a product directly from the image.

Consumers have stopped trusting traditional advertisement techniques, so there are influencers. People trust them and their recommendations. You can hire Instagram Influencers to reach your audience. The influencer only needs to post a picture with your product.

Simonas Steponaitis: Instagram story ads are the best way to advertise

I worked with many brands and learned Instagram story ads are the best way to advertise and market products or services compared to other techniques. It is more effective because it offers advertisers a more authentic and interactive way to engage audiences on Instagram and have low CPA than other methods. I suggest using video format for story ads is the best idea because it has a higher ROI driving more engagement and conversion.

Julian Goldie: use a specific hashtag on the launch of your product

One of the best tips to sell your products or services on Instagram is to use a specific hashtag on the launch of your product. I have experienced an increase in my services’ sales due to the use of these specific hashtags in my Instagram post and stories. Followers use these hashtags when they order or give reviews about the product. These posts can be shared on the business page to encourage other followers to do the same which ultimately boosts your sales.

Bernie Wong: tell your sales stories step by step

Brands spend a lot of time and effort into designing their landing page in order to increase their conversions. In fact, we can transform the landing page user-flow into screen-by-screen on Instagram stories.

Tell your sales stories step-by-step and, on the last page, a “Swipe up” that leads directly to the payment page. Include this “transformed” Instagram sales funnel at the start of your highlights section with a title like ‘BUY’.

Gintaras Steponkus: Post the client’s wearing your products' photos or reviews

Instagram does not have any review section as Facebook pages. However, a business can post the clients' wearing their products' photos or excellent reviews that they get in the comments section of the posts. This activity would overall enhance the trust factor, and the audience would be more likely to buy your products. Additionally, people have enough of the professional product shoots; they want to see something raw with which they could relate. As per surveys, a high ratio of buyers reports that they prefer seeing the customer photos more than the professional ones when making a purchase decision. They connect to the pictures of clients wearing your products or even posting their small video reviews, and this would bring business more sales. People usually post photos with brand hashtags.

All you have to do is track your customers through hashtags, repost the image, and give them credits. These images would not feel like ads but make the audience purchase your products. Remember to select the right quality images that will not fade away from your business account's overall look.

Rhea Freeman: use Instagram to nurture your following

Don’t just use Instagram to sell. Use Instagram to nurture your following, find out about them and how they speak and interact. Engage with the content created by your following and help with their issues as a human would. This means that when you do have a product to sell that you want to promote, people believe in the product more (because they know you) and you can also pitch it in the right way, that works with the people who are following you.

Matt Tetwo Flint: provide users with something they can get for free

Selling on Instagram allows you to build big business. What i have found most profitable is providing users with something that they can get for free. Reel them in with a free offer, then upsell them after that first offer. This does two things. 1) You obtain their email address 2) If they buy the upsell you know the product you are selling is good enough on its own. I sell plenty of items all over the internet and i have found these two bring in the most results.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the top tip for Instagram selling?

the instagram experts claim that you should care about your audience and make sure you provide them with the right content that will resonate with them.

What are the main tips for selling on Instagram for beginners?

Here are some tips for newbies looking to sell on Instagram: Optimize your profile, post high-quality content, use relevant hashtags, engage with your audience, use Instagram features, collaborate with influencers, and always measure your success by tracking your metrics.

How to get Instagram professional help?

To get professional help with Instagram, determine what aspect of Instagram you need help with. Look for professionals who specialize in Instagram marketing, social media management or digital marketing and check their credentials. Professional help can v

How have Instagram selling strategies evolved with the platform's new features and algorithm changes?

Strategies have evolved to include leveraging Instagram Stories, Reels, and Shopping features, alongside adapting content to algorithm changes for better visibility.