You thought it would be easy. Just set up the an Instagram account and watch the sales roll in. Then eventually you realized that Instagram isn’t generating sales.
Instagram has over one billion users and it has certainly been a crucial media platform for companies to utilize. Although some businesses are nailing it and driving significant sales most are wondering why it isn’t working for them. It can be confusing for entrepreneurs to understand which channel they should concentrate their efforts on.
Why Instagram Isn’t Generating Sales For Your Business?
Not Using The Platform To Its Fullest Potential
There is so much we don’t know about social media, all the updates and spontaneous spam cleanings can really leave us confused. Thus, marketing via this entity is much harder. Instagram, we love it but truthfully most of us are using it all wrong. We know that we post, like, comment and check our direct messages, but, what else?
The stories, you know, the Snapchat rip off. Use those to create your brand identity. Often companies tend to pass on using Instagram stories, despite being a perfect way to reach your clients and have new followers. You don’t even have to film new content. You can use pre-recorded content and create text pages to make a story. Use tags to make them relevant to the correct channels. But again, don’t make all of this about profits. Try to have fun, engage with your followers. Using this tool as a means to display brand individuality and express appreciation to fans allows you to build brand equity.
Lack Of User Friendly Properties
The greatest challenge for companies trying to market on Instagram early on is that Instagram didn’t enable you to add clickable links to posts. Lately, however, tools such as product tagging, has emerged. This makes it easier for retailers to sell and consumers to buy. For example, Shopify became the first e-commerce platform for stores to be able to send their potential customers from the Instagram photo to their website.
Your Post Are All About Sales
Instagram is a space where users can look at people’s lives, laugh at humorous images, or be inspired by positive posts. It’s a sharing network. Businesses can annihilate their consumers by being too sales-oriented. Don’t make your page about marketing your stuff. Entail photos and messages that represent the voice of your brand.
Long Check Out Process
Your customer likes your product and decided to purchase it. Expecting it to be a simple check out process, they are bombarded by a long check out process. We understand, you want to know the most about your customers. But maybe that isn’t the right time.
The key rule of online selling is that the more steps, clicks or forms your consumer has to fill out, buyers will begin to drop off. The fact that Amazon, Ebay and Etsy have a one-click checkout is a huge part of their popularity. Don’t ignore that Instagram is primarily viewed on handheld devices where consumers have smaller displays. It means that you always have to think from a customer viewpoint how convenient it is for them to shop and order.
You Are More Concerned With Fans Than Customers
The fame can easily go to your head. Chasing fame can be one of the biggest reasons why Instagram Isn’t Generating Sales for your store. Let’s break it down, most business can be sustained by one thousand purchases a month every month. Nevertheless, your follower count is irrelevant. All that should matter is how many customers you garner.
In simpler terms, large follower counts don’t equate to more consumers. Quite frankly, serious consumers can tell when you are pandering to your following instead of catering for them. Consumers can feel used and ultimately lose interest.
Maybe Instagram Isn’t For Your Business
It sounds absurd. “Why won’t my business be right for Instagram?” Since Instagram is mostly about lifestyle and things you can see in great photos. It works great for fashion , beauty and tangible products. But if you are a B2B company, Instagram may not be the place to drive sales. Despite this, many B2B companies feel that they should be more involved on social platforms. Don’t be afraid to realize that Instagram isn’t a fit for your business.
I find it difficult to sell products on most social media platforms unless of course, you use paid advertising.
Instagram followers are mainly there to get entertained I guess, so unless you can provide entertaining posts on a regular basis, maybe this platform isn’t for you. You are right however that certain niches can benefit greatly from using instagram, but for most others, I think it is best to use Instagram as a branding tool instead of a sales tool.
Would you use Instagram for a make money from home site?
To be frank, Instagram is best suited for personal brand endorsements and because Advisight is an entity we use it as a branding tool.
This is a great topic and probably something I needed to read as a fairly new business owner. I enjoy sharing experiences on Insta but was never really sure how to use it to generate business the way I found on other social media platforms.
I kinda decided just to use Insta for keeping in touch and sharing small stuff about the business rather than trying to drive sales or revenue. Just as a reminder to those who follow us that we are still here and I’ve had a few people say that they have popped over to the site after seeing a post.
I would like to gain further knowledge on the workings of Instagram, maybe some training would be good for small businesses starting out.
Michelle
I’m glad to hear that you are finding a bit of success on Instagram! Seems like you have grasped its purpose!