Promote your store on Instagram for free or paid

Promoting an Instagram shop is easier than it may seem. The main thing is to know which methods work and which ones are not worth spending time on. Step Link Canada experts discussed the main paid and free methods of promoting a shop on Instagram.

Any activity on Instagram should start with two things: first, make sure you have high-quality and interesting products, and second, prepare and properly design your shop (remember, we talked about this in one of our previous publications on the Step Link Platform Inc. website).

Free promotion

There are several free ways to promote an online store.

Tags. They help users navigate your posts and allow the online store itself to publish posts in the feeds of users who subscribe to these hashtags. Add no more than 10 hashtags to a post in the main text or in the comments.

UGC content. This is content that users create themselves. A typical example of UGC content is photos of subscribers with your product. Such a post simultaneously advertises you and serves as a review. Users see real customers who are satisfied with the product, and this influences their purchasing decision. UGC content allows you to reach a new audience thanks to its native nature. It should definitely be used by those who want to develop their online store.

Trending reels. Reels are short videos up to 30 seconds long that will help you get into Instagram's general recommendations. The main thing is to follow global trends and create original content that will match popular trends.

Stories. This is a very successful tool for attracting free subscribers. Stories attract more attention than regular posts and allow you to publish a large number of photos and videos at once. The main feature of stories is that they disappear 24 hours after publication. Stories can be used to advertise your profile's main posts, publish photos of products, reviews, overviews, etc.

Paid promotion

Targeted advertising. Among paid promotion tools, targeted advertising is certainly the first choice. Prepare separate materials for each segment of your audience, namely images, videos, and text. Your task is to get a lead or message from an interested user and turn that contact into a purchase.

Contests and sweepstakes. Contests can be different, for example, for the best review or the best photo with your product. In order for Instagram contests to benefit your store, it is essential to clearly spell out the conditions, for example, that you can only participate after subscribing to your page. Sweepstakes on Instagram are very simple, according to the experts at Step Link company. There is no need to evaluate the contestants; your only task is to announce the terms of participation and come up with a valuable prize that will encourage users to take more active steps.

Collaboration with opinion leaders. Collaborations with popular bloggers help spread the word about your product to a larger audience. It is important to choose a blogger who is followed by your target audience. Before starting a collaboration, it is best to check the statistics to find out how the influencer's audience reacts to commercial posts.