The Ultimate Guide to Setting Up Instagram Shopping
Believe us, if you knew how many Thais sold things through IG, you would be surprised. The world has changed a lot, and so have the ways people sell products. They have turned their strategies from the malls and local stores to the huge online network mall that is operated by social media.
Many succeed despite spending only a few hours a day on their business! The whole online market became even brighter after Instagram Shopping emerged. This feature has been making an impact in many countries for a while, and, for Thailand, this new Cadillac has just arrived! Now, not everyone has this feature to hand, but they will eventually so it would be wise to know how to set it up before your competitors do.
What is Instagram Shopping?
Instagram Shopping is a brand new feature for IG business accounts. It allows users to purchase and sell products via Instagram in a user-friendly way. When you post a picture on Instagram you will be able to tag it with brief information that leads customers to your website or Facebook page (in the USA, customers can purchase directly through Facebook). Still not sure if it’s really that convenient? Let’s imagine that you are a browser on IG and find something you like when you’re scrolling. Normally, you would have asked the seller for more details, but with Instagram Shopping, you can just click and go directly to the store. Easy, right? So, that’s why people, especially online sellers, love this feature.
In this Instagram Shopping 101 ultimate guide, we will show you step-by-step how to create a “Shoppable Photo Tag” on a picture that leads your customers to your up-to-date catalogue.
The Ingredients Required for Instagram Shopping:
- Facebook Business Manager
- Instagram Business Account
- Facebook Page
- A connection between your Facebook Page and Instagram
- Your products
- A Website
Ingredients at the ready? Let’s make your Instagram Shopping dreams a reality!
1. Open your Facebook Business Manager and hit the menu button as seen in the picture below.
2. Find “Catalog Manager”
3. Choose your product or service type
4. Click to upload your product. In this step, all you need are pictures and details of the product. After that, it’s time to add the name of the product owner and the catalog name. If you get confused, take a look at the picture below. When you’re finished, click “Create”.
5. Click “View Catalog” to add more product detail. If you don’t give your customers more detail then you may as well wave goodbye to them!
6. On this page you can choose which catalog you want to put products in. So, all you need to do is choose the catalog, click “Products” on the left-hand side and click “Add Manually”. Finished? Have a final check and then click “Next”!
7. You will see that the system leads you to the “Add Product Manually” page, in which you can add more detail. Fill in the blanks following the picture below.
7.1 Upload the picture (Recommended aspect Ratio 1:1 or 600×600 px)
7.2 Add the product name
7.3 Include product detail
7.4 Set the website that leads your customers to see more detail about your products, or where they can purchase your products (IG doesn’t currently have an in-app purchase feature).
7.5 Choose your currency and set the price of your product
7.6 Click “Add Product”
If you’ve followed our guide step-by-step, your Facebook Business Manager will look like this. If not, go back and try to find what you’ve missed. If you’re all set, let’s get in the car because we’re going shopping!
Wait! All of the steps are just the hors d’oeuvres. Before starting the main course, you need to connect your shop on Facebook with your Instagram Business Account.
Follow these simple steps:
1. Click “Use Cases” on your left-hand side. Then, choose “Facebook Page Shop”. Choose “Create Page”.
2. Choose the page you want to create a shop for. Then, click “Next”.
3. On this page, the system will ask you to choose the way customers can purchase your product. In this case, choose “On an external website” because we want to drive conversion on your website. Then, click “Next” and your shop is created on your Facebook Page!
4. Choose the currency and click “Create Shop”.
Your Page Shop is ready within a few steps! Now, you can manage your shop by clicking on “View Page Shop” (this part can be reached via the menu tab on the left-hand side of the page).
Note: If you have already created a Shop on FB Page but chose “Message my Page on Messenger” instead, you will have to delete the previous Shop first and create the new one with “On an external website” choice. If you don’t do so, the system will not allow you to tag your products in pictures on Instagram.
After you finish with Instagram Shopping, it’s time to start connecting your Facebook Page with your Instagram Business Account in order to be able to tag products on Instagram. Let’s get started:
1. Choose “Use Cases” in the menu (make sure that you select the catalog you want to connect with). Then, check the middle area of the menu, click “Instagram Shopping” and then choose “Connect Profile”. This part requires an Instagram Business Account to connect to.
2. Click “Not Connected” and change it into “Connected”.
If you’ve followed the steps correctly, the space next to the account name will change to a blue colour with a “Connected” status. If yes, well done!
***Note : If the result looks like the picture below, this means the Shop that you’ve set up on your Facebook Page is set to “Message my Page on Messenger”.
Mistakes can be corrected easily so all you have to do is delete the old Shop and create a new one!
Follow these steps to delete the old Shop:
1. Access your Facebook Page. Click on the “Shop” menu on the left-hand side.
2. Click on the cogwheel on the right-hand side.
3. Click “Delete Shop”
After deleting the old Shop, you will have to refer to the earlier steps about how to create Facebook Page Shop. This time, don’t forget to choose “On an external website”.
Time to finish things off and try it for yourself. Pick up your phone and follow these steps:
- Click “Profile Page”
- Choose Menu on the top right-hand side
- Click “Settings” > “Business” > “Shopping”
- Click “Continue” to agree with all the Terms and Conditions
Time to introduce you to the “Shoppable Photo Tag”
- Click on your profile, access the menu on the top right-hand side
- Click “Settings” > “Business” > “Shopping”
- Choose the catalog you’ve created
- Upload your picture in the same way you would post a new picture on Instagram
- Add every detail of the product including caption and location. Then, click “Tag Products”
- Choose the product that you want to tag
- Post it like usual! Now you will have a picture that includes a Tag
You’re all set! Good luck!
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