How to Turn Instagram Followers into Instagram Sales

Have you ever wondered how some Instagrammers earn so much just by posting travel pics or photos of them using certain products? 

What you don't know is that there's more to this than what meets the eye.

Instagram marketing is not that easy.

Basically, there's a lot of science that goes into each promotional post.

From formulating the perfect caption to conceptualizing the right pose up to getting the lighting right, these are necessary to create a masterpiece that can convert followers into sales.

So, we totally understand if you're struggling to get your followers to convert.  

Plus, there's also that added pressure that you need a huge following to generate the sales you need.

The more, the merrier, right?

However, does it really matter if you have an x number of followers or not? Does it directly impact your business' overall profitability and success?

For sure, seeing that you have a lot of followers feels good. But this is just a vanity metric. What really matters is your ability to persuade and get your followers to buy with every post you publish.    

In this post, our Miami SEO services provider will go over the five tactics you can use to encourage your Instagram followers to purchase from your company.

Let's start!

5 Tactics to Turn Instagram Followers into Instagram Sales

1. Optimize Your Instagram Bio

Because of the limited character space on Instagram, it's critical to improve your bio to get the attention of your target audience and increase conversions.

The platform enables you to define your brand in just 150 characters. So, you need to get creative to convince users to check out the rest of your account. 

You may wow them by introducing your company in a few snappy sentences.

A solid bio establishes your brand and sets the tone for the rest of the content. It persuades your followers that they've come to your Instagram feed for a reason.

When you have the "ideal" Instagram bio, users are enticed to subscribe, browse down, or even click on your link or Call-to-Action (CTA) button.

Here are four things you can do to optimize your Instagram bio:

1. Change your fonts: Yes! You may use different typefaces to highlight various aspects of your bio. ‍
2. Fill it with emojis: Emojis may also be applied to replace bullet points and improve the overall readability of your brand's Instagram bio. The quantity of emojis to include, on the other hand, is a matter that varies by industry. ‍
3. Use special characters: Because emojis are becoming increasingly common, special characters seem to be making a comeback. Colored emoji may also be inappropriate for the aesthetic of some brands. ‍
4. Add link pages: Link pages enable you to centralize all of your social network connections and other resources. It makes it incredibly easy for your users to learn more about your business and what you do. Because you're reducing the customer journey, it's also a chance to boost your conversion rate.

Take a look at this bio from @TheKapeClub; not only they were able to optimize their Instagram bio by maximizing all 150 characters, but they were also able to change the look of their brand by using different fonts and appropriate emojis. Plus, they also added a link builder to link multiple pages in their bio!

Remember, aside from the aesthetics of your feed, if you want to grow a significant following on Instagram, your bio is essential, too.

2. Provide Exclusive Content

Exclusive content is a particular type of content only available to your most loyal customers or followers. 

Providing exclusive content strengthens your engagement with your followers, helps create a stronger relationship with them, and fosters loyalty. 

Here are three ways how you can create exclusive content for your followers:

1. Practice exclusivity: Use Instagram to expose goods you haven't posted on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog. This gives your Instagram followers a sense of exclusivity. ‍
2. Live-stream a product or event on Instagram: Make a short video depicting your company launching a new shop, unboxing a new product, going on a vacation, or preparing for an event or conference. ‍
3. Create a limited-time offer: Give your most active Instagram followers a discount coupon that is just available to them.

Instagram is a great avenue to entice more followers to sign up and be a part of your email list to access exclusive content. 

3. Leverage User-Generated Content

While providing exclusive content for your fans is critical, don't forget to leverage user-generated content to your advantage.

User-generated content (UGC) is any type of content about your business, such as images, videos, or reviews, published by users. 

People want to be valued and appreciated, especially by the brands they love and support. So, make them feel seen and heard by reposting their content and featuring them on your account!

Hosting a photo contest is a great way to collect user-generated content. You may use any images, even those that did not win, to advertise your company.

Remember to have fans include your products in their photographs.

Once people know that you repost and feature UGC on your account, more and more users will be incentivized to post about you and encourage others to try out your products. 

You may post something like, 'We'd love to see your Christmas-themed/pet-themed/night-out-themed photos!' and expect a lot of users to participate. 

Another great way to reposting your followers' content is by re-sharing their mentions to yours on Instagram Stories.

Here's a crucial tip: utilize trending and campaign-specific hashtags. Use a single hashtag to make it easy for you to see user-generated content and keep track of any conversation about your brand. 

4. Organize Instagram Contests

As we mentioned in tactic #3, hosting a photo contest might be an excellent place to start when it comes to leveraging user-generated content.

Our Miami SEO services provider believes that giving discounts and prizes is one of the best strategies to generate leads from Instagram.

Here are the three things that you need to know first before you start an IG content:

• Create a fun theme: Contests work best when relevant to what your followers are currently thinking about. Run a contest depending on the season, such as back-to-school, tax season, athletic events, and holidays.
• Have a mind-blowing reward: Make sure your prize is compelling enough to entice your followers to participate and share with their friends. Choosing a reward that speaks directly to your target market is an excellent technique.
• Include a voting component: Including a voting component significantly increases the likelihood of your contest becoming viral. Participants in the contest will share it with their friends, family, and friends of friends.

Here's an example from FTDI:

Creating IG contests will not only engage your followers but will also raise the visibility of your company.

5. Communicate with Your Followers thru DMs

Instagram direct messages or DMs, commonly called, allow you to engage with customers more personally via private chat.

This feature may be accessed by clicking the arrow symbol in the top-right corner of your Instagram account.

It will then show a messaging thread to send text and multimedia messages. You may send messages to up to 15 followers at once. You may also choose a group of followers to whom you want to send the message.

If you wish to include a particular follower's name or purchasing preferences, you must send the DM to each follower separately.

Did you know that you can use DM to boost your sales? Here are two ideas to get you started:

• Send them a promo code: You may send your followers a product picture to your followers along with a promotional code in your message. Because Instagram Direct does not enable you to incorporate clickable links, send any URLs as a separate message.
• Send them info about your IG contest: Get more people to participate in your contests or entice them to buy your products by letting them know about them through DM. Remember, the IG DMs feature is there for you to communicate not only with potential customers who are inquiring about your brand or product. You have to use it to also communicate with your followers.

It's time to Revamp Your Instagram Account

Hopefully, you now have a few additional ideas for increasing your Instagram ROI. It is possible to convert followers to customers, but keep in mind that you must first have followers. This is why you need to work on growing a following. 

Once you've got them, offer them unique discounts to boost in-person purchases. Run a contest with images of your items in them. And, our personal favorite, curate your feed to entice users and convince them to follow you and give your products or services a try. 

Want to know how to get more followers to start driving in more sales?

Contact us today at Digital Resource so we can help you with just that and more.

We'll help you expand your company in the same way our Miami SEO services team has helped many other business owners.