Instagram isn't just for pictures of food and selfies with 10 filters - it's also a key advertising avenue for brands and companies. The social network started displaying ads in 2013, and started allowing certain partners to tag pictures with purchase links last year. Now, Facebook is partnering with BigCommerce to make shopping links more widely available.
Through this partnerhsip, merchants using BigCommerce will be able to tag products on Instagram posts. If you don't use Instagram, the app allows users to tag other people in a photo, and users can drag around the tags to make them point to the given person. The shopping functionality is very similar, but instead of tagging people, merchants can tag products. Tapping on the tag will reveal additional details about the product, including a link that takes you to buy it on the merchant's website. As far as advertisements go, it seems fairly non-intrusive.
An example of product tags on Instagram.
Instagram doesn't allow links in normal posts, so this functionality is pretty important for advertisers and merchants. Before this, many brands used a service called 'Like2Buy' from Curalate, which allowed them to create a list of products from Instagram posts (along with the purchase links). Brands would then put their Like2Buy links in their Instagram account bio, and tell followers to click on the bio link for more info about a product.
Shopping on Instagram is now available to US-based BigCommerce merchants, as long as they have an active Facebook Shop and sell products in US Dollars. Merchants can find more information here.
PRESS RELEASE
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BigCommerce, the leading ecommerce platform for established and fast-growth brands, today announced support to enable sales through Instagram. Through a new integration, BigCommerce merchants will be among the first to have access to shopping on Instagram that allows people to discover, browse and shop from product posts through Instagram’s iOS and Android apps.
“Instagram has played a major role in helping us build a brand, and we love how the new shopping features allow us to easily showcase our products in a way that feels authentic to the community we’ve built,” said Ken Natori, President for The Natori Company. “In just a few short weeks of using the new shopping features on Instagram, we’ve seen a 100 percent increase in revenue from the channel and a massive 1,416% increase in Instagram referral traffic to our website.”
More than 800 million shoppers use Instagram every month, and 80 percent of Instagrammers follow at least one business account, providing brands a substantial audience with whom to share their unique products and story. Beginning today, BigCommerce merchants will now have the ability to tag products in Instagram posts, making contextual information, such as pricing and product descriptions, instantly accessible with a single click. When ready to make a purchase, product tags quickly and conveniently direct shoppers to the associated product page on the merchants’ BigCommerce store, streamlining the checkout experience.
Additionally, merchants using Instagram’s new shopping feature gain access to useful channel insights, such as how many fans interacted with product details or clicked “shop now” to visit their store. Coupled with powerful channel reporting available through Ecommerce Insights and Analytics by BigCommerce, brands can leverage this to glean insights concerning shopping behaviors and to improve Instagram content and targeting.
“As content and commerce become more intertwined, our mission is to provide merchants all the tools required to effectively sell to customers in all the places they choose to shop,” said Russell Klein, senior vice president of corporate development at BigCommerce. “Thousands of BigCommerce merchants have grown their brands on Instagram, and it’s clear from the extraordinary results we’ve already seen that these new features represent a significant step forward for merchants, consumers and the promise of social commerce.”
Shopping on Instagram is currently available to U.S.-based merchants with an active Facebook Shop selling in US Dollars. For more information and eligibility requirements, visit: https://www.bigcommerce.com/instagram/.
BigCommerce is the world’s leading cloud ecommerce platform for established and rapidly-growing businesses. Combining enterprise functionality, an open architecture and app ecosystem, and market-leading performance, BigCommerce enables businesses to grow online sales with 80% less cost, time and complexity than on-premise software. BigCommerce powers B2B and B2C ecommerce for more than 50,000 SMBs, 2,000+ mid-market businesses, more than 25 Fortune 1000 companies, and industry-leading brands including Assurant, Ben & Jerry’s, Gibson, Paul Mitchell, and Toyota. For more information, visit www.bigcommerce.com.
