Using Instagram to share materials, processes, and products that make up your visual brand is an easy way to showcase what makes your business unique and connect with followers. This popular photo-sharing app encourages spontaneity and offers an alternative to copy-heavy marketing—through visual storytelling you can build brand awareness. Learn how to make the most of your Instagram presence by following these tips.
Go pro
Once you’re committed to Instagram, set up a business profile. There’s no cost to switch to a business profile, and it gives you access to useful analytics, Instagram Insights. Insights provide information to better understand how your content is performing and who your followers are. Insights are available start from the day you convert to a business account, and include information about reach, impressions, website clicks, most engaged posts, and video views. You can also use insights to learn more about your followers, including their gender, country, and the time of day they’re engaging with your Instagram page. These demographics can help you cater your content and the timing of your posts.
As an Etsy shop owner who migrates over to a business profile, you’ll also be able to add a contact button next to the traditional follow button. If you have a brick-and-mortar store you can even give your customers the option to text, email, or call your business, along with map directions to your shop’s location.
Pro tip: Before you can switch to a business profile, you’ll need a Facebook business page for your brand. Click on the wheel widget on your profile and select “switch to business profile.” Then connect your Facebook business page. Learn more about how to switch on Facebook’s help page.
Save on Etsy fees when you drive sales to your shop
The Etsy Share & Save program rewards you for the traffic and sales you drive to your own shop. When you share your unique link to your shop and make a sale, we’ll take 4% of the order total off your Etsy bill—so you pay less in fees for that order. We’ve made sharing trackable links super simple so you can save on fees any time you promote your shop, including when you're sharing on social media! Any URL you share from your Shop Manager or the Etsy seller app formatted like yourshopname.etsy.com counts toward Share & Save.
Here’s a quick look at some of the different types of links you can share:
- Links to your shop. These links take buyers directly to your Shop Home so they can browse all the items you have for sale. You can find the unique link to your shop in the upper right-hand corner of your Shop Dashboard, in your Stats, and on the Share & Save page in your Shop Manager.
- Links to specific listings. You can also save on fees when you share links to specific listings in your shop. This is great for sharing a trending item or a listing that’s on sale, or posting about new inventory. To get a unique link for a specific listing, head to your Listings in Shop Manager and click the gear icon on a listing and choose “Share.”
- Links for a promo code. Let your followers know about any special offers you’re running. You can share a unique link for any of your promo codes with your followers off of Etsy and you’ll save on fees for the eligible orders you receive. On the Sales and discounts page, just select the promo code you want to share and copy the trackable link!
- Links highlighting recent rave reviews. Toot your own horn! You can also share glowing reviews with a trackable link back to your shop. This feature is exclusive to the Etsy Seller app, so be sure to download the app ASAP if you haven’t already! You can share reviews from the Home tab of the app or from the "Reviews" section.
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Links for a section of your shop. Encourage buyers to explore a particular theme or category of your listings. It’s easy in the Etsy Seller app—just tap Listings, choose the section you want to share, and copy the URL.
Experiment and observe
When you first start using Instagram to market your shop, take an experimental approach. Try different things to see what posts resonate most with your audience. During this testing period, take time to analyze what received the most engagement and why: Was it your image quality? The colors? Your caption? Did you tag the image effectively? Was it the time of day you posted? If you’re stumped, try exploring the accounts of other brands you respect and admire. Follow like-minded people and interact with them. If you find yourself gravitating toward a particular type of post, consider testing out similar content on your own channel.
Add context with captions and hashtags
Use captions that relate to the visual story you're telling about your business to complement the photo or video you’re posting. Our social media experts continue to see longer and longer captions on Instagram driving engagement, so experiment with caption length to ensure that your optimizing your content for your audiences.
Adding a few hashtags that relate to the visual content you’re sharing can help tie your posts together. When you’re just getting started, try using the Explore tab to see which relevant hashtags are popular. You can also try sites like all-hashtag.com or apps like Leetags to find trending tags to complement your content. Using a popular hashtag can make your post part of a larger Instagram trend. For more ideas, you can click on a hashtag to see Instagram’s suggestions for related hashtags. We’ve seen success with between 5-10 tags per post. If you're concerned that adding a bunch of hashtags could make your caption look cluttered, try using the comment field to add hashtags on your photo.
Interact with your audience
When you use social media to promote your business, you open up a new channel for communication with your customers. While Instagram gives you an easy way to keep customers in the loop (for example, letting customers know when you release new products), it also gives customers a way to reach you. Interacting within comments can also help increase your organic reach on the platform and even mitigate repeat questions if someone sees you’ve already answered a previous comment. Be prepared to receive more comments and questions on the platform as your Instagram presence grows. If someone is praising your business or asking whether something is available, answer the questions and respond to say thanks. Replying within 24 hours to customers can help build strong relationships.
Scheduling content and posting on-the-go
Social media platforms are continually developing new ways to empower small businesses: Instagram now has the ability for accounts to schedule content through many third-party tools like Buffer, HootSuite, and Facebook’s Creator Studio. Another benefit of marketing on Instagram is the ability to post on-the-go. We recommend posting one or two new images a day to keep your followers engaged and to keep your brand top of mind. Or, you may want to take a more spontaneous approach to posting, depending on what's going on in your studio on any given day (or go live from your studio to show off your latest creation!).
If you take a few photos of a specific process or technique, space them out rather than posting them all at once, mixing in product shots and other images. You can also try shooting a few less formal photographs when taking product shots. Then you have an image set to pull from when promoting that product. Those photos can be repurposed to build buzz around a sale or restock announcement, for example.
Tell the story of your brand
Instagram is a great platform for showcasing your personality. Sharing behind-the-scenes or meet-the-maker style posts are a great way to build your overall brand voice and connect with your audience. Use your Instagram feed to showcase the tiny details that make your brand special. A few fundamentals to try out: shots of your work, your process, and your workspace. Be sure that your feed remains true to your brand’s aesthetic.
Create a unique visual
When you look at some of Instagram’s most popular brand accounts, what do they all have in common? A unique, but cohesive look and feel. Consider this when creating content for your account. When a casual browser looks at your profile page, they should understand at a glance what you're all about. For example, if your brand is centered around home goods, you might focus on sharing images of scenes taken in living environments.
Create feedback loops
Reciprocity is a driving force behind Instagram, so be sure to like, share, and comment on other people's photos as well. If you “regram” a customer or friend, always credit the original poster. Keep customers engaged by encouraging them to post and tag images of themselves using your items.
You can also use Instagram as a market research tool. Check out the profiles of your followers to find out more about your customer base and spend some time analyzing which products get the most likes. You can also use Instagram to inform your product development. For example, if you sell jewelry you might ask your customers which stones they’re most drawn to or what their favorite chain length is. Creating this give-and-take dialogue gives customers another way to feel invested in your brand.
Follow Etsy Success on Instagram and Facebook for more advice and inspiration on running an Etsy shop.
Words by Etsy Staff
