2. Likes and followers on instagram
are great but they don't always
equate to new customer sales.
Although Instagram is mostly
known as a great tool for branding
and engagement, it can be a direct
source of new customers. The
challenge is figuring out how to
turn casual followers into buyers.
3. If you have been
struggling to
convert on
instagram, here
are 5 reasons your
followers possibly
aren't buying
4. 1) You're Hard Selling
Nothing turns people off more than
the pushy salesperson, especially on
social media. Since its inception,
Instagram has placed a strict focus on
content, creativity and capturing
memorable moments. Posts about
your latest specials and deals don’t
always fit into that vision.
If you’re constantly selling on your
Instagram page and not offering
anything of value, there’s a good
chance your followers are completely
turned off.
You can turn things around by sharing
less self-serving content. Think about
photo and video ideas that your
audience would find useful or
entertaining. You can even mix in your
products and services to get the best
of both worlds. For instance use
pictures of how customers use their
product instead of solely generic
images. This is a great way to
demonstrate the value of your
product without being overly
promotional.
5. 2. You’re Not Promoting Enough
We just told you not to hard-sell,
now we’re saying you’re not
promoting enough. What’s the
deal?
While posting too much
promotional content can definitely
be a turn off, some marketers fall
on the other end of the spectrum
and never post any type of
marketing message. Ideally, you
want to fall somewhere in the
middle so that you’re giving value
but also have the opportunity to
get something in return when you
need to.
There’s no problem with being
promotional or asking for
something from your followers. The
problem is when you start asking
more frequently than you give
value.
6. 3. You’re Not Pushing Traffic to the Right Places
Let’s say you’ve found the right mix of promotional and non-
promotional content and you’re able to get Instagram users to
leave the app and go to your website, signup page or
elsewhere. The next challenge is getting them to convert. If
your Instagram traffic isn’t converting, there could be a chance
that you’re not sending them to the right place.
Instagram gives you one clickable link in your bio and that’s it.
You can’t add links to your captions, in replies or anywhere
else. Most brands default to just using their website’s home
page here, but that’s not always the best option. And here’s
why.
A link to your home page might be great for people who have
no idea what your company does and just want to check out
your website. But that’s extremely broad and general. It
doesn’t account for what people on Instagram want to see
from your brand and it doesn’t give them any clue for what to
do once they click through.
Instead, get strategic with where you’re sending your
Instagram traffic.
For instance, you can use the link to promote your latest blog
post, YouTube video or other content. Post a photo or video on
you Instagram and direct people to click the link in your bio to
read the full story.
7. While you might be able to get
away with just winging it for a
bit, eventually not having a
defined Instagram marketing
strategy is going to hurt your
ability to sell.
One of the main benefits of
having a strategy in place is it
allows you to build out a sales
funnel for Instagram. Sending
people to your home page and
just hoping for the best leaves
room for missed
opportunities. While you’ll get
the occasional visitor that
converts on their first time, most
people require a little more
convincing before they trust you
enough to buy. With a sales
funnel in place, you have the
opportunity to nurture leads and
warm them up for the sale.
4.You’re Not Being
Strategic
8. 5. You’re Treating
Instagram Like
Every Other
Platform
Instagram isn’t the same as Facebook, Twitter or
any other network so you have to account for
that in the way you approach it. For one, there’s
the whole no clickable links issue we mentioned
earlier. That alone makes it significantly different
from what most marketers are used to.
Instead of strictly looking at Instagram as a way
to directly result in sales, think of it from a
branding perspective. It’s a way to stay in front
of your audience and be discovered by new ones.
But ultimately your goal should be to get that
audience off from Instagram and onto your email
list or another platform where they can be
converted into a customer or lead.
