How to Use Instagram Stories to Sell Your Product or Service
We find that when discussing selling on Instagram, most brands think of feed posts, Reels, and the link in bio first before considering Instagram Stories.
Instagram Stories are an invaluable sales tool that, when used properly, can mean majorly increased conversions from Instagram for your business.
Here are a few suggestions on how to use Instagram Stories to sell your product or service.
Show Your Face + Your Personality
I know, so many of you don’t want to hear this, but showing your face and your personality on Instagram Stories is the best way to connect with your audience and earn those conversions. We crave true and authentic interactions and are more likely to buy from a brand that we feel we know.
If you really don’t want to show your face, that’s okay. You can still show your personality with copy or speaking on camera without flipping on the front-facing cam 🤳🏼.
Takeaway Tip: Make it a goal to show your face or personality on Instagram Stories once per day. This could be a video or photo that shows how you use your product, explains something that’s happening in your business or industry, or pokes fun at the disaster of an office space where you’re building a wicked business.
Find Leads With Engagement Stickers
We often think of Instagram Stories’ engagement stickers simply as a means to increase engagement, but what if we looked at them as a means to find leads?
You can use the question box, polls, or quiz features to learn more about your audience and how you can help them. From there, you can send them a DM or engage with their content to make sure you stay top of mind and to offer your products or services to them.
Example: A chiropractor may post a question box on Instagram Stories asking their audience to share what’s bothering them lately. Someone may respond with ‘my back hurts’, to which the chiropractor can reply, get more information, and potentially suggest booking an appointment.
Create Highlights
Make sure to create relevant highlights with your Instagram Stories so that they can live on past 24 hours. This is also an opportunity to ensure that your content and message are easy to navigate. You may choose to create highlights for easy shopping with links, your brand’s story, or specific product/service information. Strategic highlights can become one of the easiest ways to continue making sales from your content long after you’ve posted it.
Describe Features + Benefits Of Your Product
When you’re on sharing content on Instagram Stories, a significant chunk of that content should speak directly to your product or service. It’s important to describe the features and benefits of what you’re selling to make it crystal clear to your audience why they need to buy.
Example: Let’s say you’re selling a non-slip hair scrunchie. You can ‘hop on’ Instagram Stories to explain that you needed a solution to keep your hair out of your face at your soccer game on the weekend. Luckily, you had your non-slip scrunchie that comes in 16 different colours. Oh, and you also have some recommendations on hairstyles you can try with the scrunchie.
This content is valuable and helps your audience clearly understand the benefits of your product and how it would fit into their life.
Use The Link Sticker
We’ll never stop driving this point home. Brands and influencers battled for years to hit 10,000 followers on Instagram so that they could share swipe-up links. Now, we all have access to the link sticker and, in our opinion, it is incredibly underutilized by brands.
It is so easy to use the link sticker, you should be doing it anytime you’re sharing your product or service on Instagram Stories. This sticker makes it ridiculously easy for your audience to make swift action in purchasing from you.
+ How to Use the Link Sticker for Instagram Stories
Before you share a video or photo Story, tap the sticker button and choose the link. Simply paste the URL (directly to your product or service page, ideally) and customize the text that your audience will see. You can write the name of the product, ‘shop here’, or ‘learn more’.
Are you an Instagram Stories believer now? Give these tips a shot and let us know how it goes!
For more content, marketing, and social media tips,follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our marketing newsletter.
