Instagram’s Shopping from Creators may still be in beta testing, but it’s already causing a stir when it comes to driving sales on social!
The feature allows creators and influencers to tag brand products in their posts — creating an exciting new way for users to shop straight from Instagram.
But is Shopping from Creators right for you? We explain what the feature is, how it works, and how to set it up:
What is Instagram’s Shopping from Creators?
Shopping from Creators gives influencers and creators the ability to make their own shoppable Instagram posts to promote products from the brands they partner with.
A creator’s followers can then tap “view products” and purchase the tagged products using Instagram Checkout.
For the time being, Shopping from Creators is only available for businesses taking part in the Instagram Checkout beta test — but that could be changing.
Instagram has been gradually rolling out the feature to more businesses in the US, which could mean that they’re planning a wider release soon.
When that happens, we expect Instagram to also open Shopping from Creator to more influencers. At the moment, only a limited number of creators can tag brand products in their posts.
This includes some of the world’s biggest social influencers, including Aimee Song, Kylie Jenner, Jen Atkin, and Kim Kardashian West.
So while we wait for the feature to be fully rolled out, now’s the time to get to know the benefits of Shopping from Creators and how it could help your brand.
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How to Set Up Shopping from Creators as a Business
Once you have a business account with Instagram Checkout enabled, you can begin to curate a list of creators who can tag your products in their Instagram posts and stories.
To do this, open your Instagram settings, select Business, and then Shopping.
From here, you can select Approved Accounts and add the content creators you’d like to grant access to your product library.
Note: You will only be able to search for creators with a creator or business account.
Once you allow a creator to tag your products, you’ll be able to see performance analytics for any of their posts that include your product tags.
To see these performance metrics, go to the post and tap View Insights.
Swipe up on this insights tab to see the post’s engagement and product metrics, including product views and product button clicks.
How to Set Up Instagram Shopping from Creators as a Creator
To start tagging products from a brand in your posts and stories, you need to be on the brand’s list of approved accounts (see above). You’ll also need to have a creator or business account.
Once that part is covered, you can start tagging shoppable products in your Instagram feed posts (including photos, videos, and carousels) and stories!
To do this, create a new post. On the screen where you add a caption, select Tag Products. Choose a brand that you’d like to tag products from, and search for the product. When you’re ready to post, select Done.
Note: You can only feature up to 5 products in an Instagram feed post for a single brand. Only 1 shoppable product sticker can be added to Instagram Stories. You can use the sticker on images and videos, add links, and save to a highlight.
Why is Instagram Exploring Shopping from Creators?
Instagram Shopping is big business. Over 130 million users tap on shoppable Instagram posts every month — and that’s without having a turbocharge of influencers and creators in the mix.
It’s proven that influencer marketing can catapult a brand’s success and help drive product sales. Pair this with Instagram’s seamless checkout process? The sky could be the limit!
What’s more, Instagram is clearly taking steps to promote Shopping from Creators, with a dedicated Creator Looks tab on the Instagram Explore page:
And it’s no surprise that Instagram is giving extra exposure to these posts. Shopping from Creators is only available for brands with Instagram Checkout, meaning that Instagram will earn a transaction fee from every sale.
According to Instagram’s Business Help Center, the selling fee is 5% per shipment or a flat fee of $0.40 for shipments of $8.00 or less.
Given this clear monetary incentive, it seems likely that Instagram will continue to roll out Shopping from Creators and Instagram Checkout across the globe.
And with a thriving 3-sided marketplace of brands, influencers, and consumers, Instagram will undoubtedly be a serious e-commerce contender for brands looking to drive sales online.
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What Are the Benefits of Instagram Shopping from Creators?
It’s undeniable that Shopping from Creators is packed full of positives for brands looking to drive more sales from Instagram.
Not only does it make creator partner posts so much easier to shop, but it also allows you to track exactly how many product views and clicks the tagged post is attracting. This is a super useful insight into what drives engagement and (most importantly!) what drives sales.
However, it is important to consider the potential downsides too.
One major drawback is that all communications are handled by Instagram, which means brands lose out on valuable customer data, such as emails. And there’s that 5% transaction fee to keep in mind too.
For influencers and creators, there’s the more complex question of how much this streamlined route to conversion is worth, and whether they should be charging more for that privilege.
There are already dozens of solutions for creators to link to brands and earn a commission from the clicks or sales they generate (including LTK and ShopStyle). This ultimately makes the ability to tag shoppable products directly within Instagram a potential revenue loss.
However, Instagram is making huge strides in the influencer marketing space. In late 2019 they announced that they are launching a new platform called Brand Collabs Manager to connect creators with brands looking for sponsored Instagram content — so having a strong backlog of product conversion data could give a serious competitive edge when it comes to landing new collaborations.
So will you be using Instagram Shopping from Creators as part of your strategy in 2020?
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