Until only a few years ago, Instagram was just used for fun and leisure, but after Facebook bought Instagram, this social network obtained a more commercial approach.
Not only have the changes in Instagram made money for Facebook, but many internet businesses have also used this popular social network to sell their products or services online.
Facebook knows that too, and that’s why it has made so many business potentials available on this platform!
The most important of these features is the ability to enable Instagram Price Tags, which allows you to set up your own Instagram store.
There are currently many pages that introduce their products or services online and tell users and followers to visit the store website in order to buy the products or services.
The Instagram Price Tag helps you to show users and followers product information on Instagram as well.
In this article, we are going to provide you with a complete tutorial on activating and using Shopping Tags on Instagram so you can sell your products or services directly to users!
If you intend on increasing your business sales, follow us along.
Activating the Shopping Tag Feature on Instagram
If you are the administrator of an online Instagram store or a Business Page on which you provide physical products, you must definitely need to use Shopping Tags on Instagram.
Shopping Tags on Instagram help you to show users and followers the price and information of each product and give access to making instant purchases.
Of course, you must know that currently, only physical products can be priced right now, so if you have a service to offer and its pricing is affected by different factors, this feature won’t be of any use to you.
Generally, Business Pages (not regular pages!) can display the information and price of their products to users and followers with the help of a Shopping Tag and users will be able to log in with just one click and complete their purchase in seconds!
This will ultimately help increase the conversion rate too.
NOTE! Adding a Shopping Tag to Instagram is done with the aid of Facebook; so you must first read the regulations and privacy statements of Instagram and Facebook so that your products do not violate the regulations in place for these two social networks.
Also, your business headquarters should also be located in one of the countries approved by Instagram, which can be easily resolved through Facebook.
What do we Need in Order to Enable an Instagram Store?
To set up your Instagram store and activate Shopping Tags, you need the following requirement which we will introduce in this section:
- Update your Instagram app to the latest version available
- You must have an account on this social network and convert it into an Instagram Business Account
- You must have a Facebook business account
- You must have a Facebook page dedicated to your business
- You must have an online store (website) to direct users and followers from Instagram Posts to this website
- Acquiring an Instagram verification in order to activate an Instagram store and enable Shopping Tags on Instagram
We hereby provide you with a tutorial on activating Shopping Tags on Instagram that allows you to convert your page into an Instagram store.
To get started, take the following 3 steps:
- Run the Instagram application on your cell phone.
- Log into Facebook using your Business Account; do this using a desktop PC or a laptop.
- Open your business website in another browser tab.
Once you’ve completed these 3 steps, just follow the 6 steps below to set up your Instagram Store.
Preparing a User Account on Instagram
First, you need to attend to your Instagram. If your account manages an Instagram Business Page, you must convert it to a personal account first; of course, we do NOT mean a Private Account!
Instead, you need to change your account type from a Business Profile to a Personal Profile.
To do this, follow the steps below:
First, enter your profile on Instagram, then go to the Settings page via the Gear icon:
At the bottom of this section, there is an option called Switch Back to Personal Account.
You can change your account into a Personal Profile type by clicking on it.
A NOTE! Bear in mind that restoring your account type from Business to Personal mode will erase all the information on your Instagram insights (read this article:
How Can I Analyze Instagram Pages with Insights tool) ; so if you need this information, be sure to take screenshots so you don’t have to worry about them in the future.
Even if you restore your account to Business mode, all the information in this section will be reset, and under no circumstances will you be able to access the previous information in this section.
Adding the Page to A Facebook Business Account
You need to have a Facebook page first in order to activate your Instagram Store; we recommend that you create a new page dedicated to your business or using the same page if you already have a page for your business.
Sometimes users use unrelated pages and Facebook does not approve and verify them or users may encounter problems even if approved.
To add your page to the Facebook business section, simply login to business.Facebook.com in your Facebook account:
In this section, you should select one of your Facebook pages. If you want to add one page, just click on one of the pages displayed in this section.
Also, if you intend on creating a new page, just click on Create a New Page on the main Facebook page and create your new page!
Then complete your business page information in this section and move on to the next step to enable Shopping Tags on Instagram.
Convert Your Instagram Profile Page to a Business Page!
Now it’s time to change your Instagram page into a Business Page again and relink your Facebook account to it.
To do this, log in to your Instagram profile and click on Switch to Business Profile via the Settings section:
Then you have to wait until your Facebook account is connected to your Instagram account in the Connect to a Facebook page section.
Then you have to choose the page you have created for your Instagram profile!
Note that this page should be the same as the one you have added to the Facebook Business section.
Then, just enter your contact number and your page will be converted into a Business Page.
Note that if you do not want your contact number to be displayed on the Instagram page, then disable its display by going to the Contact Info section in Settings!
Adding an Instagram Profile to the Facebook Business Section
At this stage, you need to add your Instagram profile to the Facebook Business section!
In the Facebook Business section, click on Business Setting for the settings of this section to be displayed to you:
In the left menu, there is a section titled Accounts, and you can add to your Instagram account by clicking on Instagram Accounts.
You can add your Instagram profile page by clicking on Add:
This section will ask you to enter your Instagram username and password.
Then, you can fill in additional information but we won’t really need them!
Just click on Skip and don’t fill out any extra information.
Add your Products to Facebook!
This step is exactly what we need! We need to set up an Instagram Store and want to add this feature to our page by adding Shopping Tags to Instagram.
To do this, we first need to create a catalog of our products on Facebook! Simply click on the Catalogs submenu in the Assets tab in the top menu on Facebook:
In this section, you should select a category for your business products; for instance, if you intend on selling your physical products online, you can select the first option titled Ecommerce and then click on Next.
In the next section (Configure your Catalog Settings), you will need to complete information about your catalog, which we will fully review below:
How do you Want to add Products to your Catalog?
In this section, you should specify the type of product you intend on adding to your catalog. Two options are available:
- Upload Product Info: You can add your products manually by selecting this option.
- Connect E-Commerce Platform: By using this option, you can automatically add products to your catalog if you use retailers.
In this tutorial, we will choose the first option to add product information manually.
Who Owns this Catalog?
In this section, you should select the Facebook page for your Instagram profile; bear in mind that if you choose another page, you will NOT be able to display the products on your Instagram profile.
Name Your Catalog
In this section, you can choose a name for your catalog that you can use later.
Once you have completed the above steps, click on Create to create your catalog.
You can now view your catalog by clicking on the View Catalog tab and change it if need be.
When you enter your Catalog page, a menu will appear to the left. You can add your desired products by clicking on the Product tab.
On this page, just click on Add Product to go to the next page!
On the next page, you can add your products in 3 ways. You can manually add products by selecting Add Manually.
Adding a Product to the Facebook Catalog for it to be displayed on the Instagram Store
After following the steps above, it is time to add your product. In the next section, you will need to add information about your product.
Add Products Manually
In this section, you will need to add information about your product that is relevant to your business:
- Image: In this section, you should select an image for your product; the minimum size of this image should be 600 x 600 in pixels.
- Name: In this section, you must select a name for your product which will be displayed to users and followers on Instagram.
- Description: In this section, you can describe your product or mention its advantages.
- Content ID: In this section, you must select an ID for your product.
- Website Link: In this section, you can add the product link on your website which redirected users and followers to the intended page once they see your product on Instagram.
After adjusting the settings above, you can click on Add Product to add your product to the catalog.
Wait for the Verification of Your Instagram Store!
Once your first product is created and your profile on Instagram is linked to Facebook in order to create a Shopping Tag on Instagram, the Instagram review process begins!
This process may take up to several days and you cannot make any further progress just yet. You just have to wait for Instagram to approve your store.
Once Instagram has checked and assessed your account, there will be two possible results; it will either approve you or not!
Instagram usually approves such a request, and its confirmation message can be found in the Instagram Notifications section.
If you haven’t received a confirmation message yet, Instagram is probably still processing your request!
To make it easier for you to get notified of the verification of your Instagram store, just go into your Instagram settings and look for the Shopping Option!
If the Shopping Tag feature is enabled on your Instagram, it will also be displayed in Settings but if this option is not displayed yet and you have not received a Rejection Notification, then your request is still pending and you should wait.
Using the Shopping Tag Feature for Posts & Stories on Instagram
Once your request has been approved by Instagram, the Shopping Tag feature will also be activated on Instagram and you can add Tags to Posts, Stories, and even old Posts.
To share a new Post with a Shopping Tag, just go into the Post sharing section and then click on Tag Products.
However, you must note that you can only add the products to your Instagram Shopping Tag that have been added to your Facebook Catalog!
If you intend on including a product that is not in your catalog on Instagram, you must first add the intended product to your Facebook Catalog and then enable the Shopping Tag feature for it on Instagram.
A NOTE! If you use Instagram Sponsored Advertisements, you should note that you CANNOT directly advertise a Post that includes a Shopping Tag!
For this purpose, you can advertise Posts that do not have a tag and redirect users and followers to the intended Post.
How do Posts that Include a Shopping Tag Appear on Instagram?
Most of you have probably Posts on which the Instagram tag is active, but there are still some users who have not seen this tag.
So they want to know how Posts are displayed after activating the Shopping Tag on Instagram! Look at the image below:
This image shows a Post that includes a Shopping Tag on Instagram!
Anyone who clicks on the image in this Post can see the Shopping Tag, and more importantly, by clicking on the Shopping Tag, they can easily see the product information and price.
Of course, the price of the product is also displayed on the Shopping Tag of each Post and you do not need to click on the tag to see the price, but if users and followers want to purchase that product, they must enter the relevant link.
To enter the link, you must also click on the Shopping Tag to view the page and also purchase the product directly from your website.
Analyze the Inbound User Traffic of a Shopping Tag!
If your Instagram page is used for your Business Marketing, you must know that inbound website traffic is very important.
That is why website analytics is one of the most important factors in managing a business! I suggest adding your Shopping Tag links on Instagram in such a way that can be analyzed.
For instance, you can use Link Shorteners or the Google Analytics tool. These tools will help you know how much inbound user traffic you have had for each tag on Instagram and how many of the users have actually made a purchase.
In fact, by using these tools, you can measure your conversion rate and make necessary changes to your Instagram strategy in order to increase your sales rate.
How Can Users and Followers Make a Purchase by Using a Shopping Tag on Instagram?
When a user on your page sees an Instagram Shopping Tag, they find out that your Instagram Store is active and that they can directly do their shopping.
Users can click on an Instagram Shopping Tag to enter the next page as can be seen in the image below:
Then, by clicking on the Shop Now tab, they will enter your website and make their purchase.
How to Use Shopping Tags with your Instagram Stories?
To use Shopping Tags on Instagram Stories, you must first go into the Story section and take or choose a picture or video for your Story!
Then, just enable the Shopping Tag via the Sticker section:
Now, if a user clicks on the Shopping Tag on your Instagram Story, he/she will be directed to the product’s purchase page and can complete his / her purchase.
Assessing a few Notes and Important Problems!
You may encounter some issues or problems in the process of activating the Shopping Tag feature on Instagram:
In this section, we will assess some of these issues:
- First Note) Note that the Facebook page which is linked to Instagram should be the same one on which you have activated the Facebook Business section! If you are facing problems adding a Shopping Tag on Instagram, be sure to check that the account linked to Instagram is the same as the Business account on Facebook.
- Second Note) In addition to the catalog, Facebook has a Store section to which you can directly add products! But bear in mind that we added the Shopping Tag to Instagram using the Facebook Catalog, NOT the Facebook Store! So you must keep in mind that the products on the catalog CANNOT be added to the Facebook Store. If you need to sell the products on the catalog on Facebook too, you should add them in the Facebook Store section.
- Third Note) Sometimes an error message reading Blank Google Product Category will be displayed. This error message indicates that your product category is not listed on Google! This error will not cause any problems and can easily be ignored.Fourth Note) Occasionally, an error message reading Unsupported File Format is displayed when you’re adding a product to the Facebook Catalog which may be caused because you have uploaded a file with an unauthorized extension. You can refer to the Facebook documentation and find out what file formats are supported for upload!
- Fifth Note) One of the most important things that many users are not aware of is that you can place multiple Shopping Tags on each individual Post! Many users do not know this and only use one Shopping Tag which reduces the conversion rate. If there are several products in one product field from your business, make sure to include them all in your Shopping Tags so that your Instagram Store will always remain active up and running.
Conclusion
Using the Shopping Tag feature on Instagram helps you, direct users, straight to your online store.
This enables you to directly display the product information and its price! In this article, we taught you how to add Shopping Tags on Instagram which we hope will be useful for your Instagram Store.
Now You Tell Us!
What advantages do you think using Shopping Tags on Instagram has and what is its effect on the user conversion rate?
Please share your opinions and experiences with us and with other users in the Comment section.
Hi, I’m Alomen; an Instagram and digital marketing expert. This Website shows tutorials, tips, and tricks on how to use Instagram. If you have any questions or problems with Instagram, you can call me with the hashtag #Alomen and I will answer in now time. Sign up for our email newsletter to stay in touch with our Team.
