Top 10 Strategies To Use Instagram For Your E-Commerce Store in 2024

Have you taken any good pictures lately and want to show them to your friends? - Go to Instagram.

Have you shot any funny videos and want to jump on a trend? - Go to Instagram

Is it your friend’s birthday, and you want to spam everyone you know with pictures of you two to celebrate? - Go to Instagram

Are you bored and want to see what everyone else is doing with their lives? - Go to Instagram

Do you own an e-commerce store and want to help your business grow?... Well, GO TO INSTAGRAM!

It seems that Instagram is the way to go for everything these days. With over 2.4 billion active users, Instagram has been one of the top social media platforms for a while. It may grab your attention even more when you hear that this number is expected to reach 2.5 billion by the end of 2024. However, these are not the only interesting numbers when talking about Instagram. It is also worth mentioning that more than 500 million users open Instagram daily, and the average user spends around 24 minutes on the platform (DemandSage, 2023). 

As someone who owns an e-commerce store or works at one, these are numbers that should make your eyes sparkle. The huge number of users that Instagram currently has, the even bigger number it is expected to reach in 2024, and the amount of time these users spend on the platform represent endless opportunities just waiting for e-commerce stores to come and seize them. 

Do we have your attention now? Good! Let’s discuss even more interesting statistics about Instagram for e-commerce.

• More than 200 million businesses are on Instagram, and around 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business account (SocialShepherd, 2023).
• Around 81% of Instagram users say that they come to the platform to look for new products and services, and 87% say that they take action after seeing a product on Instagram (SocialPilot, 2023).
• Around 44% of Instagram users visit the platform to purchase every week (DemandSage, 2023).

We bet that you are already convinced of how important it is for you to leverage Instagram to grow your e-commerce business in 2024. All that is left now is for you to know how to start. However, you don’t have to worry because we’ve got your back in that too. In this article, we will introduce you to the best strategies you should follow to make sure 2024 is the year your e-commerce store benefits the most from Instagram. 

Top 10 Strategies To Use Instagram For E-Commerce In 2024

1. Optimize The Instagram Profile For Your E-Commerce Brand.
2. Instagram Shopping Features Are The Future.
3. Diversify Your Organic Presence: Posts, Stories, and Live.
4. Invest in Instagram Paid Ads.
5. Instagram Influencers Are Your Best Friends.
6. Create A Community and Encourage User-Generated Content.
7. Use Hashtags.
8. Make It Fun With Contests And Giveaways.
9. Dive Into Instagram Augmented Reality (AR) Ads.
10. Monitor The Trends

Instagram has already been a popular player in the e-commerce sector for the past few years; however, every new year comes with new opportunities, technological advancements, and trends. The year 2024 is no different. In the following points, we will show you how to turn Instagram into a gold mine for your e-commerce store in 2024. 

1- Optimize The Instagram Profile For Your E-Commerce Brand

The first step you should take in 2024 is to work on the Instagram profile for your e-commerce brand. This strategy is a prerequisite to all the following strategies and to everything else you will think of doing on Instagram in 2024. The undeniable indispensability of this strategy comes from the huge impact that your Instagram profile can have on your target audience. 

The profile of your e-commerce store on Instagram is what reflects the identity of your brand and shapes your customers’ impressions and thoughts about it. Therefore, it should be creative to attract people but also professional to look credible. 

Tips: 

• Your Instagram profile should be completely set up, which means including all relevant and necessary information about your brand: the name of your e-commerce store, a bio that perfectly describes your business and what it offers, a professional image, and a link to your e-commerce website. 
• You can use relevant keywords in the bio of your Instagram profile to increase discovery. 
• If your e-commerce store also has a brick-and-mortar store, make sure your Instagram profile includes the location and the working hours of the store. 
• You can also include a phone number, an email, or any other medium that you prefer to use for communication with your customers. 
• Do not underestimate the power of a great design. Customers are very much aware of how accessible it is now to make a good design for an Instagram profile. Hence, it is less likely that, in 2024, customers will accept a poorly designed profile. 

2- Instagram Shopping Features Are The Future

The best way to start leveraging Instagram for your e-commerce store in 2024 is by using its shopping features. This can be done by setting up your own Instagram shop and also by making everything shoppable, which Instagram allows you to do. 

The year 2024 should be all about making things easier and more convenient for your customers. It should also be about providing the best omnichannel experience possible. An omnichannel experience entails existing wherever your customers are, serving them whenever it is convenient for them, and ensuring that you are providing the same level of service across all your channels. 

Hence, if you decide to enter the Instagram world, you will have to work on providing the same services that you provide on your e-commerce website. This is because the true omnichannel experience starts when the value your customers get from your website is the same as the value they get from your other channels, such as Instagram. Luckily for you, Instagram makes that very easy now. 

At this point, we are particularly talking about setting up an Instagram shop; however, in the following points, we will be tackling other Instagram shopping features. 

The Instagram shop allows you to create a digital catalog for your products, which gives your customers a chance to explore your store without having to leave the application, which represents the minimum of what your customers should expect to enjoy in 2024. 

Tips:

• Make sure your e-commerce business meets the eligibility criteria before embarking on this journey.
• Learn how to navigate through your Instagram business profile’s settings.
• Spend enough time creating a catalog that includes your products along with pictures, prices, and descriptions. 
• Think of your Instagram shop as a landing page that should help you get more conversions. 

** Check out this article to learn everything about how to take advantage of Instagram shopping for your e-commerce. 

3- Diversify Your Organic Presence: Posts, Reels, Stories, and Live

First, diversifying the organic presence of your e-commerce store on Instagram is essential for your brand to shine in 2024. The good thing is that Instagram delivers you the opportunity to diversify on a silver platter by giving you different ways to communicate organically with your customers. 

It would be a shame if we reach 2024 and an e-commerce brand is still interacting with its customers on Instagram only through posts. That’s why we advise you to share your content with your customers wherever possible and in whatever formats available: posts, reels, stories, live, and anything else that Instagram might surprise us within the upcoming year. 

It is also worth mentioning that diversifying your organic presence on Instagram in 2024 can give you the following benefits:

• Reaching a broader audience and engaging with different segments of customers. To better illustrate, Instagram users differ in their preferences; some prefer the traditional way of scrolling through posts, others prefer more creative forms of engagement like those offered by stories, while some prefer the real-time interactions found in live content. 
• Offer a complete and coherent customer experience where each one of these features can serve a different aspect of your e-commerce brand. For example, Instagram posts are very suitable for telling stories and sharing detailed information about your brand, while Instagram stories capture the day-to-day moments of your business. As for live content, it shows the human aspect of your brand.

Second, MAKE EVERYTHING SHOPPABLE! Because… why not benefit from the Instagram shopping features to the maximum? 

Tips: 

• Make sure you tag your products (after creating your product catalog) in all your posts (pictures/reels), stories, and live. 
• Remember when we said that Instagram shopping features are the future? Well… Instagram Reels are another significant part of that future. Reels have been increasing in popularity for the past few years, and we can only expect them to become more popular in 2024. According to statistics, Instagram users spend 17.6 million hours a day watching Reels on the platform (Performance Marketing World, 2022). Now, imagine if, during these millions of hours, Instagram users are presented with shopping features. 
• Make 2024 the year where you host regular live shopping events. 

4- Invest In Instagram Paid Ads

Paid ads never get old; all e-commerce businesses can still benefit from them in 2024. Due to the skyrocketing competitiveness in the market, an e-commerce brand needs all the help and support it can get to reach its customers and engage with them. It is highly unlikely for this tough competition to ease in 2024; therefore, relying solely on organic methods will not be enough. You will also need to support your efforts with Instagram paid ads, which can offer you more reach and better targeting. 

By the way, Instagram-paid ads generated around $50.58 billion in 2023 and are expected to generate $59.61 by 2024 (Growth Devil, 2023). These numbers prove that Instagram paid ads should be part of your 2024 plan. 

Tips:

• Automate. Yes, that’s it. That’s the tip. AUTOMATE! Speaking of automation, Converted.in offers one of the best marketing automation tools that can create, personalize, launch, and automate your Instagram paid ads. 

5- Instagram Influencers Are Your Best Friends

Did you know that, in 2023, 76.6% of marketers have used Instagram for influencer marketing and that this percentage is expected to reach 80.8% in 2024? (Demand Sage, 2023). That means that Instagram influencer marketing is definitely one of the things that will be staying with us in 2024. 

What’s special about Instagram influencer marketing is that it provides all the necessary social proof that your customers on this platform need. 

Tips: 

• According to statistics, Instagram influencers with between 1,000 and 10,000 followers account for 65.39% of influencer accounts worldwide. The second most popular group was that of micro-influencers, who have between 10,000 and 50,000 subscribers, accounting for 27.73% of all influencers. Mid-tier influencers with 50,000 to 500,000 followers represented 6.38% of the total, while mega-influencers and celebrities with more than one million subscribers accounted for 0.23% (Statista, 2023). 
• The point here is that, in 2024, there will be no acceptable excuses regarding choosing the wrong Instagram influencers for your e-commerce brand. As you can see, there is an abundance of influencers on the platform from whom you can carefully choose the ones that can represent your brand in the best way possible.
• Remember when we said that Instagram shopping features are the future? And then we said that Instagram Reels are another part of that future? Well… we now have to say that Instagram Virtual Influencers represent a completely different kind of future. According to studies, the global Artificial Intelligence influencer marketing is expected to reach $1.5 billion in 2025. Therefore, we advise you to start exploring this fascinating technology in 2024 to ensure that your e-commerce brand will not be left behind when every other brand is using it in the future. 

6- Create A Community And Encourage User-Generated Content

Around 79% of customers say that user-generated content impacts their purchasing decisions (Search Logistics, 2023).

Instagram influencers are not the only source from which your customers can get social proof in 2024. User-generated content (UGC) is another powerful source of social proof. It increases the transparency, credibility, and authenticity of your e-commerce brand. 

This can also be part of the diversification strategy we discussed earlier because encouraging UGC results in a diverse variety of content generated by none other than your own customers. In other words, you can think of this as a way of allowing your customers to help you in the organic content diversification process. 

Tips:

• Make sure you encourage UGC within the context of a community. Human beings love the feeling of belonging, and your customers on Instagram are no exception. Therefore, make them feel that they are part of a community built on honest engagement and trust. This will positively reflect on customer loyalty and customer retention. 
• In 2024, UGC will not merely be a new trend; instead, it will be an expectation that you need to meet. 

7- Use Hashtags

If you think that hashtags have become outdated, think again. Instagram hashtags are entering the year 2024 with us with as significant an impact as they have always had. 

Studies show that Instagram posts that include 11+ hashtags have the highest interactions, with a 79.5% increase for accounts with less than 1,000 followers. Additionally, most hashtags on Instagram are branded hashtags relating to a specific business or product (Search Logistics, 2023).

So, if you have been wondering whether Instagram hashtags are still relevant in 2024, the answer is YES. 

Tips: 

• There are many forms of hashtags, which means that there is room for diversification. Use a combination of branded hashtags, general appeal hashtags, nice-specific hashtags (if your e-commerce store is a niche business), timely hashtags, and trending hashtags. 
• Do not excessively use hashtags, and remember that the relevance of the hashtags is more important than their quantity.
• You can also use Geotag whenever possible and geotag your posts, reels, and stories in locations relevant to your e-commerce brand. 

8- Make It Fun With Contests And Giveaways

In 2024, there is no room for boring e-commerce marketing strategies. So, always work on making it fun!

When it comes to Instagram, you can’t say the words contests and giveaways without thinking of the word “fun,” and when it comes to providing an exceptional customer experience, you must ensure that your customers are having fun. 

We understand that most e-commerce businesses prioritize the value that their customers get from their products or services. However, given that everyone is working on that, it will not be enough in 2024. You will need to stand out and differentiate your brand by going the extra mile. 

By going the extra mile, we mean not only ensuring that customers receive the original value but also providing the added value of a unique and fun experience they can't find anywhere else.

Tips:

• Make it fun but simple. In other words, avoid having overcomplicated guidelines for your Instagram contests or giveaways. 
• It’s the year 2024, which means that if you haven’t already started using gamification, you must start now! Add quizzes, puzzles, challenges, spinning wheels, and anything else that will make the experience of your customers on Instagram more enjoyable. 
• This strategy works better with the Instagram influencer marketing strategy. In other words, we advise you to work with Instagram influencers to promote your contests and giveaways. 

Now, why don’t you start today by launching a giveaway to celebrate the new year? 

9- Dive Into Instagram Augmented Reality (AR) Ads

If you haven’t heard about Instagram AR ads, we are here to ensure that you learn about them before you start 2024. Instagram AR ads will allow you to create more immersive customer experiences. By adding AR effects to mobile ads, you will encourage customers to try out your brand’s products. This will highly increase interaction and engagement with your brand. 

Tips:

• Instagram AR ads are accessible in both posts and stories. So, as we always say, DIVERSIFY!
• Personalization can play a huge role here. To better illustrate, through Instagram, you can tailor and personalize AR experiences to make content more relevant to your target audience. 
• Notice that there is a difference between Instagram AR filters and Instagram AR Ads. The difference is that with Instagram AR Ads, the AR experiences proposed can become a conversion tool capable of driving sales thanks to the embedded call-to-action.

10- Monitor The Trends

The concept of trends is one of the things that will never become obsolete. Trends reflect patterns of change, and change is inevitable in our world. That is something that you can’t change. However, what you can do here is stay aware of these changes by regularly monitoring the trends. 

Tips:

• Trends can include anything, ranging from a color to a social cause. Therefore, it is important not to deem anything as too small or too significant to be called a “trend.” Anything can be a trend.
• Leverage the trend in optimizing all the previously discussed strategies. For example, staying informed about current trends can enhance your approach to creating posts, reels, and stories, working with influencers, using hashtags, and launching contests and giveaways, among other strategies.
• Trust us when we say that 2024 has no room for e-commerce businesses that do not follow trends. 

Final Words:

To sum up, it is important to highlight that every year comes with opportunities that e-commerce businesses wish to leverage and threats that they wish to mitigate. In this article, we discussed one of the biggest opportunities that e-commerce stores can take advantage of in 2024: Instagram.

This platform has opened many doors for e-commerce businesses, and its benefits are expected further in 2024. It is also worth mentioning that the evolving landscape of the e-commerce sector in 2024 presents an opportunity for e-commerce businesses to leverage the power of Instagram.

Finally, we would like to remind you of the importance of using automation wherever possible. Speaking of automation, the marketing automation tool that we mentioned above and that is offered by Converted.in can help you do the following as well:

• Create, personalize, and automate all the email marketing campaigns you might be launching in 2024 to support your marketing strategies on Instagram.
• Conduct customer segmentation and identify your target audience.  
• Gather all your customer data that you will collect in one place with a 360-degree view. 

Book your demo now and GET READY FOR 2024!