Implementing Shoppable Tags on Instagram: A Comprehensive Guide

Instagram's latest feature, shoppable tags, allows businesses to turn their social media platform into a seamless shopping experience. By integrating shoppable tags into both your feed and stories, you can drive more sales and enhance user engagement with your brand. In this article, we will guide you through the process of setting up and using shoppable tags on Instagram, ensuring your content is optimized for Google's search standards.

What are Shoppable Tags?

Shoppable tags are a feature that allows users to tap on a product in an Instagram post or story and be directed to a product page where they can make a purchase. This feature is particularly useful for businesses looking to increase sales and simplify the purchasing process for their customers. To effectively use shoppable tags, you need to connect your Instagram account to a Facebook catalog, which is a listing of all your products that you want to sell.

Connecting Your Instagram to a Facebook Catalog

The first step in implementing shoppable tags is to connect your Instagram Business profile to a Facebook catalog. This catalog acts as a central repository for all your products. You can use various methods to set up your Facebook catalog, such as Facebook Business Manager, Facebook Page, Shopify, or BigCommerce. The easiest approach is to use Facebook Page to set up a catalog.

Setting Up a Facebook Catalog via Facebook Page

Add a shop section to your Business Facebook Page. Click on Settings, then Edit Page, Template, Shopping Template. Once you apply the template, a "Shop" tab will automatically appear on your main Facebook Page. Go to the "Shop" tab and you’ll see an option to edit or remove any product you’re selling or not selling anymore.

Adding Shoppable Tags to Your Content

With your Instagram connected to a Facebook catalog, you can now start adding shoppable tags to your posts and stories. Here are the steps to follow:

Ensure that your Instagram account is connected to a Facebook Page. Upload your product catalog to the Facebook Page. After your catalog is uploaded and approved by Facebook, you can add a shoppable tag to a product just like you would a person. Instagram will simply give you the option of which one you would like to tag.

Shoppable Tags in Stories and Feed Posts

To get access to the shopping sticker in stories, you will need to create a tag in your feed first. Once you tag a product in your feed, you should see the shopping sticker available. You can only tag one product in stories but five in a feed post or five in each carousel photo/video. This constraint allows users to focus on relevant products and ensures that the user experience remains seamless.

Available Features and Limitations

This shoppable tag feature is not available for normal Instagram accounts. You must have an Instagram Business account to access this feature. Fortunately, you don't necessarily have to make a separate account; you can link your existing Facebook public page to your Instagram Business account.

Conclusion

By setting up and using shoppable tags on Instagram, you can significantly enhance the shopping experience for your customers and drive more sales for your business. Integrating this feature requires a few steps, but the benefits are well worth it. Embrace these tools and watch your business grow.