What are Instagram Shopping Tags and How to Connect Them?
IMPORTANT: The product tagging service has not yet been officially launched in Russia or Belarus. Certain accounts have received access (presumably in beta version).
For business profiles, Shopping Tags are an opportunity to mark any item in a photo as a product. If a user taps on the photo, they will see tags (similar to tagging people in photos) and can click on them to go to the product page. From there, they can either contact the seller’s Instagram page or follow a link to their website (for more information).
This mechanic eliminates the need for posts with the format “link in profile description.” It allows you to embed a sales element directly into the content. Potential customers perceive the information and proceed straight to the purchase (the decision-making process happens within the social network). Shopping Tags in Stories will work similarly. This tool has no analogues within other social networks.
How to Connect:
In Belarus and Russia, you cannot influence this process, as Shopping Tags have not been officially launched here. There is no way to further influence the process. In our experience, about 2% of business profiles have access to this mechanic.
How to check if the feature is connected or not:
- You should receive a notification that this feature is available. However, there are cases when the notification does not arrive. In this case, there are two signs that you are among the lucky ones with updated profiles.
2 Ways to Check:
Option 1:
- Go to “Account Settings.” There should be an item called “Shopping” – if it’s there, congratulations, Shopping Tags are available to you.
Option 2:
- On the content publishing page, under the “Tag People” button, you will see “Tag Products.”
If Shopping Tags are not yet connected for you, there is no way to further influence the process. However, we recommend taking into account a number of requirements that are necessary for Shopping Tags to appear on your profile.
Five Requirements for Connection
If the requirements are not met, Shopping Tags will definitely not be connected.
- You must have a “Business Profile” page format. It must be linked to any business page.
- You must have a confirmed phone number.
- There must be a “Shop” on Facebook [How to create a shop on Facebook] – Shopping Tags in Instagram are taken directly from the Facebook page. Only products added there will be offered for tagging on Instagram – IMPORTANT NOTE: YOU CANNOT SELL ANY SERVICES AS A PRODUCT ON INSTAGRAM – this is stated in the terms of adding products on Facebook, so if you sell services, most likely you won’t be able to add them as products on Instagram.
- To connect to Shopping Tags, you must have at least 10 Facebook products.
- You must receive approval from Instagram.
In any case, in countries where the service is officially available, you need to get “official permission” from Instagram (the ability to connect in the settings).
IMPORTANT POINTS:
- There is a “Shopping” section on Instagram where recommendations for photos with product tags are collected.
- Recently, it became known that Instagram has finished testing a separate Shopping app – Instagram will also create a platform for working with an audience of buyers (similar to Shop.by, onliner, etc.)
We recommend fulfilling the conditions for connecting Shopping Tags and waiting for this feature to be connected to your account. After you are connected, transfer all your products to Instagram through your Facebook business page.
*This feature has been available in the West for about a year. In the US, there are cases of designer stores that have managed to increase sales several times with the help of Shopping Tags.
We look forward to the official launch of this service in our market. We believe that this mechanic will develop sales on Instagram and e-commerce in general.
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