We are all visual shoppers. We need to see the product and understand how it looks before we buy it. This is why Instagram proves to be effective in converting shoppers. The visual social platform makes it easier for brands to get discovered by shoppers and provides easy shop features to take them to the eCommerce store. What’s more, with the number of Instagram tools and best Shopify apps available for users, setting up an Instagram strategy is easier than ever before.
Due to the quarantine, consumers are spending more time on social media platforms. In fact, Instagram has witnessed a 40% usage spike in usage mid-March as direct a result of the coronavirus.
If you haven’t yet enabled Instagram as a channel for shoppers to discover and shop your products, it’s about time you did. With enough apps within the Shopify App Store to help you and tools for photo editing, Instagram scheduling, etc, setting up your Instagram strategy won’t be hard!
Here are a few tools you can set up, including some of the best Shopify apps built for Instagram to help you set up a successful Instagram strategy and increase sales for your store.
Tools and Best Shopify Apps to Increase Instagram Acquisition
1. InstaPics – Instagram feed
Showing your Instagram feed on your Shopify store can help you utilize Instagram’s popularity and get your store visitors to engage with your content for longer. The Instagram feed within your website can show user-generated content, boosting social proof and credibility.
You can easily set up a customizable Instagram feed on your Shopify store with InstaPics, one of the best Shopify apps for Instagram-driven strategy.
The app integrates with Facebook API to ensure the feed is shown on your store’s pages. You can set up your feed within your store using customizable preset templates, ensuring the feed fits your design preferences. You can show the feed within your storefront, product pages, and even the cart page.
This is the easiest way to make your store visitors stay on your store for longer and turn them into Instagram followers.
2. Cameo – Shoppable Instagram
One of the issues with Instagram is that you can’t add clickable links within the post description. This means that the link within your bio needs to be changed every time you post. But, with Cameo, you don’t have to!
Cameo creates a Shoppable Instagram feed that your followers, allowing your shoppers to shop the products within your Instagram feed. You can display your posts as a slideshow, grid, or collage, and track the clicks and views of the feed.
In fact, you can create product-specific feeds using Cameo so that if a user is browsing a product, he can see the Instagram photos in which the product has been tagged. This helps them see how your product is being used by other customers or how it looks when styled/ put in use. Call it a product reel that helps your customers see what’s the product all about!
With Cameo, shopping your products through your attractive Instagram feed is easier and shoppers can get to checkout easier than ever before.
3. Carro – Instagram Influencer Marketing
The large community of influencers on Instagram gives you an opportunity to broaden your reach. However, finding relevant influencers is tough.
Carro helps you understand the influencers and press who shop from you or have subscribed to you. You can then use this information to work with these influencers, communicate, and distribute products. Such a tool can help you build partnerships that make a positive impact on your business.
4. Post Studio – Instagram auto-post
Manual posting on Instagram is not fun. It takes time out of your day and disturbs your workflow. Having an automatic social publishing tool can help you ensure engagements without disrupting your workflow.
Post Studio is built for your Instagram auto-post needs. The app lets you schedule your Instagram posts, with text and hashtags. You can templatize your post’s caption, setting variables that get replaced with product details when the post is sent out. Spend less time posting on Instagram and more time planning your social media strategy with Post Studio.
5. RetargetApp – Instagram retargeting
Instagram is a great channel to bring back one-time store visitors to engage with your store, customers to increase repeat purchases, and shoppers who abandoned their cart to checkout. Retargeting is a powerful way to convert your shoppers quickly with highly-relevant and personalized ads shown to shoppers who have already taken action on your Shopify store.
RetargetApp is one of the best Shopify apps for ad strategy. It is designed to help you set up retargeting ads that are sure to convert. You can use the app to set up Instagram ads— feed ads and story ads— so that you can effectively convert your shoppers.
6. Typito – Product Video Maker
Videos see higher engagement than any other content format. 64% of consumers make a purchase after watching branded social videos. But, without the right tool, creating videos is time-consuming and requires a large budget.
Typito simplifies video creation with its video editor. Its drag-and-drop functionality lets anyone create videos, using templates available within the Typito editor, your own footage, and text animation.
By creating videos, you can effectively engage new audiences with your Instagram feed and attract followers easily. Videos are proven to be successful at bringing in followers and by leveraging this format, you can attract new audiences and later bring them to your store to shop.
If you want to make highly engaging product videos with little effort, Typito is the best Shopify app for you.
7. InstaStories – create beautiful Instagram stories
With 500 million users, stories are posted more than feed posts on Instagram. It’s crucial to note that businesses see more engagement in their stories than regular users do. One-third of the most-viewed Instagram Stories are from businesses. Moreover, 15% to 25% of people swipe up on a link in branded Stories.
InstaStories is created to help you create and set up Instagram stories that convert. The app provides templates for your Instagram Story, and you can customize this template with images and fonts. This app is perfect for merchants who want to set up Instagram stories without having to switch between an image editing app and Instagram to do so.
8. RevTap – Measure Instagram Ads Performance
Measuring the performance of your strategy can help you optimize it and maximize the revenue you generate through it. RevTap is an integrated analytics dashboard that puts all your store data in one place to give you a comprehensive look at your data.
RevTap’s Instagram ads reports can allow you to understand how your ads are performing, what’s working, and what isn’t. This detailed report can then be used to optimize your ad and ensure you are catering to shoppers’ needs to increase your revenue.
9. VSCO – Photo Editor With Filters and Presets
If you want to create an Instagram feed that features beautifully edited photos and creates a vibe, you’ll want to check out VSCO. VSCO has 200+ presets, with different kinds of filters available. Its advanced photo editing tools help you add more depth to your pictures and add borders.
If you’re looking for a no-frills photo editing app, VSCO has all the features you need to edit your photos to suit your aesthetics.
10. Preview App – Instagram Feed Planner
A well-curated feed is sure to turn heads, attracting new followers with ease. The Preview App is created to help you plan your Instagram feed to maximize your chances of following conversions.
The tool helps you preview your Instagram feed to understand how your images will look next to each other, edit the photos to enhance their color compatibility, and schedule your posts in advance. The feed preview feature is especially popular with users and brands who want to create an aesthetic looking feed and ensure they create a great first impression.
11. Canva – Graphic Design Platform
Many stores use a mix of photos and designs within their Instagram feed. If you want well-designed posts on your feed, Canva is the best design platform.
Canva has simplified design for non-designers, providing a library of templates, text styles, illustrations, photos, and elements. You can pick a template, customize colors to match your branding, and edit the text and add elements. This process is quick, helping you design a beautiful Instagram post without taking too much time.
12. Snapseed
If you’re looking for a photo editing app that provides a natural look and feel to your photos, Snapseed is your answer. With its unique gesture-based interface, Snapseed offers an incredible level of control over its effects and filters. It allows you to create presets to keep your photos consistent in style and you can edit your photos on mobile.
13. Repost App
With the Repost App installed on your mobile device, it easier to repost pictures shared by your shoppers onto your Instagram feed. This app enables you to easily share user-generated content and build credibility among your Instagram audience.
14. Boomerang
It’s important to use different formats on your social platforms to add variety and make your social content more engaging. This is where Boomerang comes in. Boomerang from Instagram makes everyday moments fun and unexpected by allowing you to create captivating mini videos that loop back and forth. It shoots a burst of 10 photos and turns them into a delightful mini video.
15. Afterlight
Afterlight is an image editing app for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone devices. Similar to most image-editing apps, Afterlight allows the user to take a photo or load one from the previously taken photos. If VSCO and Snapseed don’t suit your style, Afterlight must just be the winner!
Set up a winning Instagram strategy with the best Shopify apps
With a well-planned Instagram strategy, you will be able to attract new followers and have the opportunity to convert Instagram users into customers. Instagram is one of the most popular platforms right now and by tapping into this channel, you can increase your brand awareness and sell better.
We hope these 12 Instagram-centric apps and tools help you plan your Instagram strategy better and put your strategy into play without taking too much of your time.
Vanhishikha is the Content Marketer at Expert Village Media. She can be found looking for strategies to grow online stores, or browsing through Instagram.