Do you own or work for a brand that sells physical products? If so, you might want to start utilizing one of Instagram’s newest features.. Shoppable Instagram Feeds! This new feature allows you to tag products in your Instagram photos that lead back to your website so viewers can click and buy whatever you’re selling, in a matter of seconds.

This feature comes as a great surprise and welcomed change as most of us are used to Instagram’s lack of links. Normally, we get just one link in our bio which can sometimes be tough to get people to click. Now, with the addition of shoppable Instagram posts, we have the luxury of adding multiple links to a single image that lead our audiences directly back to our websites! Amazing!

Here’s what it looks like when you have a shoppable Instagram feed:

Cool, right?

Shoppable Instagram images are denoted by a small shopping bag in the bottom left hand corner of the image (or in the top right when viewed from a profile). When these images are tapped, all of the products for sale will appear. The user can then simply tap on the product of interest which opens a new window with a short description, the price and a link to purchase via your website. If a user chooses to visit your website, you’ve just significantly decreased the gap from user to customer. Congrats! 

Clearly you can see how this can benefit your business, right? Now let’s set up shoppable Instagram posts on your feed! Just follow the steps below to get started:

Prefer to watch the video version of this tutorial? Check out my YouTube video!

*This tutorial was updated on March 17, 2021.

Things to know before getting started with Shoppable Instagram Feeds:

• You must sell a physical product
• You must be located in an ‘approved country’ (click here for the full list)
• You must have a Facebook Business Page
• You must have a Business Profile on Instagram

Step 1: Connect your Instagram Account to Your Facebook Page

Your Facebook Page is going to host your products and your Instagram account will pull from there – so we need to connect these two platforms before we can proceed any fruther. To do this:

1. Navigate to your Instagram profile. Select ‘edit profile’, then select ‘page’ from the Public Business Information section

2. Connect to the appropriate Facebook page or create a new one if you need to

Note: If you don’t see this option you may not have a business profile on Instagram. To switch to one, follow these steps:

1. Go to your Instagram profile

2. Select the hamburger icon in the top right

3. Select ‘Settings’

4. Select ‘Account’

5. The click the blue text that says ‘Add New Professional Account’ or ‘Switch Account Type’ (options may vary depending on your current account type

Step 2: Create a Facebook Shop

Instagram requires users to add their products to a Facebook ‘Shop’ or ‘Catalog’ before you can enable shoppable posts on your account. Follow the steps below to create a shop and fill it with the products you’d like to tag on Instagram:

1. Navigate to https://facebook.com/commerce_manager

2. Click the blue ‘Add Shop’ button

3. If you have products on an ecommerce store already such as Shopify, select the ‘Sync a Partner Platform’ button on the right

4. If your platform appears here, select it and follow the provided steps. Upon completion, skip ahead to Step 3 in this tutorial. (Note: if your platform doesn’t appear here, you can also google ‘[Your ecomm platform] + facebook shop integration’ to find a potential solution. Here is a tutorial for woocommerce.)

5. If your platform is not an approved partner or has no facebook shop integration, return to https://facebook.com/commerce_manager and click the blue ‘next’ button in the bottom right6. Choose a Checkout Method – I suggest using ‘Checkout on Another Website’ as this will allow you to direct your audience to your website. If you choose ‘Checkout with Facebook or Instagram’ users will be able to purchase in-app but you will incur fees for every product sold.

7. Select your Facebook Page. Note: this must be the same page you connected to your Instagram account in Step 1.

8. Enter your Business Email Address9. Create a New Catalog. Give it a simple name.

10. Enter the URL where your store currently exisits.

11. Check the box to submit your shop for review

12. Click the blue ‘Finish Setup’ button.

Step 3: Add Products to Your Facebook Shop

After creating your new Facebook Shop/Catalog you’ll be directed to the Facebook Commerce Manager. From here we will add the products you want to tag on Instagram. Note: If you synced your ecomm platform with your facebook shop, your products will automatically appear here. If you didn’t, you’ll need to follow the steps to manually input them.

1. Select ‘Catalog’from the left sidebar

2. Select ‘Items’

3. If your products synced automatically, they will appear here. If no products are here, select the blue ‘Add Items’ button.

4. Choose your desired upload method. To bulk upload, follow these instructions. To upload via a Facebook Pixel, use these instructions.

Woo! You’ve just officially added products to your Facebook Shop! We’re almost able to start tagging products in our posts and stories. Now we have to head back over to Instagram to enable our shop.

Step 4: Enable Instagram Shopping

Now that you’ve created a Facebook Shop and added products to it, we have to tell Instagram we’re ready to tag our products in our content. To do this:

1. Go to your Instagram profile

2. Select the hamburger icon in the top righ

t3. Select ‘Settings’

4. Select ‘Business

‘5. Click the blue ‘Set Up Instagram Shopping’ button

6. Follow the steps to submit your account for review

You will now have to wait for approval of Instagram Shopping on your account. This can take as little as 24 hours and up to 1 week. Assuming you meet the criteria outline on this page, you should be approved quickly.

Once approved you’ll see the following notification popup at the top of your profile:

If you don’t see that notification or you want to keep an eye on the status of your approval, you can navigate back to ‘business’ (within your settings) and see if a new ‘Shopping’ tab has appeared (it should be second from the top). If so, you’re approved! If not, you’ll need to keep waiting.

When you’re approved and the ‘Shopping’ button appears in your Business settings, you will be able to click it to view your active catalogs and products. At that point, we’re ready to start tagging!

Step 5: Tag Products in Your Instagram Posts

Now that you’ve completed all the sets of setting up a Facebook Shop and being approved for Instagram Shopping – you can finally create your shoppable Instagram feed by tagging products in your posts and stories! Here’s how:

1. Add a photo to Instagram as you normally would (select the + icon, choose your image, add filters, a caption, etc)

2. Select ‘Tag Products’

3. Tap the photo where you’d like a product tag to appear, then select the appropriate product from your catalog

4. Tap ‘done’ and review your post5. Share your new, shoppable Instagram image!

Step 6: Tag Products in Your Instagram Stories

Not only can you tag your products within your posts, but you can also tag them in your stories! Here’s how:

1. Open your Instagram Story camera (by swiping right from your home feed, taping your profile picture in the top left, or hitting the + icon on the top right and selecting ‘Story’)

2. Create your story as usual, adding images, gifs, text etc.

3. Tap the Sticker icon on the top and select the ‘Product’ sticker.

4. Select the product you want to add to your story.

5. Adjust the sticker to display as you like

6. Share your story!

Now when someone views your story they’ll be able to click on the product tag, see the details of your item, and head over to your website to purchase!

So that’s it – you can now tag your products in every photo or story that you upload to Instagram! I love this feature and think that it will really help business owners increase sales. But keep in mind that uploading a photo and tagging your products doesn’t guarantee anything. You still want to post quality content, write engaging captions, use call to actions and provide your audience real value! These are the things that really help you make more sales!

What do you think of the shoppable Instagram feature? Will you be using it on your account? Let me know in the comments below!