5 Shopping Tools You Should Be Using On Meta

Browsing your friend’s vacation feed and liking crazy food creation shorts are just a few things to do on Instagram’s wildly-addictive content feed. It’s also a great place to shop. While YouTube is the number one “most trusted social network” for product search and purchase, Facebook and Instagram (Meta) came in second place. 

Of social media users, 12% use Instagram for shopping. Are you successfully capturing these customers? If not, make sure these shopping 5 tools from Meta are at the top of your priority list.

1.   Product tags

Instagram and Facebook users are incredibly savvy, and they know there are all kinds of ways to interact with the content in their feeds. One way is through product tags, a simple way to connect items in your catalog to your stories and in-feed posts. You don't have to rely on the text descriptions to do this (although you can). On Instagram, this is incredibly useful since you can't really click description text links anyway, but you can add product tags to feed copy, as well as in your live videos and even Reels.

Users only have to tap on the tag to get directed to your choice of product shopping page - Whether it’s a new lipstick you have an influencer wear in a live video or the pet food being enjoyed by the world’s fluffiest kittens.

When we first heard about Meta launching Product tags for eCommerce businesses, we were eager to test their impact on conversion growth for Highlights. Not only did we see increased conversion rates, but this tool also significantly helped us lessen the friction through the purchase journey. Check out more insights from our Product tags test. 

2.   Instagram Shop tab

The Shop Tab is a fun way for active buyers to explore new things they may want to buy. The perk is that you are capitalizing on a specific subset of Instagram users who are in the mood to spend some money (or at least add some items to their wishlists.) Be sure to use those product tags mentioned above to help buyers find your goods easily, such as “pumpkin spice coffee,” which will give users an easy way to see all of the products that fall into that category.

The Editor’s Picks portion of this tab will get an additional signal boost, although you don’t have much control over getting your products into this Meta-curated collection. (Adding relevant product tags can improve your odds, however.)

3.   Product launch

If you’re a U.S. business with a new product coming soon, you’ll certainly want to check out the Meta product launch toolkit. It’s available to those with checkout enabled, giving you a way to announce an upcoming exclusive drop. A huge opportunity for those with collectible, limited-stock, and designer goods. Your audience will be able to learn about the new product plus sign up to be notified when it’s available. Use the countdown stickers and design elements to hype up offerings on your Live feed, Stories, and Reels, too!

4.   Shopping link in bio

This seems like such a simple way to connect with buyers, but not everyone is using it. While not a traditional “shopping tool,” most users go to the link in an account's bio to find out more about a brand. Why not send them directly to your IG-friendly shop? It’s free and is a totally hands-off resource.

5.   Lookalike audience segments

If you know anything about your market, you probably have more than a few competing brands with customers you’d love to acquire. While not a guaranteed method of success, cloning the segments of the top brands and influencers can give you insight into the type of customer you want to gain. You may even determine your product is better designed for an untapped market you didn't even know about.

Bottom line: Making the Meta shopping tools work for you will require some planning and determination to keep your data and content up-to-date and accurate. However, the first big step you can take is to simply get started. Even if you begin with just a handful of your best-selling, most-profitable, or little-known items and go from there, you’re putting a plan into action. Think through how each item can benefit from the tools mentioned above, and prioritize those over products that may not mesh well with the buying habits of Instagram users.

By taking the time to set up your shopping tools correctly the first time, you won't have to reinvent everything later. See how we can help you optimize for success with Meta shopping tools.