How to Sell on Instagram: 13 Strategies for 2025

Picture this: 2.5 billion people scroll Instagram for 19 hours each month, discovering products and making purchases. Your potential customers are already there—you just need to meet them where they’re shopping.

Instagram Shopping, the platform’s social selling solution, lets you turn your profile into a storefront where followers can discover and buy your products without ever leaving the app. Tag products in posts, Reels, and Stories to create a seamless path from discovery to purchase.

But product tags alone won’t build a profitable Instagram presence. You need a comprehensive Instagram marketing strategy to attract the right audience, create content that converts, and turn casual scrollers into loyal customers.

This guide walks you through setting up Instagram Shopping, building an engaged following, and turning your Instagram presence into a reliable sales channel.

What is Instagram selling?

Instagram selling is a social commerce strategy where you use Instagram to showcase, promote, and sell your products directly to your followers. You’ll use Instagram’s built-in commerce features—like Shops and Checkout—to build an audience and turn followers into paying customers.

What is Instagram Shopping?

Instagram Shopping gives you the tools to sell directly on the platform. Create a shop on your profile, tag products in your content, and make money online without customers having to leave Instagram.

Here’s what you get with Instagram Shopping:

• Instagram Shop: Build a branded storefront where customers browse your products and read your story—all without leaving Instagram
• Shopping tags: Tag up to 20 products in any post, Reel, or Story to direct viewers straight to your product pages
• Instagram Checkout: Let shoppers complete their purchase in-app instead of redirecting to your website (available in the US)

How to set up Instagram Shopping

The fastest way to start selling on Instagram is through Shopify. Connect your Shopify store to Instagram and your entire product catalog syncs automatically—no manual uploads needed.

Don’t have Shopify? You can still monetize Instagram by uploading your products to Meta Commerce Manager first.

Either route requires an Instagram business profile. Here’s how to get everything set up:

1. Create an Instagram business profile

You need an Instagram business profile to access Instagram’s selling features. Convert your personal account or create a new business profile:

1. Go to your profile and tap the hamburger icon in the upper right corner.
2. Tap “Settings and privacy” then “Account type and tools.”
3. Select “Switch to professional account.”
4. Choose a category that describes your business.

Before moving forward, make sure your products comply with Instagram’s commerce policies. Consider verifying your Instagram account with the blue checkmark—you’ll need a Facebook Business Page to qualify.

2. Add your products to Instagram

Now you’ll connect your product catalog to Instagram. Choose the method that works for your setup:

• Connect your Shopify store: If you already sell on Shopify, install the Facebook and Instagram app from your Shopify admin and connect your accounts. Your products will sync automatically, and you can start tagging them right away.
• Upload products manually: Create a Commerce Manager account and build your catalog from scratch. You’ll need a 500 by 500 pixel image, product description, price, SKU, and link to your product page for each item.

3. Turn on Instagram Shopping

Once your business profile and product catalog are ready, activate Shopping:

1. Go to your Instagram profile settings.
2. Tap Business.
3. Tap Shopping.
4. Connect your product catalog.

You’re now ready to tag products in posts, create shopping ads, and start driving sales through Instagram.

How to sell on Instagram successfully: 13 proven strategies

1. Partner with influencers and affiliates
2. Run Instagram ads
3. Use product tags strategically
4. Create shoppable Reels
5. Curate user-generated content
6. Use the right hashtags for product discovery
7. Use video to showcase your products
8. Leverage Instagram Stories for sales
9. Engage with your audience
10. Host live shopping events
11. Optimize your Instagram profile
12. Set up an Instagram chatbot
13. Start an Instagram broadcast channel

1. Partner with influencers and affiliates

While many businesses chase TikTok personalities, Instagram remains the birthplace of influencer marketing—and it’s still where the magic happens. Instagram influencers act as brand ambassadors, lending their reach and credibility to your products while exposing you to their target audience.

The numbers speak for themselves: 74% of people have bought something based on an influencer’s recommendation. That’s the power of trusted voices in your industry.

Take Transformer Table’s approach. Co-founder Artem Kuzmichev created a campaign targeting Costco-specific influencers who specialize in “Costco finds” content.

“We found influencers that were Costco-specific,” Artem explains to Shopify Masters. “They call it ’Costco finds.’ So they go to Costco, they film themselves finding products. We found all of them on Instagram. And we said, ’Go to Costco, shoot our product.” And our Costco sales just went ballistic.”

Don’t assume every influencer charges celebrity rates. Micro-influencers—accounts with 10,000 to 100,000 followers—often deliver the highest engagement rates and charge between $25 to $1,250 per sponsored post. Many will create content in exchange for free products. 

💡Pro Tip: Instagram’s affiliate marketing tools let creators tag products from your Instagram Shop and earn commission on sales they generate. It’s a win-win relationship where influencers are incentivized to promote your products authentically.

Get started:

• Find influencers your audience follows through the Shopify Collabs app.
• Try Instagram collaboration posts for influencer campaigns.
• Invite creators to your affiliate program to drive ongoing promotion.

2. Run Instagram ads

Instagram has become a serious shopping destination. After posting and scrolling, product research is the third most popular activity on the platform. With an estimated reach of 1.74 billion users, Instagram ads put your products in front of massive audiences.

Instagram ads appear in feeds and on the Explore page using images, carousels, or videos from your product catalog. You build them in Ads Manager and can target custom audiences or lookalike audiences to find new customers.

Shoppable ads take this further by including product tags. When someone sees a product they want, they can tap through to your product page or website to learn more. US businesses can also enable Instagram checkout, letting customers buy without leaving the app.

Zachary Quinn, founder of Oceanfoam, discovered an unexpected benefit of boosting posts, as he explains to Shopify Masters: “Boosting your posts on Instagram helps to get a lot of engagement back from people that are coming up with creative ideas for partnerships. You get more likes on your page and then more businesses pay attention to you, and you find opportunities for collaboration through that.”

Get started:

• Turn your best-performing organic posts into Instagram ads.
• Add product tags to enable seamless checkout for ad audiences.
• Build custom audience lists of existing customers, VIP buyers, or website visitors with Shopify Audiences.

3. Use product tags strategically

Your customers’ shopping journey on Instagram isn’t linear—they’re scrolling, discovering, and buying on impulse. Instagram product tags let you capture that moment of interest and turn browsers into buyers instantly.

Tag products in posts, Stories, Reels, and Live videos (if you have checkout enabled) so customers can shop wherever they discover your content. The key is making the buying process frictionless—one tap should take them from discovery to purchase.

Meow Meow Tweet tags five products in a single post. Each tag sits directly over the corresponding product in the image, so customers can immediately access detailed descriptions and buy through their online store.

Tagged products also appear in users’ Explore feeds, expanding your reach beyond your followers. When customers tag your products in their own posts, you get a notification and free user-generated content that builds social proof.

Get started:

• Sync your Shopify product catalog using the Instagram & Facebook app
• Shoot high-quality product photography and tag relevant products in every post
• Encourage customers to tag your products in their own posts for wider exposure

4. Create shoppable Reels

Instagram launched Reels to compete with TikTok’s short-form video dominance—and it worked. Reels deliver 36% more reach than any other Instagram content type, making them your best bet for discovery.

You can create videos up to three minutes long, using text overlays, AR filters, and trending audio to tell your brand’s story and show your products in action. Since Reels appear on the Explore page, they can reach anyone on Instagram, not just your followers.

To turn Reels into an Instagram money-making machine:

• Tag products at the right moment: Don’t overwhelm viewers with tags from the start. If you’re showing a morning routine, tag the coffee mug when it appears onscreen, not before.
• Include compelling calls-to-action: Drive urgency with captions like “Take 10% off with code REEL10—sale ends tonight!” to push tagged products.
• Show products in action: Demonstrate benefits, compare options, or solve problems. Drunk Elephant uses Reels to show the difference between skin creams, helping customers choose the right product:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Drunk Elephant Skincare (@drunkelephant)

Get started:

• Use AI video generators to turn existing content into short-form Reels.
• Add trending audio to boost discovery potential.
• Include captions and subtitles for sound-off viewers.

5. Curate user-generated content

Your happiest customers are already creating content about your products—you just need to find it and put it to work. User-generated content (UGC) fills your feed with authentic content while maintaining full shopping functionality. 

The impact is real: 40% of shoppers consider UGC “extremely” or “very” important when making purchase decisions. Unlike polished brand content, UGC tells authentic stories that resonate because they come from real customers, not marketing teams.

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand Vuori nails this approach by showcasing customers wearing its activewear in real-life situations, creating a feed that feels genuine while still driving sales:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Remi Ishizuka Pontious (@rrayyme)

Get started:

• Create a branded hashtag to make discovering organic UGC effortless.
• Use social listening tools to find people already posting about your products.
• Pay creators to produce UGC through platforms like Shopify Collabs.

6. Use the right hashtags for product discovery

Hashtags make your shoppable content discoverable and help the Instagram algorithm understand what your posts are about. When you add hashtags, you’re essentially telling Instagram, “Show this to people interested in these topics.”

Consider using hashtags on your Shoppable posts. Use broad hashtags like #style or #fashion to reach wider audiences, or niche ones like #earringsaddict to target specific communities.

Get started:

• Survey your audience and study competitors to find effective hashtag combinations.
• Create a branded hashtag and mention it in all customer communications.
• Mix broad and niche hashtags to balance reach with relevance.

7. Use video to showcase your products

Video drives action: 87% of people have bought something after watching a video. For Instagram selling, video isn’t optional—it’s essential for showing products in action and building emotional connections.

The best product videos tell stories that help viewers understand what your product can do for them. Show the transformation, solve a problem, or demonstrate benefits that static images can’t capture.

Best practices for Instagram video:

• Keep it short—six to 10 seconds for maximum impact.
• Design for sound-off viewing with clear visuals and text.
• Use vertical format for mobile screens.
• Add product stickers to Stories for direct sales.
• Pin videos as highlights below your bio for new visitors.

Nutritional supplement company Huel uses videos strategically for Q&A sessions, Instagram giveaways, and product introductions, creating content that educates while it sells.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Huel (@huel)

Get started:

• Survey your audience to learn which video types they prefer.
• Use AI video generators to speed up content creation.
• Repurpose videos from TikTok or your website as Instagram Reels.

8. Leverage Instagram Stories for sales

Stories create intimate connections with your audience while driving immediate sales. They’re particularly powerful for smaller accounts—businesses with under 10,000 followers have increased their Story reach by 35%.

Stories let you build trust by showing products in action, offering behind-the-scenes glimpses, or featuring customer content. Interactive features like polls, countdown timers, and product stickers turn passive viewers into engaged buyers.

The 24-hour lifespan creates natural urgency. Use this for flash sales, limited-time offers, or “last chance” notifications that drive immediate action.

Key Story features for selling:

• Link stickers for direct traffic
• Product tags for instant shopping
• Polls and surveys for engagement
• Countdown timers for urgency
• Branded hashtags for discovery

Get started:

• Repost feed content to Stories for extended reach.
• Share product sneak peeks with countdown timers.
• Add product stickers to every relevant Story.
• Save successful Stories to highlights for ongoing visibility.

9. Engage with your audience

Your audience drives your Instagram sales—they’re the ones actually buying from you. Making them feel valued and heard directly impacts your bottom line. 

Start with the basics: Respond to comments, acknowledge mentions, and create two-way conversations. Host Q&A sessions in Stories or drop polls to gauge interest in new products. These simple interactions build the trust that converts followers into customers.

Home décor company Letterfolk uses Instagram Stories to host its “fan of the month” series, spotlighting customers and making them feel like part of the brand community:

Instagram’s interactive features—polls, question stickers, quizzes—do double duty. They boost Instagram engagement while giving you valuable insights into customer preferences. Use this data to inform product decisions and content strategy.

Take engagement further by showcasing user-generated content in your feed and Stories. When you share customer posts or testimonials, you’re building social proof while showing appreciation for their loyalty. Consider Instagram Live for real-time interactions during product demos or shopping events.

Get started:

• Create regular polls in Stories to gather customer feedback.
• Start a customer spotlight series like “fan of the month.”
• Repost user-generated content to build community and social proof.

10. Host live shopping events

Live commerce is exploding—studies predict it will drive 5% of all US ecommerce sales by 2026. Instagram Live puts you at the center of this trend.

Use Instagram Live to create real-time connections while showcasing products through behind-the-scenes content, product launches, or exclusive shopping events. The immediacy creates urgency that drives sales.

Amplify your reach by inviting influencers to host livestreams from your account. Their audience tunes in for them but discovers your products, creating new customer acquisition opportunities.

Get started:

• Set regular live sessions and promote them with countdown stickers in Stories.
• Enable comments during live videos to boost participation.
• Add product tags so viewers can buy while watching.

11. Optimize your Instagram business profile 

Your profile is your Instagram storefront—it needs to convert visitors into followers and customers. Every element should work toward building trust and driving action:

• Profile photo: Use your logo for instant brand recognition. Consistency builds trust.
• Instagram bio: Include your unique value proposition, contact information, and branded hashtags. Use line breaks and strategic spacing for easy scanning.
• Bio links: Add up to five links using tools like Linkpop to create a custom landing page. Direct traffic to bestsellers, product categories, and other social accounts from one link.
• Verification badge: Apply for the blue checkmark to add credibility and authenticity to your profile.
• Highlight covers: Design customer covers that match your brand aesthetic. Olipop uses consistent orange-themed graphics that make its highlights instantly recognizable and clickable.

Get started:

• Create a shoppable “link in bio” with Linkpop.
• Write a clear value proposition for your bio.
• Design branded highlight covers using Canva or similar tools.

12. Set up an Instagram chatbot

Direct messages aren’t just for casual conversation—they’re a sales channel. More than a third of Gen Z uses Instagram DMs as their primary communication platform, and nearly three-quarters of recent DM users chose Instagram over other messaging apps.

As your account grows, so does your DM volume. An AI chatbot handles these conversations at scale while providing instant answers to customer questions. Customers are open to this: chatbot interactions can increase average order value by up to 33%.

Get started:

• Choose an Instagram chatbot tool like Manychat, Chatbase, or Tidio.
• Set up automated responses for common questions about returns, shipping, and discount codes.
• Integrate your store to answer questions about stock levels and enable in-app purchases. 

13. Start an Instagram broadcast channel

Instagram broadcast channels give you a direct line to your most engaged followers. When you send a message, it triggers an in-app notification, bypassing the algorithm entirely.

This creates an exclusive community where you can share flash sales, product previews, and gather feedback from your most loyal customers. Treat it like a VIP club—members should feel special for being there.

Use broadcasts to:

• Share exclusive sales and early access offers
• Preview upcoming product launches
• Gather feedback on new products
• Build deeper relationships with top customers

Favorite Daughter uses its broadcast channel for exclusive flash sales, creating urgency and rewarding their most engaged followers.

Get started:

• Create a broadcast channel with a compelling name.
• Invite your most engaged followers to join.
• Send regular valuable content to build your community.

What types of products can I sell on Instagram?

Instagram works best for visually appealing products that photograph well and tell a story. If you can showcase your product’s benefits, transformation, or lifestyle appeal through images and videos, you can probably sell it on Instagram.

Trending products to sell on Instagram:

• Clothing and fashion accessories
• Jewelry and watches
• Home décor and furniture
• Beauty and skin care products
• Fitness equipment and activewear
• Handcrafted and artisanal goods
• Digital products like courses and templates
• Food and beverage products

Measuring your Instagram selling success

Selling on Instagram requires both creative content and analytical insight. You need engaging posts to capture attention, but you also need data to understand what’s actually driving sales.

Key metrics to track

Focus on metrics that connect directly to business outcomes—revenue, customer acquisition, and profitability. These key performance indicators (KPIs) help you understand whether your Instagram marketing efforts are worth the investment.

Essential metrics for Instagram selling:

• Engagement rate: The percentage of people who interact with your posts through likes, comments, shares, DMs, or profile visits. Higher engagement often leads to better reach and sales.
• Website clicks: Track how many people visit your store through your bio link or product tags. This shows how effectively your content drives traffic.
• Conversion rate: The percentage of Instagram visitors who actually buy something. Measure both website conversions and Instagram Shop purchases.
• Return on investment (ROI): Calculate how much revenue you generate for every dollar spent on Instagram marketing, including content creation, ads, and influencer partnerships.

💡Pro Tip: Instagram can’t track what happens after someone leaves the platform. Use Shopify Analytics to see the full customer journey. Filter by “Instagram” as a referral source to see exactly what customers buy, which pages they visit, and how much they spend.

Using Instagram Insights for sales optimization

Instagram Insights reveals how people interact with your content. Access it through your profile in the mobile app—tap the hamburger menu and select Insights.

Key insights for selling:

• Content performance: See which format—Reels, posts, or Stories—generates the most reach and engagement, then create more of what works.
• Top-performing posts: Identify patterns in your best performing content to inform future strategy. Look for common themes, formats, or topics that resonate.
• Audience demographics: Compare your followers’ age, gender, and location to your ideal customer profile. The closer the match, the better your targeting.

• Profile activity: Track profile visits, website clicks, and CTA button taps to optimize your bio and link strategy.