6 Exciting Instagram Features To Try This Holiday Season

Digital Marketing / October 09, 2020

Shopping has become a large part of Instagram’s experience in the last few years (we wrote a whole blog post dedicated to Instagram Shopping, read it here). The social media app keeps rolling out new features that reinforce its desire to be a social commerce leader. 

The holiday season 2020 is almost here and social media users will be on the lookout for gift ideas to treat themselves or their friends and family. A strong social media presence will help your brand reach new audiences, drive awareness and generate sales.

Keep reading to discover 6 exciting Instagram features that will set your brand apart this season and boost your social media strategy.

1. Set-Up and Customize Your Instagram Shop

Last May, Facebook launched Shops, a Facebook and Instagram store where users can discover brands, browse products, access product pages directly from the social media platforms. Plus, brands have the liberty to design their Instagram/Facebook shop to reflect their brand image with colors, layouts, fonts, images, etc. 

Consumers browse Instagram, a photo-centric app, to discover new products and brands and their behaviour will be accentuated throughout the Holidays. So, don’t waste time, set up your Instagram/Facebook Shop if you haven’t already.

When setting up your shop, use full-screen high-quality images, clear and concise titles and descriptions. Keep in mind that users will browse your storefront on mobile devices.

Also, some U.S. stores already have access to Instagram Checkout. A frictionless way for consumers to purchase products directly from the Instagram app. Instagram Checkout should be available to a larger roster of retailers in the upcoming months, keep an eye out for that. 

2. Create Curated Holiday Collections on Instagram Shop

Now that your Instagram Shop is set up and ready to go, customize your shop by curating products into themes. Collections make the user experience more fun and it makes it easier for users to find more of what they love.

Try creating holiday-theme collections to inspire shoppers: Holiday Trends, Gift Under $50, Gift Ideas for Moms, Black Friday Steals, etc.

3. Try Out Live Shopping

With social distancing and the retail shutdown, consumers are craving human interaction and in-store shopping experience. Live content is a great way to interact with your followers in a more intimate way. 

Instagram recently launched a Live Shopping feature that enables consumers to buy a product in real-time when they are inspired by a brand’s live video content. This season, try hosting a few Instagram lives to showcase new products, holiday gift ideas, special promo launch, etc.

More brands are discovering live shopping and including this new marketing channel into their e-commerce strategy. We’ve hosted a webinar on the subject in September 2020, watch the replay here. 

4. Turn Your Instagram Posts into Shopping Opportunities: Tag Your Products in Post, Stories and IGTV

Tagging your products in posts (photos AND videos!), stories and IGTV is probably the easiest way to promote your products organically on Instagram. Shopping tags feature the product name and price directly on your brand’s posts. Users can also click on the tag to open the Instagram Product page. This page includes a link to buy on the website and features similar products. 

Once you’ve enabled Shopping on Instagram, you’ll be able to tag your products in a few clicks directly in the app.

When you consistently tag your products in your post, you’ll also increase your chances to be featured on the “Instagram Shop“, the in-app shopping destination where people can discover products and brands they love from across Instagram. “Shop” is available on the “Explore Tab”.

5. Use Shopping Ads and Custom Shopping Audiences to Drive Sales

Setting up your Instagram Shop is a great first step to promoting your product on Instagram. Then, you’ll want to use advertising to reach a new or existing audience quickly and when it matters most. 

We recommend testing out Instagram Shopping Ads if you haven’t already. 

Shopping Ads will increase the number of people engaging with your shoppable content, which in return will increase your chances of driving sales this holiday season.

Your brand can also leverage the power of Custom Shopping Audiences when using Shopping Ads. Your Custom Shopping Audience includes users that have engaged with your shoppable content and shown an interest in your products. 

6. Create Instagram Reels

With TikTok’s popularity booming in Canada and the U.S., it was a matter of time before Instagram launched a similar product. Instagram introduced Reels, short eye-catching videos edited with creative tools such as music and special effects, in early August 2020.

The new format gives brands another opportunity to create unique content that resonates with their consumer base.

Instagram Reels can amplify your social media presence this holiday season. For example, you could use Instagram Reels to showcase your Black Friday Only deals or your Holiday Gift Guide.

Leverage The Power Of Social Commerce This Holiday Season

We hope you’ll get to test out a few of Instagram’s features this holiday season. If you do, let us know how it goes in the comment section below!

And, if you want to bring your social media strategy to the next level with advertising and community management, contact our digital marketing agency or get a custom proposal here.