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PPC Consulting

You have developed a killer website and drafted an effective marketing strategy to generate leads and drive sales.

So what next?

Considering paid advertising offers a 200% ROI, it’s a no-brainer that your marketing strategy should incorporate the same.

“But I have no idea where to start with Google ads – in fact, I don’t know where to begin at all!”

Well, even if that’s the case, you still have nothing to worry about.

You can hire a PPC consultant who can enhance your paid advertising campaigns by offering a unique set of skills coupled with experience and expertise.

Choosing the right consultant, however, can be challenging if you don’t know what to look for in a PPC expert, which is where we come in.

Our team at Neil Patel Digital has created this handy guide to help you find the best PPC consultant for your business – one that can manage your campaigns, keep up with continuous algorithm updates, and deliver results.

Let’s start with how a PPC consultant can help you grow your business.

5 Ways a PPC Consultant Can Help Grow Your Business

What is the primary reason that people hire PPC consultants? Maximizing business performance.

People who run an online business question the need for launching pay-per-click campaigns, and whether it’s the right thing to do.

We have to clear one thing out before we talk about the benefits of hiring expert help – it IS worth it!

That said, let’s take a look at what a good PPC consultant can do to help you grow your business. 

Thorough Market Research and Plan of Action

A PPC consultant can be your go-to when you‘re unable to do market research, execute the right type of strategies, or launch successful marketing campaigns that help you achieve your business objectives. 

Additionally, you can also make critical mistakes when you work without experience – something that can cost you significant money or achieve zero results.

On the other hand, there are other solid reasons why you should hire a professional. 

A PPC consultant will prioritize your marketing campaigns and think of the intelligent implementation of paid marketing tactics that can enhance campaigns. You’ll also get better and more relevant marketing strategies to drive your online sales.

In the end, you‘ll have better pay-per-click management that will give you more exposure in search engines.

Precise Targeting for Higher Conversion Rates

A savvy PPC manager can be doubly beneficial for your business.

With their help, you‘re assured of wiser PPC decision-making that can cause a decrease in expenses and increase conversion rates. 

Plus, PPC experts can analyze your data and make required adjustments that can lower your cost per lead for a higher ROI.

As for conversion rates, they can use their experience and expertise to implement tactics, such as using precise keywords and put your sales team in contact with quality leads. All the efforts are targeted towards a specific audience in your niche that can be niched down according to location, gender, age, interests, and of course, keywords.

Audience targeting should always be strategic and carefully executed. It’s the only way to avoid wasting your money on paid campaigns – something that a PPC expert can help you with.

The best part is all this requires minimal effort on your part, and even the PPC consultant’s due to their specialized knowledge.

Compelling Ads That Actually Convert

Make no mistake, writing an attention-grabbing ad copy is an easy task – but only at the surface. In fact, knowing how to create a PPC ad can have a massive impact on the ads click-through rate.

You need expert help to create a truly artistic strategy to attain ad campaign success. A PPC consultant is well versed in the know-how to create an effective ad copy that appeals to your target customer and can relate to their interests. They can also use the necessary keywords for optimization to rank higher in search engines.

So with the help of a professional, not only will your ad get more exposure, but you’ll also experience an increase in your conversions.

Years of Experience

You may already be aware of how experience often translates to expertise.

Reputable PPC professionals have years of experience working with a diverse clientele, which helps them contribute to their profit-making campaigns. 

These experts have the backing of innovative skills and knowledge to keep your ads updated and in sync with the latest web trends that can be the driving factor of your paid campaigns.

You shouldn’t worry about the money you might pay for a consultant. Instead, it’s the time wasted when trying to learn Google or Amazon that should be a worrying factor. Unsatisfactory results are another disadvantage when you take on PPC without prior knowledge.

Moreover, a professional will dedicate their whole time to your projects and make sure you set the right bid amount according to the order value, ACoS goals, and conversion thanks to their greater understanding of bid management.

Time-Saving

Pay-per-click marketing can be equal parts challenging and time-consuming, especially for those who aren’t experts.

A PPC professional can help you launch and monitor all your ad campaigns, along with making minor adjustments that could potentially boost your sales. Also, when you turn the work over to these consultants, you’ll be able to focus on other aspects of your online business.

How to Get Started With a PPC Consultant

If you haven’t worked with a PPC company before, it’s hard to know what to expect.

Right from hiring the right PPC consultant to holding meetings right till the final launch – you need to draft a roadmap that explicitly illustrates your end goal as well as milestones to stay on the right track.

Below, we have streamlined the details of every phase to help you understand what to expect when working with a PPC consultant.

Hiring the best PPC consultant for your business

The first step here is to find the right PPC consultant to get started in your paid marketing journey. And the best way to go about this? Research and look at the credentials of respective candidates.

There are two ways to go about this. You can use online hiring platforms like Freelancer, Upwork, and Reddit, where you’ll post a detailed project description, along with the requirements. You can then choose a freelancer profile from the applied candidates.

If you plan on recruiting seasoned consultants – something which we highly recommend – you’ll have to fill up an inquiry form and then schedule a discovery call.

Whatever be your marketplace of choice, determining the abilities of the prospective candidate remains the same. Ask the prospect the following questions to understand whether they are the right fit or not:

  • Are you Google-certified?
  • Do you offer a free assessment?
  • Who will own the account?
  • Will you provide ongoing management of the account or solely look after the setup?
  • How do you measure success, and what are the deliverables?
  • Are you familiar with Google Analytics?

It’s best to look for consultants who possess the Google AdWords Certified Partner designation since they are likely to understand the latest trends, techniques, and technology relevant in the world of PPC advertising. 

A thorough understanding of account setup and management, analytics and reporting, and optimization in areas such as video, search, and mobile advertising, are also crucial.

Remember, it’s your money, and the prospective PPC consultant should respect that and be willing to clear any doubts.

Have a Discovery Session

It’s the job of the PPC consultant to do everything they can to learn more about your business objectives and what you’re looking for, which is precisely why discovery and onboarding are a crucial part of any new PPC project.

Here are a few key points that your meeting should cover:

  • Your budget, which includes monthly ad spent
  • Goals you wish to achieve through your PPC campaign
  • What are the USPs of your business when compared to your competitors
  • Landing page optimization tactics to increase conversions
  • Detailed observation of your target audience that includes platforms to use, shopping trends, and location

Take this chance to share everything you have with your PPC consultant – even if it doesn’t feel relevant. The consultant must be aware of your expectations and budget.

Planning and Testing

After understanding your business, target audience, and marketing goals, the next step is to plan the upcoming campaign. In addition to this, defining critical metrics and KPIs are essential as well.

The consultant may run a small, inexpensive pilot campaign to test different aspects, such as audience segments, copy, and execution. This can give you key insights about the preferences of your target audience and a deeper understanding in general of how to proceed forward.

The Final Execution 

Finally, at this stage, you launch the full campaign.

The full-scale execution of the campaign can be short-term, long-term, or ongoing, depending on your needs. You can expect consistent feedback and thorough reporting from the consultant that outlines everything about the campaign, and the final results once it’s over.

Remember, monitoring results and adjusting the budget are all a part of the campaign. The consultant should use the insights collected, along with your feedback, to improve the ad strategy for better results.

In case the consultant doesn’t offer management services, they will only set up the account.

Measuring the ROI of PPC Consulting Services

What’s the point of launching a PPC campaign if you cannot measure the return on your investment?

Is your campaign strategy correct? Are the ads effective in generating leads and sales for your business? Is it profitable? – these are important questions that you need answers to.

The only way to determine the success of a campaign is to measure the ROI.

That said, there are various KPIs, which is why you need to have an efficient tactic in place to choose the relevant ones. For this purpose, you need to figure out the following:

  • Understand the goals of your campaign – whether you want more click-throughs, more leads, or higher sales. The ultimate goal, of course, is to increase conversions and reduce CPA. But there are other things you should consider as well, such as monitoring impression share and the effectiveness of your ads in generating clicks (CPR).
  • You can even consider setting SMART goals to measure the overall progress and success of your goal.
  • Figure out about what success means to you and then define it to your consultant.
  • Monitor the KPIs closely and then reevaluate if there is still any discrepancy.

The following are the most crucial PPC KPIs that you should consider:

  • The average click-through rate
  • The quality score of your ad content
  • The impression share that tells you how many people has have seen your ad
  • The average cost-per-click (CPC)
  • The conversion rate
  • The cost for action/cost per conversion
  • The average position of your ad

Tracking ROI is a dynamic process with no uniform rules to follow. Make sure you choose your KPIs after setting realistic goals for your business, which, in turn, can help you achieve your goals.

4 Point Checklist For Finding the Right PPC Consultant

If you’re still wondering how you can hire the best PPC consultant for your company who has the necessary understanding and expertise to deliver results, here’s a quick checklist to make things easier for you.

Experience in Driving Results

You’ll find several PPC consultants claiming to be the best and how they can help you achieve your goals.

But do they really have the expertise and experience to back their claims?

Figure out whether the consultant has previously worked with clients in your niche and is aware of how your business ecosystem, your competition, and your audience work. The idea here is to fast-track your campaign strategy, creation, and management processes.

Knowledge About PPC Best Practises and Tools

PPC can be a very complicated process, which is why you need a consultant that has the knowledge to keep up with the latest practices.

Having access to the right PPC tools is also important. Essential aspects like analytics and reporting and intent-driven keyword selection, along with first-party data sources and strategic partnerships, work together to enhance the efficiency of campaigns.

Find out the tools that the consultant uses, whether it’s Google Analytics, Certified Knowledge, Excel, and Adalysis.

Diverse Client Portfolio

Examine the companies on the prospective consultant’s portfolio. You‘ll be surprised at how useful this can be to detect whether they are the right fit for your business or not.

You see, a good PPC consultant should always demonstrate hands-on experience and have a diverse clientele. This equips them with a better understanding to create effective paid campaigns that appeal to your target audience, irrespective of their thought process and ideologies.

Testimonials From Past Clients

Testimonials help gain a sense of the caliber of the businesses that have trusted them in the past.

By going through what past customers have said about their services will give you an idea about their professionalism and whether they are capable of providing a comfortable and satisfactory working experience.

Wrapping Up

The world of PPC marketing isn’t simple.

You need experienced consultants to create and execute well-thought-out campaigns that can help you achieve your business objectives and keep any losses at the minimum.

Hiring a consultant can be your first step to ensure positive returns on your investment and establish a loyal customer base.

Want somebody seasoned and enjoys a stellar reputation when it comes to delivering results? Get in touch with experts from Neil Patel Digital here.

The post PPC Consulting appeared first on Neil Patel.

New comment by pknerd in "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (October 2020)"

Location: Earth

Remote: Yes

Willing to relocate: Yes

Technologies: Web Development(Laravel, Flask, Django).
ETL(Airflow, Bonobo, Spark). Web Scraping(Beautifulsoup, Selenium, Scrapy)

Resume: http://adnansiddiqi.me/Resume2020.pdf

Blog: http://blog.adnansiddiqi.me

Email: kadnan@gmail.com

New comment by frappuccino_o in "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (October 2020)"

  Location: London, UK
  Remote: Yes
  Willing to relocate: Yes
  Technologies: Machine Learning, NLP, Speech synthesis (TTS) and recognition (STT).
  Résumé/CV: https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0mZxCcN_tgnQ4MWY7yvNaCl4A#Resume
  Email: ilya@peacedata.uk

Deepnote (YC S19) is hiring engineers to build the best data science notebook

Article URL: https://deepnote.com/publish/jobs Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24737134 Points: 1 # Comments: 0

New comment by frappuccino_o in "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (October 2020)"

Location: London, UK Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: Machine Learning, NLP, Speech synthesis (TTS) and recognition (STT). Résumé/CV: https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0mZxCcN_tgnQ4MWY7yvNaCl4A#Resume Email: ilya@peacedata.uk

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New comment by safareli in "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (October 2020)"

  Location: Georgia
  Remote: Yes
  Willing to relocate: No
  Technologies: TypeScript, JavaScript, React, Redux / MobX, HTML / CSS, Node.js, Go (Golang), PureScript, Haskell, Drupal
  Résumé/CV: https://safareli.github.io/resume
  Email: email is in the resume

Senior Software Engineer primarily specializing in front-end web engineering. Proficient in React / Typescript (strict mode). I have also made significant contributions to the backend side of the projects ranging from Haskell, Go, Node.js to Drupal.

I have contributed significantly to open-source functional communities in JavaScript, PureScript, and Scala. I’ve invented version of the Free Applicative structure with most optimal asymptotics (and stack safe), which was adopted in PureScript and Scala from my original JavaScript version. Implemented stack safe version of PureScript’s Effect monad. Was mentioned in Acknowledgments of Build Systems à la Carte and Selective Applicative Functors. (links are in the resume)

Besides my technical skills, I have worked closely with designers and product people discussing how to deliver better UX when there are hard technological constraints (for example implementing UI/UX for already deployed smart contracts on Ethereum blockchain), proposed alternative UI/UX sketches for better solving user problems. I’ve been working remotely for the past couple of years and can collaborate productively in asynchronous teams.

I’m looking for remote full-time opportunities where I would be a good fit with my broad experience and provide the most value.
#User Interface #User Experience #golang #js #HTML #CSS #SASS

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'Bowling Alone' at 20—and Other Books to Read

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Nancy Pelosi's Insanity Plea

Democrats introduce a radical bill to remove Presidents.

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Women and Finances: Secrets from the Battleground

The relationship between women and finances has always been shaky at best.  At most, it is definitely misunderstood.  To some, women will never live up to men in this area. However, history is full of real life examples of the fact that this is, indeed, not true. 

Since ancient times women have contributed to the incomes of their homes.  Whether by selling goods, investing, or offering a service.  These were the first women-owned businesses.  

 Women today run multi-million dollar companies and support other women in doing the same. 

Learn About Women and Finances from the 2020 Cartier Women’s Initiative Winner

According to Fundera, the United States alone has 12.3 million businesses owned by women.  These businesses generate $1.8 trillion a year.  In fact, 40% of businesses in the US have female owners. That’s just the United States.  Worldwide the numbers are even bigger, and growing daily. What’s changing? What’s causing the increase, and where are they getting the money to open these businesses? 

There are many answers, but the two main ones relate to education and financial support.  Women are more educated now than they have ever been.  Not only that, but they are training each other to do better.  In fact, many grant opportunities have popped up in recent years.  Most of them not only help women finance their businesses, but they also offer training and support along the way. 

Credit Line Hybrid Financing:  Get up to $150,000 in financing so your business can thrive. 

No one does this better than the Cartier Women’s Initiative. Since its creation in 2006, the program has helped more than 240 businesses owned by women entrepreneurs.  These ladies come from 56 different countries and their businesses have created more than 7,000 jobs.  During this time, the CWI has granted more than $3 million in funding.  This makes it one of the largest and most generous female-focused entrepreneurial competitions in the world.

It is our delight to get the opportunity to interview one of this year’s winners, Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen from Denmark, about women and finances.  Her business, Female Invest, is a women and finances double whammy.  Not only does it have female owners, but it’s main purpose is to help women with investing. Here’s what she has to say. 

Women and Finances: Inspirationfemales and finances Credit Suite

Credit Suite:   Where did your inspiration come from for both starting your own business and the business you chose?

Anna-Sophie:  Growing up, I didn’t know any entrepreneurs, so I never thought about becoming one myself. I also didn’t know any women who actively invested, but I always had a fascination with money, so I taught myself to invest at the age of 19. I quickly fell in love with it, but as none of my friends shared my passion, it became a lonely love affair. 

Puzzled by this lack of female investors,  I started researching the topic. I learned that women are falling financially behind. They earn less, save less and fail to invest their money. Among the key drivers of this problem is widespread financial illiteracy and a lack of targeted offers and role models.

I didn’t know how to solve this problem, until I started university and met my Co-Founder Emma Bitz. She shared my passion for investing and had been working as a certified stockbroker since the age of 20. We immediately bonded, and the idea to start Female Invest arose in our first-ever conversation. 

When we started Female Invest, we initially thought it would be a hobby project, uniting a smaller group of women with an interest in investing. However, we quickly realized that the demand was much larger than anyone could have anticipated. We then decided to take the leap, found a company and become full-time entrepreneurs. The rest is history. Today, Female Invest is Northern Europe’s leading financial educator targeting women. We have helped more than 25,000 women across 33 countries get started investing. 

Women and Finances: Influences

Credit Suite: Who were the female influences in your life and how did they help you in your business endeavors? 

Anna-Sophie: While I may not know many female entrepreneurs or investors, I know many women who are fierce and inspirational in different ways. Emma, Camilla and I often talk about how we find inspiration in different people at different points in time, depending on the challenges we are facing. We also use each other as role models within different areas, and I highly value that. 

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#all/FMfcgxwHNqCSLBRGqrPxDdZTsgkPffMV?projector=1

Women and Finances: Balance

Credit Suite:  What are your tips for work life balance? 

Anna- Sophie:  My best tip is to find a job you love, so you don’t live your life waiting for the weekend. The term “work-life” balance insinuates that work should be a separate entity. But in my experience, being truly passionate about your work makes it possible to build a harmonic life where work is not something to escape.  In our team, we are living for the mission to financially empower women and that passion doesn’t stop when the workday does. 

Women and Finances: Challenges

Credit Suite: What are the specific challenges women face when trying to get funding versus men? 

Anna- Sophie: Today, female founders receive less than 2% of venture capital funding.  That is despite performing better over time following funding. Research shows this might be because female founders are often held to different standards. This is seen as female founders are more likely to be asked about risks and to be judged on current achievements. Male founders are more likely to be asked about and judged upon their potential. At the same time, the venture capital world is heavily dominated by middle aged men, who may struggle to recognize the potential in products outside their own target group.

Credit Suite: There are aspects of our culture, certainly in America, where negotiating is the norm and not the exception. In the US, that’s particularly true for buying a house or a car, new or used, and for starting a new job or asking for a raise. At the same time, a lot of women aren’t taught to question prices. What sort of tips would you give to women who want to learn how to effectively negotiate?

Anna- Sophie: Women face a unique set of challenges when negotiating. Firstly, women are not taught to question prices/wages in the same way as men. Secondly, research shows that women are perceived differently when they do. This is a societal problem that women cannot solve alone. However, when navigating this unfortunate reality, my best advice is to base negotiations on facts rather than feelings. 

Credit Line Hybrid Financing:  Get up to $150,000 in financing so your business can thrive. 

Women and Finances: Lessons to Future Generations

Credit Suite: What sorts of financial lessons should we be imparting to our daughters and granddaughters? How do we help them become financially literate?

Anna- Sophie: We need to break the stereotypes around women and money and teach our girls that they are fully capable of handling their money. In order to do this, we need to change the way we communicate about money to girls. 

Following extensive linguistic research, money and personal finance is communicated very differently to men and women. Communication aimed at women tend to define them as “spenders” who need to limit their outgoings in order to save. 

By contrast, communication targeting men tends to portray them as skillful investors, highlighting the financial landscape as packed with opportunity rather than risk. Therefore, the first step to increase financial literacy among women is to give them confidence and make them feel capable. Because they are. In fact, female investors achieve higher average returns than male investors.

Women and Finances: More About Female Invest

Female Invest is run by co-founders Emma Bitz, Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen , and Camilla Falkenbert. They share the work equally and have a team of employees. More than 25,000 women have physically attended their educational events. In order to scale faster, they have now transitioned into a subscription platform with members in 33 countries.

Women and Finances: Funding

Anna-Sophie and the team at Female Invest got a great jump on funding and support with the Cartier Women’s Initiative.  However, grants of any sort are rarely enough for completely funding a business.  Often, there is a need to combine with financing and even other grants, crowdfunding, or investors to fully get the job done.  Let’s explore some of these options. 

Other Grants for Women Business Owners

It’s no secret that grant programs are highly competitive.  Still, they are usually worth the effort to apply.  You really do not have anything to lose except time, and maybe an application fee.  If you win, it’s free money.  Still, as I said above, grants are rarely enough to fully fund a business.  They are a fabulous option to supplement other funding types however. Here are a few more to check out.

SBA Women’s Business Centers

The SBA Women’s Business Centers not only help with loans.  They also help women entrepreneurs access other business funding options. Some lend money or award grants directly.  Others help connect women entrepreneurs with lenders.  Their website offers many resources and opportunities to find out more. 

Eileen Fisher Women Owned Business Grants

Eileen Fisher hands out $100,000 per year to 10 businesses owned by women. A woman must have at least 51% ownership.  Also, the business must be in operation for at least three years. Lastly, it must bring in less than $1 million per year in revenue and have a focus on environmental or social change.  

Amber Grant 

The Amber Grant awards $500 to $1,000 per month to a business owned by a female. One of the recipients also receives an additional $10,000 grant at the end of the year. Applicants only need to tell their story and turn it in with a $15 application fee.   

Crowdfunding

One way to reduce the amount of loans you need to start and run your business is crowdfunding.   It gives today’s business owners a new way to build a successful business. Of course, not everyone with a campaign on a crowdfunding site is successful.  Funding a business with crowdfunding doesn’t happen without a lot of hard work and a fair amount of luck. Unfortunately, it often doesn’t happen at all. To succeed at crowdfunding, you have to research what works, what doesn’t, and then cross your fingers. Truthfully, it may work, and it may not.

If you decide to go for it, make sure you have incentives ready.  This can be what makes or breaks a campaign. 

Kickstarter and Indiegogo are two of the most popular crowdfunding platforms to use. Some work better for specific types of businesses than others.  In addition, some may have higher success rates for women than others. Research is key.

The Small Business Administration

Female business owners in the United States can benefit from the help of the Small Business Administration. Though not specifically for women alone, the SBA offers government backed loan programs.  

7(a) Loans

This program offers term loans up to $5 million. You can use them  for expansion, purchasing equipment, working capital and more. Financial institutions in partnership with the SBA process these loans and give out the funds. 

504 Loans 

These loans are also available up to $5 million.  They can buy machinery, facilities, or land. Generally, borrowers use them for expansion.  Private sector lenders or nonprofits process and disburse the funds, and they work especially well for commercial real estate purchases. 

Credit Line Hybrid Financing:  Get up to $150,000 in financing so your business can thrive.  

Microloans 

Microloans are available in amounts up to $50,000. They work well for startup, equipment purchases, inventory purchases, or for working capital. Community based nonprofits handle microloan programs as intermediaries.  Unlike other SBA programs, financing comes directly from the Small Business Administration. 

Angel Investors

These are informal investors.  They generally invest in the start of a company, typically in exchange for equity.

The best way to find these kinds of investors is to ask. Try an angel investors website or an angel investors network. Also check out  Gust, which used to be Angel Soft. They keep a database of investors, companies, and programs. 

To land an angel investor, you are going to need an awesome pitch deck.  Do not just jump into a project like that.  Take the time to research what a pitch project involves.  It has to pop. 

Women and Finances: You Can Survive the Battleground

Anna-Sophie is a warrior.  She saw a need, seized and opportunity, and made it happen.  She didn’t do it alone however.  It took the help of her partners.  It also took here willingness to seek out and go after the funding necessary to run and grow her business.  You can be just as successful.  Find the help and support you need, find the business funding necessary, and make your dreams come true. 

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How to Use Instagram Live for E-Commerce Sales

Are you looking to boost your social media sales and get the most out of your digital storefront?

Updates to Instagram Live have made it one of the hottest sales trends right now, and Instagram’s e-commerce features plus the high success rate of social media marketing have made digital sales easier than ever.

If you’re ready to start using Instagram for business and start tapping into organic reach, we’ve got the strategy to get you started.

Read on to see how you can get the most out of Instagram Live for e-commerce.

Instagram Usage and E-commerce Stats

You’ve heard about Instagram for business. Maybe you’ve even started playing around with some of their sales functions. If you’re smart, you’ve already got an Instagram business profile and perhaps even a few product tags.

Is it worth all the hassle?

Let’s check out the numbers. According to Hootsuite:

  • One billion people use Instagram every month. 
  • Of those users, 63% log in daily and spend an average of 28 minutes on the app.
  • 200 million users visit at least one business profile every day.
  • Instagram is the second most downloaded free app in the Apple app store.
  • It’s also the 10th most popular Google query.
  • 500 million people use Instagram Stories every single day.
  • One-third of the most viewed stories every day are from businesses.
  • 62% of people say they have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Stories.

What about Instagram Live?

Social media is about being seen. Instagram Live moves your content to the top Stories in your users’ feeds. Plus, followers get notifications telling them when you go live, meaning they’ll immediately be able to see your content in their Stories tabs.

Instagram’s co-founder and CEO, Kevin Systrom, once said, On average, people miss about 70 percent of the posts in their Instagram profile feed.” That means getting to the top of your users’ feeds should be a top priority.

Instagram Live also saw a 70% increase in views from February to March in 2020, making it one of the fastest-growing e-commerce hubs on the internet today.

How can you start making e-commerce sales on Instagram?

Instagram Shop

With the launch of its online shop, Instagram has pushed further into e-commerce.

Instagram Shop has streamlined the way users can find products by making a designated “Shop” tab and other new features for businesses to generate sales.

The new Instagram Shop tab features a “Brand Collections” page that shows curated collections put together by Instagram’s @shop team.

instagram shop live ecommerce

With the addition of Instagram Checkout, US shoppers can simply tap “Buy on Instagram” to make a purchase without ever leaving the app. That means your conversions are quick, precise, and frequent.

Instagram has also been testing replacing the “Activity” tab with a “Shop” tab, which would mean even more daily clicks than before.

Like any social media selling machine, quality content and a killer Instagram following are essential. The best way to continue selling on Instagram is to make sure you’ve got a product people like and the right marketing strategy to sell it.

To get the most out of your e-commerce experience, Instagram suggests posting regularly, revealing the process behind your product creation, and showing variation in your products.

Here are a few more easy tips for marketing your Instagram content.

Instagram Expands Live Shopping, Making It Easier to Shop and Sell

Instagram marketing is a powerful tool. With engagement rates going through the roof, it’s time for your brand to get on board and start making sales with the added ecommerce features across the platform.

Instagram Live Shopping

This feature allows you to make sales while in the middle of a live broadcast.

Instagram Checkout

If you’ve set up your Instagram Shop, you can start promoting and selling your products directly from your video stream with the Instagram Checkout tab. Featured items will appear at the bottom of the screen, and viewers can simply tap to purchase any of the items shown.

Desktop Compatibility

Instagram Live broadcasts can now also be viewed on desktop, making them more accessible and wide-reaching. This feature allows you to take center stage and grab your audience’s attention. It can also help you tap into new markets and expand your content’s reach.

How do you get started?

  1. Determine a purpose for your video. Otherwise, your audience won’t have a reason to keep watching.
  2. Promote your video on your social accounts beforehand so you’ll have someone to sell to once your live video starts rolling.
  3. Upload your products. You can add up to 30 products to a collection. Be sure to do this before you start because Instagram needs to approve your products before you go live.
  4. Pin one item at a time to your video feed when you start broadcasting.

When you’re on Live, you’ll be able to display your products through some of Instagram’s built-in features, which we’ll talk more about down below.

Why Use Instagram Live for E-commerce?

Live videos are great for forming honest and personable audience interactions. This unedited, raw content can help you connect with your audience and build brand integrity.

Instagram Live also lets your audience submit comments and questions in real time, allowing for natural and immediate interaction on an otherwise one-sided platform. This kind of audience connection enables you to gather feedback straight from your customers.

Using the Instagram Live feature can also help your discoverability, as users will be notified when you go live, and your video will be featured at the front of their Stories tab.

Instagram Live videos stay on your page for 24 hours after you end the broadcast, ensuring more people can see your content in more places.

The benefits of using Instagram Live for e-commerce range from increased brand integrity to real-time sales possibilities, and beyond. We’ve seen more and more brands gravitating towards this platform in recent years because it works.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to connect, convert, and curate content, Instagram is the place to be.

Live Shopping Features

Instagram Live has completely changed the ways brands communicate with their audiences online.

With new, customizable features and add-ons, there are many ways to connect and convert.

Multiple Broadcast Hosts

If you’re interested in tapping into influencer marketing, or if you want to leverage a brand ambassador’s following, you can invite co-hosts to join you in your live broadcasts.

Video Customization

You can also impose filters, stickers, and custom content directly onto your live video. You can either use Instagram’s presets or create your own branded versions and upload them to your live settings.

Still Images and Videos

You can share images and videos on screen while you broadcast. This allows you to showcase product images or show the product in action, making the purchase more appealing to your audience. You can even add multiple videos and create a slide show while you present.

Audience Interaction

You can add comments and questions directly to your video broadcast. You can also pin them to the screen for all of your viewers to see. This way, you can let your audience know you’re listening and make them feel seen.

All of these features make your content more inviting and exciting for viewers, increasing the possibility for conversions as you dive into Instagram Live for e-commerce.

With a little bit of skill and a whole lot of personality, your brand could be the next big thing on Instagram Live.

How to Use Instagram Live Shopping to Drive Sales

When you use Instagram Live for e-commerce, you can forge connections with your customers, create lasting sales funnels, and boost your online conversions while staying true to your brand.

If you’re going to go live, make sure you do it right and attract people to your products beforehand. No one wants to go live to an empty audience, right?

Here are a few tips to get you started.

Promote Your Instagram Live Stream Beforehand

Promoting your content will ensure people have time to plan to watch you and make sure you get the most out of your live experience.

One way to do this is to share Instagram Stories that tell your audience the details of your Instagram Live experience. You could even use an Instagram Stories countdown sticker to mark the event. This allows others to share the countdown as well, expanding the reach of your audience.

Maintain Instagram Live Focus

Avoid directing traffic to anything that isn’t relevant to your content. Promoting your website instead of a product page is an excellent example of this. You must ensure your audience can easily find your products and purchase quickly. This will increase your chances of selling once you go live.

Offer Live Streaming Quality Content

It’s also important to focus on the quality of your content. If your audience members find your stream boring or uninteresting, they might move on to the next piece of available content. Make sure whoever is hosting your video is practiced, inviting, and uses a breadth of exciting features to keep your audience watching.

Keep it Short

When using Instagram Live for e-commerce, shorter videos work better. Audiences like easy-to-consume content. You can even post multiple short videos to keep your audience coming back for more.

Keep it Simple

Once you go live, speak slowly, speak clearly, and don’t make things too complicated. Like any spot on the internet, Instagram content has fierce competition. If you want to maximize your Instagram Live e-commerce possibilities, you need to be able to hold your audience’s attention for as long as possible.

Using Instagram live for e-commerce, you can position yourself at the top of your audience’s feeds and keep their attention longer.

The more you use Instagram’s built-in features, the better chance your brand will have of ranking on the platform.

Conclusion

If you haven’t figured it out yet, using Instagram Live for e-commerce opens up many new possibilities in the world of social media sales.

Instagram’s latest Shop features let you sell your products directly from the app, instead of fighting for placement in user feeds.

What’s more, e-commerce updates to Instagram Live have paved a whole new way for brands to engage with consumers and get their products into the market.

By tapping into your live-streaming market, you could not only drive conversions, but you’ll have a chance to speak to a bigger, less saturated audience.

Get creative, get live, and start converting!

Have you had success with Instagram Live marketing for e-commerce? Share your tips in the comments.

The post How to Use Instagram Live for E-Commerce Sales appeared first on Neil Patel.