Sooo... Instagram opened up their API a few months back and brands are now able to run paid ads on people's feeds (and boy do they ever). That still doesn't solve the referral traffic issue and daily missed revenue opportunities that all brands are faced with.
Fret not, we have your solution.
No Problems, Only Solutions
My father has a personal saying (hi dad!): There are no Problems, Only Solutions. For this to be true, there actually has to be some form of situation to untangle.
Let's examine a scenario.
You've likely been pondering the fact that you haven't been driving any direct revenue from your Instagram account ever since you signed up for one, even though you've been pumping a lot of money and resources into it. And you've likely tried to come up with some clever solutions to make up for this deficiency. Heck, you might have even run an ad or two. But what about the products that are so beautifully displayed in perfectly art-directed photos that live in your feed, making your followers (aka customers) inquire over and over again in the comments section: "Where can I buy that?".
Oh the torture, when you cannot simply provide a direct link for them to click to purchase right then and there! We feel your pain.
The only active link available for live tapping is that elusive slot that sits right in your bio. There is just one spot - read: one opportunity - to get people from inside Instagram out to where you want them to go. Tough call. To us, it makes for the perfect chance to convert your favorite social network into an actual source of revenue, thus taking Instagram from a brand-building platform to one that drives actual sales.
Baby You Can Drive my Car Traffic
Dash Hudson's elegant solution is a pretty little tool called LikeShop. Accessed from your dashboard or our DH for Brands app, it allows you to attribute product or content links to your Instagram posts. You are assigned a unique URL (it can also be personalized) to be pasted into your bio, which essentially duplicates your Instagram feed, and boom! that URL leads to all of the photos you ascribed a link to, accessible right then and there on mobile for your followers to be directed to wherever you want to send them.
Very cool, we know. The best thing is there are no integrations and setup takes all of 30 seconds. It's the easiest way to convert your audience into page or product views, or wherever your heart desires, all while tracking the impact. Hello, ROI.
Not only does this allow brands and publishers to bring their followers even deeper into their universe, but it also enables organic traffic growth. Two birds, one stone. Let's take a closer inspection at some of the brands and publishers that are using the LikeShop tool to drive traffic to a destination of their choosing, directly from Instagram.
Capturing intent to buy with intent to workout.
Alala
The burgenoning cool girl athleisure brand is using Dash Hudson's LikeShop to drive customers directly to product pages for mobile purchase, capturing their intent to buy right on the spot. No more sad replies to frustrated commenters wondering how they can get their hands on a certain style.
Bon Appétit Magazine
LikeShop is definitely not exclusive to shopping links, au contraire. The tool is all about which journey you want to take your audience on to complete the Instagram one. Simply put, it's an endless well of possibilities! Case in point: the folks over at Bon Appétit will link their posts directly to recipes, redirect to their website when sharing articles, or even send their followers over to a restaurant's website. Not only does it satisfy any possible question an audience member may have, but it also provides publications with an amazing incentive for advertisers.
Happy Socks
The Swedish sock brand completes the Instagram brand journey with LikeShop by taking their dedicated fan base even further into their world. They can link to product pages, their Snapchat page, or as illustrated above, entire item categories, this one being all heart pieces. LikeShop connects their audience directly to products through Instagram storytelling, thus converting their account into a whole new sales channel.
Vanity Fair
The magazine behemoth, bible of current event reports and thought-provoking interest pieces on everything from the royals to politicians. Yes, that Vanity Fair. By linking every single one of their photos to a piece of content on their mobile website, they essentially turned their Instagram account into a main source of organic traffic, as well as a bona fide index. Plus their web content lives forever, which means that their LikeShop feed is evergreen. Again, a huge deal for advertisers.
Dash Hudson's LikeShop tool truly does render your Instagram limitless. If you're ready for your head to explode, give us a ring on the Bat Phone (aka the Internet). And if you need further convincing (as if), there's always this straw of a case study to break the camel's back.
Talk soon!
