The goal for your Instagram business account should be to connect and engage with people who want to buy your products. With 1 billion active monthly users spending an average of 28 minutes daily on Instagram (from Hootsuite), there is a serious opportunity to grow your following and reach new customers.
In this article, we’ll cover actionable strategies like how to get customers on Instagram fast, attract buyers with engaging content, and optimize your profile to boost sales.
To turn Instagram followers into customers, you need to focus on clear, actionable strategies. By using targeted content, smart hashtags, and calls-to-action, you can attract buyers and boost sales. Here are five effective ways to make it happen.
Give followers a closer look at the process behind your products, showing the effort and skill that goes into what you sell. This not only showcases your expertise but also highlights the value of your products, helping to justify your pricing by showing the detailed work involved.
For example, instead of just posting a final image of a meal made with your homegrown ingredients, break it down into multiple posts that capture each stage, like:
An example of this is The Season’s Harvest (@theseasonsharvest) in Kelowna, BC, which effectively uses posts like these to engage their audience. Content like this helps customers visualize themselves as part of your process while building anticipation for the finished product.
Photos like these help customers to envision themselves as part of your process. Breaking it down also builds suspense as followers wait for the final product!
Stories are engaging and memorable. Crafting a compelling picture of your brand and using a story to share the history and people behind your business is a key way to differentiate yourself from the crowd.
However, though sharing your brand story is important, it’s equally as important to share the stories behind your products.
If you lean only on your brand stories—your successes, challenges, etc.—you’re mainly attracting people who are like you. You may not necessarily be attracting the customers who are actually going to buy from you.
Share things like:
It helps potential buyers picture themselves as your customer. It’s the difference between, “This farmer likes to listen to Thomas Rhett while they work? Me, too!” and “This is what it’s actually like to work with him/her.”
Here’s a descriptive caption from Michelle and Troy of Fresh Roots Farm (@freshrootsfarmmb) in Cartwright, Manitoba:
Infuse pieces of your own life, but tell it from a perspective that your customers can envision themselves in!
💡 Creative instagram tip: Need more Instagram post ideas and inspiration for your business? Read our article on 40+ Instagram content ideas for farms.
Bluntly put: if you’re not using Instagram hashtags, the only people seeing your content are those who already follow you. While that’s fantastic (they follow you for a reason!) using Instagram for your business means expanding your audience to those who would also benefit from buying from you.
Use hashtags and geotags strategically on Instagram to reach others who are also searching for what you’re posting, in the geographic areas you’re tagging. Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags, so to really optimize your hashtags, use between 25 and 30.
A helpful formula for choosing hashtags on Instagram is to pick them based on three categories:
Focus on including hashtags based on general topics relevant to your business, like “farming” or “farm.” These hashtags will get more eyes, but they won’t be as specific to what is in your photo and may have lower engagement.
Aim to include around 10 general hashtags in each of your Instagram posts.
Tags describing what’s in your post, or application ideas for your product. Because these are more focused, they’ll have less eyes, but those looking for exactly what you are posting are more likely to click on your photo.
Aim to include 10-15 image and product relevant hashtags in each of your Instagram posts.
Identifying your location or tagging the location of the photo. Where is this product being sold or used?
Aim to include 5-10 location-based hashtags in each of your Instagram posts.
For a post promoting local produce for sale, here’s how you could categorize your hashtags:
💡 Instagram Hashtag Tip: Use plurals! Someone will search for #greenapple and someone else will use #greenapples, but the same person won’t be following both. Capture both audiences by simply having both versions in your hashtag group.
Instagram now allows businesses to sell directly through its platform using features like Instagram Shopping, where you can tag products in your posts and stories. This makes it even more important to include calls-to-action (CTAs) in your posts to guide followers toward purchasing or engaging with your brand.
Aim to have a CTA in 75% of your posts. These don’t always have to be direct sales prompts—mix in different engagement tactics.
💡 Tip for Instagram sales success: Make it easy for customers to buy from you online. Build a farm website and farm e-commerce store easily on Local Line.
Here’s another sample Instagram post with nine calls-to-action that could be used within your caption:
Soft CTAs won’t immediately translate to sales, but when you later include posts with CTAs like, “Click the link in our bio and place your order today,” you’ll gain new customers from the audience you’re growing today.
Calls-to-action might feel a little sales-y and awkward at first, but it’s important to be clear with what you want people to know and the actions you’d like them to take.
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Speaking of CTAs, your Instagram bio is one giant call-to-action. People glance at it for a few seconds and they’ll either take action or move on.
Make it extremely obvious who you are, what you sell, and where you want visitors to your page to go to buy. (If you want to include personalized things like “Mom,” or your dog’s name, be sure to also make it obvious what your business is selling! Don’t leave key details out.)
If you serve a local audience, don’t forget to include your location.
For example, Siskiyou Farm Co. (@siskiyoufarmco) uses their bio to clearly describe what they do and who they are. They also include a clear CTA to engage potential customers.
💡 Social media sales tip: Don't limit yourself to only getting orders on Instagram. Read our guide on social media marketing for farmers to expand your reach to other platforms like Facebook and TikTok.
Posting the right content with optimized captions and strategic hashtags are the simple but effective ways to organically grow your Instagram followers. As a result, your targeted audience means increased brand awareness, more opportunities for lead generation, and—most importantly—more sales.
Creating the right content with optimized captions, strategic hashtags, and clear calls-to-action is key to turning your Instagram followers into customers. By targeting your audience effectively, you’ll increase brand awareness, generate more leads, and boost sales.
To recap the five ways to get more customers on Instagram are:
Happy Instagramming!
