Instagram is one of the best social media platforms for brand marketing, used by over 80% of marketers worldwide. Considering the sheer popularity and constant innovation on the platform, it’s hardly a surprise that it remains so prevalently used among all walks of life. Popularity, however, comes with a lot of competition. It can be hard to stand out in the Instagram marketing scene, so today we’ll talk about how you can market and sell your products on Instagram effectively.

1. Make a marketing plan

This is something we’ve emphasized before, but before anything else, you need to know who your target audience is. It’s a core of all marketing fundamentals, and we talk about it in far more detail in our guide on how to sell style, not just clothes.

One thing to note, however, is that Instagram users tend to skew younger. A majority of Instagram users are between 18 to 25, and contrary to the feminine stereotype the platform has, it’s pretty even in gender distribution. In fact, men outnumber women in most age groups by a few percentages.

In other words, if you’re marketing on Instagram, you’re marketing towards that audience in particular. Instagram boosting can also help you adjust what specific content demographic you’re looking for (i.e. gamer or sports car types? Hipsters or preps? Tech junkies or new-age naturalists?). 

Assuming you have your marketing plan and strategy set out, you can begin creating your account.

2. Set up your brand account

Here’s a fun fact: almost a third of Instagram users have bought an article of clothing they saw once on the platform. It’s not hard to imagine, then, that the platform provides numerous facilities to help apparel brands start their businesses on a high note. These are a few things you can do to optimize your brand account for Instagram marketing:

a. Create a Business Account: Instagram’s Business Account mode is optimized to serve your clients and help boost your own reach. It has a couple of handy tools, like a customizable direct message that allows clients to choose the products they want. If you’re investing resources into marketing, you can also boost your posts and tailor the advertisements to your target audience’s specifications.

b. Set up a clear brand visual: This includes making a professional logo with consistent variations, a distinct visual brand identity (i.e. one set color palette, a few fonts, shapes, and templates for posts), and customizing your saved stories to be accessible and aesthetic to clients.

c. Add links to your bio: Much of Instagram’s post layouts are made to be temporary, so it’s important to have all your essential links in your bio to gather everything together. If you want to link multiple websites at once (i.e. a storefront, other social media accounts, a contact list, etc.), you can use Linktree to gather everything together.

3. Post, tag, and experiment

Like most social media platforms, Instagram marketing lives and dies off the grace of the algorithm. Unless you’re advertising using Insta’s boost function, your reach is going to be limited by how many followers you have and how much engagement your post garners. Both are affected and decided by the algorithm. 

In 2024, the current sweet spot for the algorithm is around three to four posts a week. However, this doesn’t take into account the other tasks on your to-do list! Engaging with commenters and people in your tags, posting regular polls and stories, and posting live streams if you’re a creator-focused brand–all these things are important for building your social media presence.

These steps will help you keep track of your posting and stay sharp on recent trends:

1. Keep a content calendar. This calendar should include what days you regularly post, different content pillars you plan to explore, any holiday or season-specialized collection, and everything else you think fits in your apparel brand.
2. Research hashtags. These are the primary mode of exploration and searching on Instagram, so it’s important that you have a list of what hashtags you want to consistently appear in. Typically, they’re general tags like “#clothingline #clothingbrand #apparel,” more specific lifestyle tags like “#smallbusiness #streetwear #sportswear,” and then your own brand name.
3. Stockpile content. This means taking as many photos of your products as possible and spacing out their content release dates bit by bit. If you can repurpose your previous works in novel ways, that’s even better. It brings life back to old products and allows you to save costs on building new highlights.
4. Experiment, experiment, experiment. Try A/B testing your posts by adding new elements to your posts little by little and comparing them to your standard posting styles. Post reels, carousels, and stories and see which ones garner the most attention for your brand. The more you experiment, the easier it becomes to track down and set your core audience. 

4. Engage with audiences

A large part of the Instagram algorithm is decided by user engagement, including comments, likes, shares, and other forms of interaction. While it’s essential to make content your followers will be able to like and share, answering comments and inciting calls to action also helps a lot in this equation.

If you’re starting out as a small, independently owned apparel brand, it’s essential to address all the relevant comments you have on your posts or in your inbox. Some of these may be negative–perhaps they’re airing out their grievance about a product, or providing feedback regarding a marketing strategy. 

These negative comments are important to address too. Is there a way you can improve their experience with their products (i.e. a refund, assistance, etc..)? Is there feedback worthwhile to consider, and do other people share similar concerns. Engaging with them early helps your brand grow over time, and ameliorates any bad press you may otherwise get.

5. Set up a shop

Instagram’s in-built storefront has led to a vast majority of the app’s massive conversions. It’s easy to access, has a clean UI, and seamlessly links Stories and posts to your storefront. Apparel brands especially benefit a lot from the storefront’s easy controls and effortless aesthetic appeal.

Setting it up is rather straightforward. The steps are thus: 

1. Use a Facebook account to access Commerce Manager. Click Get Started, and Create Shop.
2. If you have a Shopify platform, you’re given the option to make your shop there. If not, you’ll have to link a checkout method for your storefront.
3. Select your Instagram business account when you’ve decided on your checkout method.
4. Decide on your catalog, and make sure it suits the guidelines.
5. Double-check your details and finish your setup. 

Once you’ve completed all these steps, you’ll be on your way to success in Instagram marketing. You may see a rise in demand, which means you’ll have to expand your business and distribution. Luckily, Shirtual’s one-stop solution makes mass production and distribution a breeze. Build your brand–let us handle the rest.