Have you ever given a thought to selling clothes on Instagram? You might have because Instagram is one of the potential platforms to sell stuff online.
However, if you specifically want to know all about promoting clothes on Instagram, then you are definitely at the right place.
When Instagram was launched in 2010, it was majorly seen as a photo editing and sharing app but today it is the 6th most visited website globally, and over 1 billion people use Instagram every month.
Undoubtedly Instagram is the only platform where you get your targeted customers in a blink of an eye. You see, sometimes we think of selling our old clothes through craigslist (or) may run a backyard sale, but the results may not be that promising. You hardly get peanuts while many people make a lot of cash by selling used clothes on Instagram.
If you are still wondering how to sell clothes on Instagram, let me break it down for you.
Why Do You Need to Sell Your Clothes on Instagram?
So it is obvious to contemplate why somebody would want to buy things from Instagram when there are stores around every corner of the street and what’s the point of selling clothes on Instagram?
You see, Instagram is not a social media platform anymore. There are actually legit brands selling stuff on the platform be it clothes, drinks, software, and just about everything that you could think.
Also close to 130 million users on Instagram tap on shopping posts every month which tells us that people on Instagram are interested in buying through the platform, whether (or) not they make a buying decision at the end.
Also, there are various reasons why you should use Instagram as a selling channel. Below we have listed some points:-
- The very first reason to sell clothes on Instagram is that it won’t cost you anything. Like traditional stores where we need to rent a space and hire employees to manage your sales. Whereas Instagram being a free platform, all you will need is a business account to start sharing your clothes online.
- Women aged 25 to 34 made up 15.7 percent of all active Instagram users worldwide. And there is no denial that women can go to the moon and back for shopping. Considering this number many brands leverage the platform for selling their items which makes Instagram a popular B2C channel.
- Also trendy or classy things sell like hot cakes on the platform.
- Furthermore, by selling clothes on Instagram, you will end up building a community which is an excellent approach to build a genuine customer base if you are planning to open a real store at some point in the near future.
- Lastly, your designer clothes will find home in someone’s closet who appreciates the collection.
Once you have an online user base who might buy from you, have your clothes ready to sell, and all you need is an account to connect with them.
So what are you waiting for? here’s your chance to sell your old clothes for side-money (or) instead you could actually start a real eCommerce business by introducing your own clothing line on Instagram.
Do I Need a License to Sell Clothes on Instagram?
This query might not arrive in everybody’s mind who is trying to make money out of Instagram but definitely, if you plan to have a proper e-commerce business of selling stuff online then you might need to think it through.
Let me say right now, that most of us don’t need to have a license and especially a business license to sell on Instagram. There is a certain threshold of income that you need to generate from selling online to pay taxes and in case if you are actually generating money good enough to be taxed then you should consider applying for a business license and pay your taxes as a business. Every state and country has different rules and procedures for it. So you might have to check and apply accordingly to your geo-location.
Remember that you only need a license if you’re actually making that much amount money and also considering this as a real business.
Well on the other end, if you are just using Instagram to sell clothes that are from your closet and wanna make quick bucks, then the answer is no, you don’t need a license for that.
Most likely, anybody can sell stuff on Instagram and all you need is an Instagram account to start posting your stuff and wait for buyers to reach out to you.
However, there are certain obligations that you have to keep in mind while selling stuff on Instagram. Instagram is very strict when it comes to copyright infringement. If the item violates the Instagram policy then they will simply block or terminate it, be it your account (or) a post.
Try These 5 Ways to Market Your Business on Instagram
Creating an Instagram account and uploading your clothes for sale isn’t gonna help you earn money right then and there. Instead, you have to go out there on Instagram and need to either build a good following so that people would buy from you (or) you need to reach out/DM your potential buyers to sell your clothes.
I honestly think that many people might struggle with landing a customer or marketing their stores on the platform. Hence here I am going to share some marketing strategies to use to promote your clothes on Instagram.
1. Focus on user-generated content (UGC)
There is no better marketing approach than user-generated content. People love to post selfies and videos on Instagram wearing outfits, and most clothing brands are taking advantage of it. Brands usually use a hashtag where customers can upload pics of them wearing those particular brand clothes and usually the brands reward them with a post and a tag.
This strategy certainly brings a lot of traction and encourages people to post pics on their social media handles by tagging brands or by including their hashtags. Hence you can also use this approach to market your store.
Tip:- Reach out to your friends, family, (or) someone who bought clothes from you earlier and request them to upload posts with your clothes and make sure that they tag your Instagram account. This way you can have those initial Instagram content that you can authentically share.
UGC boosts the conversion rates as buyers lean towards such stores and accounts where they see real people making real purchases from the store and are happy with the product.
2. Approach influencers
The second approach to marketing your store on Instagram is to approach influencers. Influencers are the celebrities of this platform with a lot of followers. Users love influencers and the real reason for this is because of their content and connectivity.
There is a reason why influencers are called influencers because they can ‘influence’ people. There is no doubt that they can influence a buying decision too.
Since today Instagram is filled with so many lifestyle influencers and bloggers, I don’t think it’s a bad idea to reach out to someone with a good following and good engagement and get your clothes featured on their account.
Before approaching any influencers and requesting them for a share, please:-
- Check wheather they have your target auidence.
- Check wheather their following is legit. I mean look at their average number of likes and comments for each post.
- Avoid influencers who do tons of daily promotions.
- Always go with influencers who have followers anywhere between 20k – 100k. Their following is more likely to ncihed-down, less triggered, and will be more engaged with your influencer’s content. Also accounts with over 1 million following might ask you hefty money for just one sponsored post.
3. Do cross promotions
Cross promotions are another good approach to gain more followers on any social media platform. I believe if you have an existing audience on a platform other than Instagram (or) you’re trying to build some, then definitely cross-promotions within your social media platforms can benefit your Instagram account.
By using this approach you can redirect the audience from other social media platforms to your Instagram account. However, there is one little catch, which is you have to keep in mind that every platform is different thus your approach to grow on Twitter will be completely different from Instagram. This means you have to invest your time on other platforms as well.
Hence this strategy will only work if you either have a good following on other platforms (or) you are patient enough to invest time into growing on multiple platforms. Using multiple platforms for cross-promotion doesn’t mean that you need to be on every other social media platform on the planet, instead, just can choose one (or) two platforms where you think you can grow and potentially use that traffic to sell on Instagram.
4. Tell a story with your product
More than anything, people love to hear stories. Lucky enough Instagram takes this experience to a whole new level. The platform is all about pictures, videos, and now with short-form content Instagram has diversified content consumption.
Many brands are using this concept of not just posting aesthetic pictures but also to vibe with their prospects. By sharing content on Instagram, they are able to share a story with their posts which can actually help accounts to connect with their followers.
To stand out in the market, you need to do something out of the box. To tell a story there are many ways to do it, you can actually share the reasons why you’re selling your closet on Instagram (or) you can simply talk about your life (or) share any interesting reason why people should buy your clothes. Hence by sharing your reasons and message across the stories will get people engaged in your stories and somewhere down the line your clothes could sell themselves through those particular stories.
5. Make most out of Instagram ads
We all know that, when an opportunity doesn’t knock, we need to hustle hard to find an opportunity. If your organic reach isn’t growing on Instagram even after a long period of attention then it’s time to give ads a try. Ads can prove to be the right choice if your ad shows up in front of your potential buyers.
I know that Instagram ads do cost money but at the end of the day, if you become familiar with running ads, you will make profits. Running a marketing ad on Insta is definitely a time-consuming tactic if you consider taking up tasks like designing the post, writing clickable captions, targeting the right audience, and frequently tracking your campaigns.
Anyways you can either do it all by yourself (or) you can outsource this to an ad expert, but do remember that the only goal of running ads is to reach more people on the platform without making a dent in your pocket.
Additional: Use Hashtags and Reels to Reach More Customers
To sell rightly on the platform, it is mandatory to use all of its features such as stories, reels, and hashtags.
Don’t forget hashtags: The very first thing you need to understand is that hashtags are an essential element of any Instagram post. If you are posting pics and not using hashtags, then you are simply missing out on so much more organic reach. Without hashtags, your content would be lost among the 45K+ posts which get upload every minute on Instagram.
So without a doubt, adding relevant hashtags such as #clothesforsale, #closetforsale, should increase the visibility of your post.
Focus on reels: Uploading reels is the easiest and the most fun way to grow on Instagram. Not only is it engaging but also it is damn easy to create reels. People actually love watching reels irrespective of how much time it consumes. Hence this could be an excellent opportunity for your product placement.
If you only can create reels around your product and do your best to make it engaging. Then you could build a good following just through reels and this might end up improving your sales on Instagram.
However, the other way to use reels is to follow trends and engage with the audience. There is a new trend on Instagram every day, so you can strategize your content around each new trend be it posts, stories, (or) reels. Uploading reels on relevant trends is surely gonna rise your organic numbers.
Don’t forget carousel and stories: While posting posts on Instagram, try to use carousels as they are more engaging than single feed posts.
Also, there are Instagram stories that you can use to organize polls, quizzes, and all to connect with your followers. Hence Instagram provides you with multiple channels/ways to reach people and who knows in the future what additional features it might bring to the table.
Thus I would highly suggest you upload your content in as many ways as possible and promote it in as many ways as possible.
Conclusion
Now I assume you’re ready to sell your clothes from your closet and earn good bucks through Instagram. If you’re still wondering whether I could readily sell my clothes (or) not?
Then you need to definitely look into the Instagram accounts (or) stories where people have shared how they actually sold their closet on Instagram and make good money. If there are people who are already doing it, then it’s a good indication that even you could give it a try.
