13 Practical Uses for Instagram's New 'Payments' Feature

Instagram has been on a tear recently with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg talking about the future of the app in the latest F8 conference. There were some huge things announced but Instagram payments were something that wasn’t given a lot of buzz. It was left aside for observers to pick up and start using regularly.

Now that it’s entering the mainstream, it’s a good idea to talk about what businesses can do when it comes to Instagram payments. Not only does it solve a lot of problems for companies that market on Instagram, it opens up a whole new economy of smaller creators and artists who want to sell directly via Instagram instead of trusting third-party apps or websites. These websites could charge a deeper commission or not provide the required scale that smaller business owners need. E.g. when buying an e-book from someone you admire, you may not want to leave Instagram to purchase it. It’s a smoother way of purchasing items that otherwise require you to leave the Instagram experience.

1. Selling Online Products

Selling online products would have required you to have a PayPal linked to a safe HTTPS website, which was linked to your Instagram bio/post. Not it’s simple. You can sell online products through the Instagram app that allows you to both market yourself and promote your product line. You don’t need to rely on third-party payment gateways anymore.

2. Better Conversion Tracking

For businesses, it’s important to know where your marketing dollars are going at all times. Earlier, you weren’t able to truly gather data about how many clicks on your site lead to final purchases (via Instagram). Now that people can buy directly from the app, you can have better control over your marketing campaigns.

3. Buying Art Directly

Similar to how Etsy or any other portfolio eCommerce website would work, you can buy art directly from the creators you love. You can spot something you like, for your business or personal needs, and buy it. The money goes directly to the creator and you have something unique and niche to showcase in your office.

4. Stock Images & Photos Online

For marketing purposes, you’d have to browse through a multitude of stock image websites to find the perfect image for your campaign/website. Now that you can use payments on Instagram, you can find an artist you love and pay for their image directly. No need to enter strings of keywords to find what you’re looking for. You can simply add to cart, and you’re good to go.

5. Exclusive On-Demand Content

One of the best uses of the platform would be to sell on-demand content and subscriptions if you have that business model. This is especially true if you want to be able to sell a short trailer on your page, and lead people to download the full video content. This could benefit the video creator community and filmmakers in general.

6. Merchandise and Sales

Often referred to as ‘merch’, merchandise is one of the most lucrative ways through which Instagram influencers and businesses earn revenue. Now that merch can be spotted anytime on the page, you can add-to-cart and finish your purchase off without leaving the website.

7. No Need for Websites

Before, you’d have to have a splash page or a store page to host your content. Now you can bypass all of that and save server costs. Since your followers can directly purchase from you, you can operate a business without needing a website.

8. Paying for Services

Whether that’s a nail salon or you just got your laundry done, you can pay through the app directly. These are for the services in your area, that you found on Instagram and happen to fall in love with. You can pay for their services directly through the app.

9. Successful Affiliate Programs

You can allow influencers to sell your products directly through the app, giving you more transparency in commissions and sales. You now know completely, without a doubt how much sales each influencer brought in for you and create incentives for them accordingly. This is a great way to operate a marketing campaign and a highly practical way to use the feature.

10. Marketing a Lifestyle

Now that people can buy products and services using Instagram, it makes marketing a lifestyle that much more lucrative. Marketing a certain lifestyle, for a brand or a persona, is that much easier with fans buying into it via the app.

11. Direct Interaction and Engagement

You can run polls on Instagram and launch new products based on what your followers think. You can launch new products based on the winners and have a more engaging dialogue about your product or service line. This next level of interaction helps build a brand from the ground up.

12. Instagram-Exclusive Products

Now with the new payments feature, you can have Instagram exclusives that are just for the fans of your social media. This gives more incentives for people to follow your page so that they don’t miss out on some great deals and new products.

13. Personal-Styling Services

If you’re a personal stylist or an interior decorator, then Instagram has just opened up a new line of revenue and monetization for you. Fans of your work can pay for your hours and book you directly for an online or in-person meetup. Your Instagram profile now becomes your online portfolio where you can engage fans on a regular basis.

Conclusion

Instagram payments are just another step in democratizing the way we share money. There are so many methods out there that may be insecure or lacking the right security resources, and Instagram payments make it so much easier for people to transact. You can buy your favorite shoes or purchase some lipstick from an ad you spot on your feed. It’s the perfect way to save time and money when using Instagram payments.