Ecom Kong

eCommerce Made Simple

Instagram Marketing for Dropshipping

by

Instagram Marketing for Dropshipping

Instagram Marketing for Dropshipping

One of the best ways to quickly get purchases and begin to build data for your Facebook pixel is leveraging a free Instagram account. When I began my store in the pet niche, I employed a new marketing technique that pet owners found irresistible. I found myself receiving more DMs from pets on Instagram than I could have ever imagined. They were lining up to find out how they could get in on the exclusive deal. There are many different techniques out there for utilizing Instagram marketing for dropshipping but I guarantee you none are as successful as the one I lay out for you below.

I created an “Ambassador Program” that was built on giving discounts to pet owners who had Instagram pages for their pets.  Once their orders arrived, they had to post quality pictures of their pets using our products and tag us in the post. The results were remarkable.

After I created an account that matched my store name, I uploaded a captivating bio, and began creating posts in a checkered pattern to stand out from other pages.  The next step was to follow pet Instagram accounts.  I went to larger pet pages and began following users who recently commented on posts.  I would then go through each one and like a few of their photos to get their attention.  It’s important to note, you should only add about 15 accounts per hour to avoid being marked as spam by Instagram.  Soon these pet owners began following me back and that’s when I slid into the DMs. This is how the typical message sequence went:

Instagram Marketing for Dropshipping

I would personalize each message to the name of their dog, tell them how adorable they were, and “INVITE” them to join my ambassador program.  The word “invite” creates a sense of exclusivity in the consumer’s mind.  After they responded, I pitched them the ambassador program and immediately offered them an active discount code.  The results were surprising!

I was able to convert about 50% of them!  The average Shopify conversion rate is about 2%.  I was able to convert 25x more by using my Ambassador Instagram marketing strategy.  The crazy part was I only had about 10 followers when I made my first sale.  People trusted me because my page was designed creatively, I had a captivating bio, and I engaged with them on a personal level while offering an invitation to the Ambassador program.  They believed that they were receiving a ton of value for joining the program and quickly jumped on board.

Instagram Marketing for Dropshipping

The Ambassador Program also allowed me to receive a ton of free unique content and advertising.  Once the products arrived, the customers happily took multiple pictures of their pets using the products.  They would post the pics on Instagram, tagging my page, and offering amazing testimonials that I could use to grow my brand.  Their followers would then throw me a follow and send me a DM asking how their pets could join the Ambassador Program.  Now I didn’t have to go chasing leads, they were sliding into my DMs!

I had several goals for my Ambassador Program:

  1. Get sales to optimize my Facebook Pixel quickly
  2. Receive customized content and testimonials for my brand
  3. Have leads coming to me instead of chasing them

With these goals in mind I made sure to offer the highest value offer I could get them to convert.  You can learn more about high value content offers by checking out “Sell Like Crazy” in my post about the top eCommerce books in 2020.  I offered them a discount code that was just above my break-even point on each product.  Instead of my profit margin being $20, it was closer to $5 because my goal wasn’t to make profit at this stage.  I wanted to convert as many pet owners as possible to join my brand. 

Zendrop allowed me to offer express US shipping to these customers at a cheap rate.  Zendrop fulfillment service offers the most reliable suppliers and shipping routes possible.  I can’t express the importance of having reliable shipping and high quality products when it comes to building your brand’s image.  If my products never arrived or the quality was shitty these customers wouldn’t have gone out of their way to create these testimonials and give me a shout out on Instagram. You can learn more about Zendrop dropshipping by checking out my recent post about their amazing fulfillment services. 

As I continued converting more pet owners, I began re-posting all of the testimonials and shout outs from these happy pet pages.  It’s key to use the power of hashtags to grow your audience and the reach of your posts.  I used relevant hashtags for each post that had between 10k and 100k followers.  As a small page it’s important not to target the hashtags with millions of followers because you don’t have the power based on the algorithm to reach anyone.  It’s also key to use less than 10 hashtags per post to avoid a shadow ban.  Instead of recycling hashtags from older posts, switch them up.  I used different hashtags based on the dog breed, the product, and the emotions the testimonial evoked.  After consistently posting content each day for about two months I began reaching the explore page on a consistent basis.  If you want to learn more about implementing a hashtag strategy read this post by AdEspresso.

I made it a point to list the program details in my bio and within all my posts.  At this point I had about 10 leads asking me about my Ambassador Program each day.  In my opinion, there doesn’t exist a better platform for free lead generation than leveraging the power of Instagram. 

This Instagram marketing for dropshipping model can be used across all niches to quickly build your pixel data, get custom content, and grow your brand. I highly recommend using this technique if your new to dropshipping and want a free way to get purchases early to start your ecommerce business on the right foot.

Another way to utilize Instagram for dropshipping is by paying influencers to promote your products. Checkout this video by the homie Biaheza:

Have you used a similar free technique using Instagram marketing for dropshipping? Or have you paid Instagram influencers to get sales and optimize your Facebook pixel?

Let me know your experiences and if you have any questions, I’m always excited to hear from you!

As always, checkout some of my latest posts related to dropshipping: