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How to Set Up Shoppable Posts—Connecting Shopify & Social Media

If you don’t already know about shoppable media...don’t worry, we’ll catch you up! If you’ve seen it but don’t know where to get started...this tutorial is for you too! In this article, we’ll dive into the world of shoppable media and how you can use it to drive your sales using Instagram and Facebook, including instructions on how to set it up with your Shopify account. So, first thing’s first... 

What is Shoppable Media?

Shoppable media is a form of visual commerce created to encourage consumers to make a purchase. It is often presented in a storytelling format with actionable purchase points and product recommendations included to help customers in their shopping journey. It’s meant to create a more exciting, interactive user experience and almost any retail brand is jumping onboard.

When it comes to integrating shoppable media, providing creative user experiences that will encourage customers to shop and buy are key. Here are some examples:

  • Visual Storytelling: Lookbooks have long been used in the industry as an insider tool and then turned into a sales tool. Creating visual lookbooks on Instagram or Facebook is a great place to start.
  • User-Generated Content: This puts personality into products, to the point where they become an essential part of a relatable lifestyle. This can be done by reposting your customer’s content, or utilizing social media influencers.
  • Shoppable Editorials: These editorials provide a user experience that is similar to that of browsing through a magazine. The content includes pictures, insider interviews, trend reports and style edits.
  • Shoppable Videos: With video marketing on the rise, it only makes sense that they have become key in the shoppable media market.
  • Shoppable Images: Many companies provide a wide range of content on their social media sites promoting their products. Why not use a shoppable tag to help out your customers?

Selling on Facebook with Shopify

The Steps...

  1. Make sure that your store meets the requirements for selling on Facebook, you have a Facebook Page for your business, and you understand Facebook's policies.

  2. Add Facebook Shop in your Shopify admin, and then wait for Facebook to review your shop.

  3. Publish products and collections to Facebook by making them available to Facebook Shop. After you make a collection with at least one product available to Facebook Shop in Shopify, the Shop section appears on your Facebook Page.

Step 1:

To be eligible to list products on Facebook by using Facebook Shop you need to meet a few requirements:

Step 2:

After you make sure that your store meets the requirements, you can add Facebook Shop and connect your Facebook account. You need to wait for Facebook to review your store before you can start selling through Facebook Shop.

1. From your Shopify admin, click the + button beside the Sales channels heading.

2. On the Add sales channel dialog, click Facebook Shop to learn more about the sales channel.

3. Click Add channel.

4. Connect the Facebook account you want associated with your products:

Go to Facebook Shop > Account.

Click Connect account.

If you are already logged in to Facebook, then confirm that you're using the correct Facebook account. If you are not logged in, then enter your Facebook login information.

Follow the prompts on the Log in with Facebook dialog to allow Shopify to connect with your business's Facebook page.

5. Wait for Facebook to review your store, which can take up to 48 hours. You are notified by email and in Shopify when Facebook finishes the review process.

Step 3:

After you have set up Facebook Shop and Facebook has activated the Shop section on your Facebook Page, you can publish product collections to Facebook. Products that you make available to Facebook Shop in Shopify appear on the Shop section of your Facebook Page.

1. If you don't have any products in your store, then click Add product to add products to your store. If you have products in your store but they aren't available to Facebook Shop, then click Make products available to go to the Products page in your Shopify admin.

2. Click the name of the product that you want to appear on your Facebook Page.

3. In the Product availability section of the product details page, click Manage.

4. In the Manage sales channels availability dialog, check Facebook Shop, and then click Done.

5. Click Save.

Facebook Catalog

A catalog is a container that holds information about the items in your inventory. After you create a catalog, you can create ads and shopping experiences that pull information from your catalog to show people your items. For example, you can use your catalog to run dynamic ads, set up shopping on Instagram, create a shop on your business Page and more. Before setting up a catalog, make sure you:

  • Create a Facebook Page for your business so that you can run ads from your catalog in Ads Manager.

  • Set up Business Manager and connect it to your business Page. Business Manager allows you to assign catalog tasks to give other people access to your catalogs. You can choose the business your catalog belongs to when you create your catalog.

  • To sell on Instagram and tag products: The Instagram sales channel connects the product that you have in Shopify to your Instagram business profile. Before you add the channel, make sure that you have a Facebook business page and you have added products to your Facebook catalog.

The Steps...

  1. Go to Catalog Manager.

  2. Select Create Catalog.

  3. Select the correct catalog type for your inventory. You can choose E-commerce, Travel, Real Estate or Auto. If you select Travel, choose Hotels, Flights or Destinations. Select Next.

  4. Decide how you want to add your inventory to your catalog.
    • To add items yourself, select Upload Product Info. You'll be able to add your items later using a data feed, manual form or Facebook pixel.
    • If you host your inventory on a merchant platform such as Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, 3dcart, Storeden or OpenCart, select Connect E-commerce Platform.

  5. Choose the business that your catalog belongs to from the dropdown menu. This is the business you set up in Business Manager. You can also choose Personal, but you'll have fewer ways to use a personal catalog unless you connect it to a business.

  6. Enter a name for your catalog.

  7. Select Create.

Selling on Instagram with Shopify

The Steps...

  1. To use the Instagram sales channel, Make sure your store matches the Instagram requirements. 
  2. Set up your Instagram sales channel.

  3. Tag your Products.

Step 1:

To use the Instagram sales channel, you need to meet the following requirements:

Step 2:

The Instagram sales channel connects the product that you have in Shopify to your Instagram business profile. Before you add the channel, make sure that you have a Facebook business page and you have added products to your Facebook catalog. You can make a Facebook product catalog by setting up Facebook Shop.

1. From your Shopify admin, click the + button beside the Sales channels heading.

2. On the Add sales channel dialog, click Instagram to learn more about the sales channel.

3. Click Add channel.

4. Log in to your Facebook account page to authenticate your Instagram account in the sales channel.

You can add your product catalog from the Shopping page in your Instagram business profile options.

1. Using Instagram, open your business profile options and then go to the Settings section.

2. Tap Shopping, and then confirm your Facebook account.
3. If you don't see the Shopping section, tap Edit Profile and confirm you are connected to your Facebook business Page.

4. Select the yourstore.myshopify.com product catalog.

5. Tap Done.

Step 3:

You can tag products in your Instagram posts and stories. Customers who find your tagged products on Instagram can tap a link to view and buy a product in your online store.

You must be approved for Instagram Shopping and finished the setup, before being able to tag products in your posts.

  1. Select a photo or video and add a caption, effects and filters.

  2. Tap the products in the photo that you want to tag. For videos, a tray will appear where you can select up to five products you want to tag.

  3. Enter the names of the products you want to tag, then select them as they appear in the search box.

  4. Tap Done.

  5. Tap Share.

The Benefits

At first glance, we know this can look overwhelming...but once you get started, it becomes more simple and you’ll start noticing the benefits of shoppable media almost instantly. A consumer sees a brand’s message and right within the ad is given the chance to buy. That kind of shoppable media is the perfect way to seamlessly close the loop from exposure to purchase, but there’s more too! Shoppable media messages also can aid interactive product discovery and help brands acquire new customers. They can improve customer engagement and special branded offers. Most importantly, Shoppable media gives you the opportunity to engage and interact with consumers along their entire buying journey— offering you new data and insights on what consumers like, dislike and what they’re looking for. 

You’ll want to jump onboard with social media asap this year. It’s going to improve your online shopping experience, drive revenue online and off, engage with new and existing customers, enhance data, and build loyalty and retention. Click-to-buy? That’s perfect and a top benefit… but it also offers so much more. 


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