How To Get Your Audience To Shop Your Content
4 minute read time
For almost 10 years TBS Co-Founders Cathy (Poor Little It Girl) and Jessica (My Style Vita) have been running their personal blogs. So, it’s safe to say that they know a thing or two about monetizing their brands. And one of the easiest ways to do that is with Collective Voice. It’s more than just using their tools; you have to educate your readers and guide them through the process. Cathy and Jessica are here to share how we get our readers to shop our content.
Did you miss the live webinar? Watch a recording here.
There are several Collective Voice tools such as Product Widgets, Looks & Collections, and LinkIt that can be used across your blog and social platforms. By using these tools strategically and purposefully, you have the ability to earn revenue and generate income. (For a more in-depth look at how to monetize your content, check out our previous post here!)
HOW TO GET YOUR AUDIENCE TO SHOP YOUR CONTENT
As a blogger and influencer, your job is to not only create shoppable content but educate your readers on how to shop it. You can’t expect a non-blogger to understand what an Affiliate Link is or what happens when they buy from one of your product widgets, for example. Remember: You’re the expert! This is why it is so important to continuously educate your readers on how to shop your content.
ON YOUR BLOG
On your blog, we recommend writing a blog post or two breaking down what goes on “behind the scenes” as a blogger. These can be great personal posts, show transparency and get your readers shopping more once they understand why it matters. Here are a few blog post titles to get started. We also suggest re-sharing these blog posts across your social platforms for any new followers to see.
- How To Shop From My Blog
- How Bloggers Make Money
- How To Support Your Favorite Bloggers
- How You Can Shop My Instagram Looks
Other helpful tips to include in all blog posts are to have hyperlinked text that’s bolded and a different color than the rest making it more intuitive to click. Also, use a heading over product widgets to explain what’s below like “shop more summer shorts”. You’re continuously guiding the reader through your content as they consume the information you’re sharing.
ON INSTAGRAM
Whether you’re providing a swipe up link (using the LinkIt tool) to a dress you’re wearing, or directing your followers to your ‘Instagram Shop’ powered by Looks & Collections, using the Collective Voice tools on Instagram is an integral part of any successful blog/influencer channel.
Instagram In Feed
Within your Instagram feed, you’ll want to include information on how followers can shop your look within each caption. Saying #linkinbio isn’t always enough. We recommend being more descriptive and guide them through the process. A great caption might include “To shop this photo, head to my profile and click the link. Just tap the photo to shop the products!” If your link in bio clicks through to a shop page, include that in your bio with a call to action for users to shop your feed.
Instagram Stories
Utilize your Instagram Stories with a series of slides showing exactly how to shop from your Instagram. You can add these to a highlight like Cathy of Poor Little It Girl did here. Re-share these every so often for new followers.
Whether it’s text, or a GIF that’s part of the Instagram app, you can make your Stories more enticing for your audience to engage with by adding a simple call to action (CTA). When sharing product roundups, try-ons or anything you want readers to shop, you’ll want to include a CTA to direct them such as “SWIPE UP to shop my look” or “head to the link in my bio to shop my picks”. Adding text is important regardless as only 29% of Instagram users report listening to Stories with sound on. (source: Hubspot)
TIP: If you do not have the swipe up feature yet, you can always tell followers to DM you for a link. There’s even a “DM For Link” sticker! This gets you chatting with readers and helps to cultivate a relationship with your audience.
TIPS TO CONVERT LINKS TO SALES
You have all your links in place and you’ve been educating them on how/why to shop those things…but there’s more! You want to convert those links you provided into sales! Here are a few easy ways to get your audience even more excited to purchase from you in your blog and/or Instagram feed:
- Include sizing information and size range.
- Call out other colors and prints that items are available in
- Create a sense of urgency by mentioning if it’s on sale, the code needed and when the sale ends
- Show how to style things several ways so readers are inspired
- Mention things more than once. It can take several mentions before a consumer follows through with a purchase.
- Create content that is designed for readers who are ready to buy with review posts or comparison posts.
Don’t Forget To Comply With FTC Guidelines
Lastly, it’s important to always keep in mind FTC guidelines when sharing affiliate links or any sponsored content. You can easily do this by including #commissionlink #ad #paidad #promotion. These should be included prior to your reader consuming the content.
Collective Voice’s helpful FTC resources: