An Instagram sales funnel represents the steps in a customer’s purchasing journey on the platform, from awareness to purchase. By allowing you to visualize these steps, sales funnels can help determine weak points and areas for improvement in your marketing strategy to drive traffic and increase sales.
If you want to learn how to create an effective Instagram sales funnel to boost your marketing efforts on the platform, keep reading. We’ll discuss the different stages of a sales funnel and share some effective examples you can try for each stage.
Let’s start!
What Is an Instagram Sales Funnel & How Does It Work?
An Instagram sales funnel is essentially a variation of the traditional sales funnel, with additional steps to promote customer retention and repeat purchases through this particular social media platform.
While research by McKinsey & Company suggests that today’s consumers follow a circular purchasing journey with four main phases, the Instagram sales funnel actually follows an hourglass shape. After the consumer makes a purchase, businesses have the opportunity to interact with and engage them on social media, which reopens the funnel.
This additional step is crucial for building brand loyalty and gaining new customers through referrals. A study by Elite Daily and Millennial Branding (now Workplace Intelligence) revealed that for 62% of millennials, brand engagement is key to becoming loyal customers.
Meanwhile, according to research by Bozkurt et al. (2021) in the European Journal of Marketing, customers who perceive a business as “highly interactive on social media” are more likely to inform others about the brand.
Instagram Sales Funnel: 6 Main Stages
An effective Instagram sales funnel has six stages designed to help businesses generate leads, drive sales, and convert followers into customers.
Let’s go over the stages of a sales funnel below:
#1. Awareness
The awareness stage is at the top of the Instagram sales funnel and involves increasing brand visibility on social media to generate interest and attract new followers. This can be done through Instagram marketing, relevant hashtags, and influencer collaborations.
During this stage, it’s important to consistently deliver high-quality content that resonates with your target audience and reinforces your brand identity. From your choice of Instagram font to your color palette, you must present a cohesive image that aligns with your branding on the platform.
#2. Consideration
In the consideration stage, the consumer will be researching different brands to determine which one fits their needs best. During this stage of the Instagram sales funnel, you should focus on encouraging users to trust your business.
One way to do this is by sharing informative content to establish your expertise and credibility. You can also leverage Instagram Stories to engage your audience while providing more information about your brand.
According to Deloitte Digital, 61% of consumers are more likely to patronize businesses that are local to their area. So, consider using Instagram geotags in all your posts to improve your discoverability and local SEO.
#3. Action
The action stage is when the consumer finally buys a product. In this stage of the Instagram sales funnel, it’s important to motivate the customer to finalize their purchase by using compelling calls-to-action in your posts or promoting limited-time offers.
We also recommend utilizing Instagram’s built-in features to make the entire purchasing process as smooth and hassle-free as possible, as too many steps can turn away consumers.
#4. Engagement
Engagement is an additional stage in social media sales funnels and aims to improve customer retention through social media interactions. As we mentioned earlier, brand engagement is vital for promoting loyalty among users, so make sure to utilize social media to create a positive experience for your audience.
Simply liking or responding to comments can already have a great impact on customer satisfaction, but you can also generate interactions by reposting client testimonials and publishing engaging posts.
#5. Loyalty
In the loyalty stage of the Instagram sales funnel, businesses can encourage customers to make repeat purchases and be part of their brand’s community. This stage is important for success and long-term growth, as research by Bain & Company found that “a 5% increase in customer retention produces more than a 25% increase in profit.”
#6. Referrals & Advocacy
Referrals and advocacy are the last stage of the Instagram sales funnel and involve incentivizing loyal consumers to advocate for your brand.
Referral marketing is one of the best ways to reach new customers, as Nielsen’s Trust in Advertising study found that over 88% of respondents trust recommendations from people they know.
Moreover, referral leads have a 30% higher conversion rate than those from other marketing channels.
Top 15+ Ways to Create an Effective Instagram Sales Funnel
If you’re wondering how to create an Instagram funnel that converts, here are some effective strategies you can try for each stage of the funnel:
#1. Identify & Target Buyer Personas
Identifying your buyer personas can help you create content that resonates. Buyer personas are a representation of your target audience and can be defined through your audience’s demographics, interests, and activity on the platform. You can find all this information on Instagram analytics.
This stage is crucial for an effective Instagram marketing funnel. Once you know who your potential customers are, you can refine your social media strategy to meet their needs and increase the chances of converting them into customers.
Stage: Awareness
#2. Optimize Your Instagram Bio
The Instagram bio, along with the rest of your feed, forms your brand’s first impression; make sure you optimize this space for your Instagram marketing funnel.
Rather than leaving it blank or just stating your business name, consider adding a call to action button to redirect customers to your website and encourage them to purchase. You can also provide important information about your business, like your contact details and location.
Instagram only allows one link in your bio at a time, so if you have more than one link to promote, you can use Publer’s Link in Bio feature. This tool allows you to add up to 15 external links to one clickable URL.
Stage: Awareness
#3. Use Reels to Raise Your Brand Awareness
According to a survey by Morgan Stanely, over 74% of the app’s users engage with Instagram Reels, making it one of the best ways to boost brand awareness. From jumping on popular Instagram trends to leveraging popular music, this versatile content format can be an effective tool for reaching your target audience in the awareness stage of your Instagram sales funnel.
Stage: Awareness
#4. Add Relevant Hashtags to Your Content
Adding the right Instagram hashtags to your posts is key to improving your brand’s discoverability on the platform.
Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post, which can overwhelm your audience. Instead of using all the hashtags you find, you can utilize Publer’s hashtag analysis tool to identify the best and most relevant hashtags for your content.
If you plan on maximizing this feature, however, consider hiding the hashtags on your Instagram posts to avoid a cluttered feed. In addition to regular Instagram posts, you can also add hashtags to Reels, Stories, and even your bio.
Stage: Awareness
#5. Collaborate With the Right Influencers
Collaborating with popular Instagram influencers in your specific niche can help you reach a much broader audience. Influencers often have a dedicated following, making them a valuable partner for promoting your business.
Additionally, according to data from Statista, 36% of millennial consumers found influencer recommendations more trustworthy than traditional ads. So, if you want to supercharge your efforts in the awareness stage of your Instagram sales funnel, consider influencer marketing.
Stage: Awareness
#6. Create How-To Videos
Once you’ve built sufficient brand awareness, the next step in your Instagram funnel strategy should be establishing credibility through informative how-to content.
These posts offer great value to casual scrollers on the feed and can encourage them to visit your profile. Plus, how-to videos are a great way to highlight your products and show potential customers how they can benefit from your services, making them more likely to make a purchase.
Stage: Consideration
#7. Engage Your Audience With Stories
Stories are perfect for engaging your audience and maintaining their interest in your brand, so be sure to leverage them in your Instagram sales funnel. Unlike other content on the platform, Instagram Stories only last for 24 hours. You can capitalize on this limited timeframe to create a sense of urgency in your audience and motivate them to purchase your product.
Stage: Consideration
#8. Let Your Followers Test Your Product
Letting your followers test your products firsthand through free samples or trials can be highly effective at converting them into customers. According to researchers from Brown University, the more consumers feel like they understand a product, the more willing they are to pay for it.
This can also be a great way to get honest feedback about your products that you can use to improve your service further.
Stage: Consideration
#9. Position Your Product Strategically
If you want to succeed in the action stage of your Instagram sales funnel, it’s crucial to position your product as a valuable solution to your audience’s problem. You can create Instagram carousels that highlight your product’s unique features and benefits and emphasize how it can help consumers.
Stage: Action
#10. Leverage Instagram Shopping Tools
An Instagram Shop allows you to sell products directly on the platform, streamlining your Instagram sales pipeline and reducing friction in the consumer’s purchasing journey.
Selling your products on an external website means that users would have to leave the app to make a purchase. This additional step can prevent them from completing their order. Instagram Shopping improves your product’s accessibility and convenience to encourage customers to purchase.
Stage: Action
#11. Gather Feedback
The engagement stage of the Instagram sales funnel is not only useful for building customer relationships but also for gathering feedback from your audience.
You can post polls, surveys, or open-ended questions on Instagram Stories to get feedback about the quality of your products and the effectiveness of your current strategy. Doing so can make your followers feel important, which helps build loyalty.
Stage: Engagement
#12. Monitor Analytics
Consistently monitoring your Instagram analytics allows you to measure your strategy’s performance so you can make the necessary improvements to boost overall engagement.
While Instagram already has a built-in analytics tool, this feature can be quite limited. If you want to access in-depth insights into your current performance, consider using social media scheduling tools like Publer, which has comprehensive analytics tools.
Stage: Engagement
#13. Offer Special Deals for Followers
Offering exclusive deals and discounts to followers and repeat customers can help you maintain customer loyalty. Utilizing this strategy in your Instagram sales funnel can also create a sense of exclusivity among your audience and strengthen the relationship between your brand and its consumers.
Stage: Loyalty
#14. Build a Community Around Your Brand
According to research by Laroche et al. (2013), established brand communities on social media can have a positive effect on brand trust and loyalty, making this a vital step in your Instagram sales funnel.
You can build a dedicated community by consistently engaging with your followers and using their feedback to improve your strategy. By showing your audience that you value their responses, you can promote stronger brand loyalty.
Stage: Loyalty
#15. Run a “Tag a Friend” Contest
Running a “tag a friend” contest is an excellent way to ask your audience for referrals. One common variation of this strategy includes asking followers to tag their friends in the comment section for the chance to win a prize, usually the brand’s products.
This tactic can introduce your business to new users and generate significant engagement and interest in your brand, which are important ranking factors for the Instagram algorithm. Over time, this can lead to better brand visibility and awareness on the platform.
Stage: Referrals and advocacy
#16. Encourage User-Generated Content
Encourage customers to create content featuring your products and share it on your profile to build trust and credibility.
Entribe’s survey found that 86% of consumers are more likely to trust brands that publish user-generated content (UGC). By sharing and highlighting UGC on your profile, your existing customers become indirect advocates of your brand, which motivates others to make a purchase.
Stage: Referrals and advocacy
2 Successful Instagram Sales Funnel Examples
Now that you know what an Instagram sales funnel is and what steps you can take to create one for your brand, check out these examples of successful sales funnels that you can emulate:
- Gymshark. Gymshark’s Instagram sales funnel leverages fitness influencers and famous athletes at its core to make their products more appealing. They also built a dedicated community around their brand by highlighting UGC in their feed. All these elements have helped the brand achieve a 52% increase in orders year over year.
- ILTHY. ILTHY utilized Instagram automation tools in its sales funnel with a chatbot that offers discount codes to anyone who sends them a message using the specific keyword in their bio. The move was a success and led to a 22% increase in conversions.
Key Takeaways
- An Instagram sales funnel is a visual representation of the steps involved in a customer’s path to purchase.
- The six stages of an Instagram sales funnel are awareness, consideration, action, engagement, loyalty, and referrals & advocacy.
- Some strategies you can use for each stage of the Instagram sales funnel are influencer collaborations, how-to videos, Instagram shopping, analytics monitoring, community building, and “tag-a-friend” contests.
- Gymshark and ILTHY are excellent examples of successful Instagram sales funnels.
Ervin Kalemi
