There are many third party services that enable Instagram selling in different ways. We have chosen three of them that are most suitable for the three types of products that we have identified in one of the previous chapters: affiliate, digital and physical. Less is more! Personal Instagram accounts that once thought to be a place to connect with friends are turning into serious businesses now. Popular Instagram users command an army of followers, become celebrities in their own right and are called influencers for a reason. They really do influence the mind of their followers, tastes, habits and shopping decisions. Thanks to affiliate programs, they also make bank on all the products they recommend.
If a popular Instagram account owner decides to only work with one brand or specific product, then it is easy for him/ her to redirect followers to a designated e-commerce website or landing page via a referral link in the bio. On the other hand, when it comes to recommending items from various brands, sometimes depicted all together in one photo, things get complicated and a special tool is required to help followers get to the checkout.
LikeToknow.It is the solution for Instagram bloggers who choose to sell fashion, beauty and lifestyle affiliate products. It is a service that allows users to receive shoppable links in their email inbox for the products they spot in Instagram images. These are, of course, affiliate links that the owner of Instagram account connects to his/ her Instagram post to earn a commission from the sale.