In the last few weeks Instagram has made some pretty significant changes. They recently added a 10 second snap-chat video feature, finally allow users to zoom in on pictures and the biggest change, they implemented business pages. Business pages change the game for those of us who use Instagram to promote our brands and products. 

It’s clear to see that Instagram is on the same path Facebook has been on. The changes and the order of those changes are synonymous with the evolution Facebook has been through. It makes total sense. After all, Facebook owns Instagram. 

Social media is not going anywhere any time soon. It’s no longer a fad. Especially Instagram. With over 500 million monthly users, it’s safe to say Instagram is here for the long haul. I personally love the site. It’s my favorite social media site. No politics, no spam (yet) and it’s all user generated. I spend a good amount of my online time searching hashtags on IG. 

I’ve also used Instagram to make sales. You know me. I’m always closing! Instagram is no different. It took me a while to get the feel and how it all works down, but I’ve mastered IG selling at this point. It’s now another notch in my bed post of places I can go and f*ck sh*t up.  

I’m not the guy to talk about something until I’ve done it and I feel qualified to talk about it. I’m now at a point where I can share some of my expertise with selling on The Gram.  Here’s the deal though, if you learn this stuff and don’t do any of it, I guarantee you will not make any sales. You have to actually do the stuff I’m about to share with you, if you want to close some sales on Instagram. 

Use the contact button – Since IG just added business pages, part of that was adding a “contact” button on each business profile. This makes it easy for users, who are already on their phone, to call or email you, right from the Gram. The way to make sales is to get in contact with prospects. This feature makes it easier. In order to drive prospects to contact you, promote the contact button in your posts. When you make a post, add a call to action at the end that says “Let’s talk. Contact us by tapping the button on our profile.”

Track insights – Most of us in sales are not numbers people. We save that kind of work for guys like Harold over in HR. I’m just a guilty as the next person. Hell, I hire people to track numbers for me. The thing is, the numbers help you make more sales. Making a post with a call to action is one thing. Making a post with a call to action at the peak time your prospects are online is another. Those who can sell by the numbers, sell a lot.

Promote posts – Now that Facebook has tied in Instagram ads with the ads manager, you can promote your posts from your business page. This now includes videos. Instagram has made is easy to promote them too. You can simply hit the “promote” button on the post and choose your audience and budget right from your phone. Remember this: If you’re gonna promote something, make sure you have a call to action. 

Drive people to the DM – I love the DM. I’ve made 100s of 1000s of dollars this year alone from DM messages. When people send me a DM, I have a method I use called CATCH that allows me to close a vast majority of people who reach out. Knowing this, I invite people to DM me often. It even says “I respond to all DMs personally” in my profile description. The DM is where it goes down. 

Promote your profile – You’ll never make sales if no one has ever heard of you. We both know sales is a numbers game. It’s how many people can you get in front of and how fast. Paying to promote your profile and then giving regular calls to actions will help drive sales right where you want ’em. To you! 

Reply to comments – It amazes me how many people ignore Instagram comments. I’ve made thousands of dollars just replying to comments on my pictures and videos. Instagram also makes it easy for you to send them a DM. That’s how I do it. I reply to a few comments publicly, but I send DMs to many of my commenters. I told you I’ve made a ton of cash in the DM, that’s where I want prospects to show up. Start the conversation on the post and close the conversation in the DM. 

Thank people for liking your pictures – When people go out of their way to double tap one of your pics, you should thank them. This allows you to get in front of them, shake their hand (digitally) and start the bond building you need in order to ask for business. The other bonus of replying, liking and sending DMs to people is that it keeps your pics in their newsfeed. Instagram made the newsfeed similar to Facebook, so you’re not seeing posts in real time anymore, you need to engage to be seen. 

Shoot at least one video per week – You can now record up to 60 seconds of video at a time on Instagram. That’s 50 seconds of value and 10 seconds of sales pitch and call to action, if you know how to do it right. Videos on Instagram get priority in the newsfeed, so you need to take advantage often. People love vides and the shorter the better. You can record a sales pitch one time and get it seen by 30% of your followers if it’s good. That’s not even counting the hashtag traffic you can get. 

Capture 5-10 stories per week – Not too long ago, Instagram released stories. A 10 second live capture feature similar to SnapChat. You’d be surprised what you can say in 10 seconds. People are all over Instagram stories too. My stories get watched 1000s of times. You can’t skip out on stories. You should be doing 1 or more every day. 

I fully believe in using every angle I can in order to get in front of more people who might benefit from my help. When it comes to making sales on Instagram there’s no exception. I’m on there selling in pictures, videos, comments, DMs, stories and every other method I can come up with. 

I’ve built a good sized following on the Gram and I’m closing sales daily from it. It’s a powerful networking site if you know what you’re doing. Take advantage of ever opportunity you have to make a sale. Combine my Permission Based Sales training and the Gram and you have the ability to make an unlimited amount of sales. 

If you’re not following Hardcore Closer on Instagram make sure you don’t miss out. If nothing else, you can see how I work the platform, first hand. Also don’t forget to subscribe here on this blog and join the 10dayhustle.