Driving traffic from Instagram is crucial for generating affiliate earnings and marketing your owned channels as an influencer.
In this blog post, we’ll go through the 3 major ways you can use Instagram to drive traffic, as well as 5 tactics for increasing your clicks:
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3 Ways Influencers Can Drive Traffic from Instagram
Instagram is an amazing platform for influencers and creators, but opportunities to divert people away from the app are few and far between.
There are three main ways you can do this:
1: Link in Bio
The link in your bio is undoubtedly the most effective technique to drive traffic from Instagram, and it’s free!
To make the most of this valuable real estate, utilize the Instagram Bio link that lets you share many URLs from a single, easy-to-navigate landing page.
Instagram bio allows you to tell people who you are, it is a 150-character description under your username on your Instagram profile page. Your Instagram bio needs to convey your brand personality and show your audience they have come to the right place.
With Instagram bio you can add a clickable link, this could be your website, other social channels, landing pages, affiliate links, product pages — the possibilities are endless.
2: Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories are a great way to drive traffic from Instagram.
Influencers (whatever size!) can connect with their followers on a more personal level — which is essential for building trust and increasing engagement.
You can drive traffic through Instagram Stories by:
- Adding swipe-up links (or the new Instagram Stories link sticker) if you have over 10K followers.
- Linking to an IGTV video with clickable links in the video description (even if you don’t have 10K followers).
- Including clear call-to-actions (CTAs), GIFs, and text to encourage your community to click the link in your bio.
NOTE: Instagram is testing giving accounts with under 10K followers access to the Instagram Stories link sticker. Watch this space.
3: IGTV Video Descriptions
Unlike Instagram feed posts and Reels, IGTV video descriptions can contain clickable links, allowing viewers to easily navigate to the URL of their choosing.
Plus, you can add a swipe up link to an IGTV video in stories — even without 10K followers!
Here’s how to add a swipe-up link to your Instagram Story using IGTV:
- Record a video (between 15 seconds and 10 minutes in length) and upload to IGTV, adding links to the video description.
- Create an Instagram story of your IGTV video. Add a clear CTA that encourages viewers to swipe up and click the small arrow next to your IGTV video title to discover your links.
- Select the link icon at the top of the stories screen and select “IGTV video.” Your IGTV video will now be directly accessible via a swipe up link from your Instagram story.
How Influencers Drive Traffic Through Instagram
It’s time to get strategic and maximize your linking prospects now that you know how to re-route traffic from Instagram.
#1. Help Viewers Find Your IGTV Links
IGTV descriptions are one of the few places on Instagram where you can put clickable links (apart from your bio link).
However, because they’re hidden beneath a tiny arrow, viewers may struggle to find them.
Let your viewers know that they can “find a link by tapping into the video description,” pointing to where the small arrow will appear on screen, or adding a call-to-action through on-screen text.
#2. Create an Instagram Stories Highlight for Click-driving Content
Stories may disappear after 24 hours, but with an effective strategy, they can live on forever!
Enter: Instagram Stories Highlights.
Through highlights you can drives eyes to your top content/post by organizing them into clear categories and topics — letting your audience quickly find the content that’s of interest to them.
#3. Create Intrigue Through Instagram Stories
Influencers can build hype, launch a product, and drive traffic through Instagram Stories.
Using Instagram Stories as your main marketing tactic for your recent photo preset launch, sharing before and after photos and messages of excitement from your community.
You also can build up excitement and engagement by including a countdown sticker where your audience could set a reminder for the launch.
TIP: Use the question sticker to collect names of people who want you to send them a specific link via DM. This adds a personal touch and is an effective community-building tactic, especially if you have less than 10K followers.
#4: Write Persuasive Captions With Clear CTAs
As an influencer, Instagram captions are a great way to connect with your community. Turn your Instagram captions into an effective storytelling and traffic-driving tool.
Through your conversational captions, your audience learns from you with helpful marketing tips and hacks.
And you can seamlessly integrate CTAs into your captions, encouraging your followers to either comment, click the link in your bio, or save the post.
TIP: Your Instagram captions don’t have to be as long or as detailed as the image above — just make sure they include a clear CTA to help drive traffic through your link in bio.
#5: Use Reels for Viral Reach
It’s no surprise that Instagram Reels are a major traffic driver — they’re the main growth hack on Instagram right now.
Promote your products and services by adding clear on-screen text with CTAs that encourage your audience to read the caption and comments.
You can uses your Reels captions to encourage viewers to visit your website (by tapping the link in your bio).
By following these five(5) tried and tested strategies, you can drive serious traffic through Instagram.
With an effective traffic-driving strategy in place, you can increase your affiliate earnings and cross-promote your channels — all while making the experience easier for your community.
