Instagram Shoutout: Ultimate Guide to Double Your Dropshipping Sales on Instagram

Instagram Shoutout: Ultimate Guide to Double Your Dropshipping Sales on Instagram

It doesn't matter if you're in fashion, home decor, sports equipment, or something in between, Instagram is likely to be a significant social media site in 2022 for your business.

Many Instagram users follow at least one business, and most of them use the platform to make purchasing decisions. Using paid tactics like a story ad or running an Instagram influencer campaign can help build a robust Instagram marketing plan.

What Is an Instagram Shoutout

Insta shoutouts, or IG shoutouts as they're known colloquially, are when users promote another user's work on their own Instagram account.

Instagram shoutouts usually occur when User A creates a post or story that includes a photo or @ mention of User B.

In the case of a business shoutout, User A's post might include a photo or video showing a product or service that User B sells.

A shoutout is often part of influencer marketing - a trend that has more than doubled in the past two years and shows no signs of slowing down.

How to Get an Instagram Shoutout

You can get Instagram shoutouts in a variety of ways, some paid, some free. Here are a few of the most popular:

  • Free (Voluntary) shoutout

When your dropshipping product gets voluntary shoutouts, you've hit the jackpot! A voluntary shoutout occurs when a customer that bought your service or product likes it so much that they mention your business on social media. It's what everyone dreams about.

  • Shoutout for shoutout (S4S)

S4S is perhaps the most common way to get a shout-out on Instagram. Get a shoutout and give one back in return - shoutout for shoutout.

Find Instagram accounts that have approximately the same follower count as you and reach out to them in exchange for a shoutout. Paying for a shoutout or using S4S is always the better choice.

  • Paid shoutout

Paid shoutouts might be the best option for new dropshippers who don't yet have a large following. For finding top Instagram accounts to shoutout, you can use apps.

Some influencers might accept a free product in exchange for a shoutout (known as product seeding), but many will demand a monetary payment. You have nothing to lose by asking. It will only help.

  • Affiliate shoutout

The final model is the affiliate shoutout. Affiliate shoutouts work well when you sell clothes or merchandise.

Affiliate shoutouts on Instagram work by providing customers with a UTM-tagged link or discount code to use at checkout to track how many sales the influencer is responsible for. The influencer receives a percentage of each sale.

How to Get a Free Instagram Shoutout

S4S is a great way to get a shoutout on Instagram for free if you're interested in free dropshipping.

Ensure that the value you are offering them is in proportion to what you are asking for by looking for accounts with similar numbers of followers as you do.

A 5000-follower account cannot ask for a "shoutout for shoutout" from an account with 1M+ followers. The chances of them agreeing to something like that are slim because, well, what would they gain from it?

To find the best Instagram accounts, you can use hashtags that describe the type of account you're looking for. It is crucial to approach accounts in your niche with similar content when it comes to influencer marketing.

Selling baby toys, for instance, requires approaching a mother who has a large following of new mothers. It doesn't make sense to promote baby toys on an account for man cosmetics.

What is Paid Instagram Shoutouts

The majority of Instagram influencers make their living from paid Instagram shoutouts. Influencers can start accepting payments for shoutouts once they have established themselves as authority figures in their field and have a decent number of followers.

Due to this, it's only natural that there are several websites, directories, and tools for finding the right influencers. You can even find Instagram shoutout pages dedicated to reaching out and shouting out.

Instagram quotes pages resharing aspiring authors, for example. In addition, Instagram profiles with photos of exotic trips with frequent mentions of different travel agencies.

How Does an Instagram Shoutout Works

Instagram shoutouts can be done by anyone, but only a few factors will determine whether they are successful or not.

First of all, most people who do Instagram shoutouts have a large following. Instagram shoutouts are meant to gain exposure for the person doing the shoutout, which works best if the person has a large following.

Because most people who do Instagram shoutouts have many followers, they must have a reason to do the shoutout in the first place. People pay for popular Instagram accounts to promote their brands, and this is why paid shoutouts have become so popular.

Let's say you have two Instagram accounts, and each has a lot of followers. These two accounts may give each other shoutouts in this case. Everyone gets exposure to many potential new followers, even if nobody is paid.

Different things can also be promoted through shoutouts. The account that does the shoutout will tell their followers to follow your account if you are a content creator. Their followers can then easily click on your profile since they have tagged your account.

Alternatively, perhaps you sell a product through your Instagram account. Most likely, the shoutout will include a photo of your product and a link to your store. An example of this would be a shoutout aimed at sending in new customers to buy your products.

Every Instagram shoutout has a call to action, whether it's to follow another account or to buy a product. Your followers should take action when you give them a call to action.

Ideal Cost of Instagram Shoutouts

You will come across a wide range of prices for shoutouts, and the cost will depend on a few factors.

It is possible to estimate the cost based on the number of followers a user has. It is important to remember that every influencer will charge differently.

  • 100 to 500K followers: $50 to $1000
  • 500K to 1 million followers: $1000 to $10,000
  • More than 1 million followers: $10,000 and above

Try to stick to these numbers if you are planning on paying for an Instagram shoutout. Occasionally, Instagram users ask for more than they should, so always check the average cost of shoutouts.

There are, however, a few things to keep in mind. Despite having the same number of followers, one Instagram account may have a higher engagement rate than another.

The engagement rate measures how many followers engage with a post from an influencer. An influencer's engagement rate increases when more followers like, comment, and share their posts.

Influencers may charge more money for a shoutout if they have a high engagement rate. Their reason for charging more is that more people will engage with your content.

Make sure you look at their engagement rate before you agree to a certain price. Comparing their number of followers to the number of comments and likes on their photos will help you determine this.

Understanding engagement rates will help you determine what price is appropriate.

Tips to Getting Instagram Shoutouts

Although there is no one right way to get an Instagram shoutout, there are some guidelines and best practices that can increase your chances.

You should also avoid doing certain things. Let's go over a few tips for getting Instagram shoutouts that work.

1. Choose carefully who you work with

You can make a lot of mistakes if you don't carefully vet your options. If you sell gardening tools, you're probably not going to have much success contacting a high-fashion Instagrammer for a shoutout. Make sure that your potential partners' profiles, posts, and stories are compatible.

2. Establish a relationship before pitching

Give a stranger a taste of your integrity before asking them to vouch for it.

Follow the account of the person or brand you think would be a good candidate. Follow their social media accounts as well, such as Facebook and Twitter. If they have a blog, subscribe to it.

Afterward, you can like and comment on their posts periodically. But don't go overboard. There's a fine line between engaged and desperate.

3. Send an email or a message that starts a conversation

You may encounter spammy comments like “S4S?” while searching for awesome Instagram shoutout partners. Don't become that person.

Whenever it's time to reach out to your prospects, send them an Instagram Direct message or an email (if they have provided one in their profile info).

Separate communication will give your pitch more weight. Transparently state what you're looking for and how you'd like it to go in your message or email.

Benefits of Instagram Shoutouts for Dropshipping

As a result of doing influencer marketing on Instagram, you receive the following benefits:

  • A greater reach and exposure
  • A rise in followers for your dropshipping store
  • More loyalty and trust
  • Enhanced brand recognition
  • A lot of social proof - people like to see other people using a product - it makes them feel good
  • An increase in sales
  • Long-term organic sales
  • More results on a smaller budget

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What an Instagram Shoutout Should Contain

Instagram shoutouts are primarily meant to increase sales and your following on Instagram. Thus, you want the shoutout to present your product in the best possible light.

A typical influencer campaign includes showing the influencer how to use the product, listing some benefits, explaining how to use the product, etc. To promote a product or brand, as many people as possible need to be interested.

The caption should be short, simple, and clear, with a clear CTA. Nowadays, people don't read much, so make your caption easy to comprehend and scan at first glance.

In the first sentence of a caption, catch people's attention with something eye-catching, and then move on to the more boring stuff later.

The caption should entice the viewer to buy the product or follow the dropshipping store. Both influencers should tag your user account with an @ and post a clear CTA like a follow, a code discount, and so on.

Content to Prepare for an Instagram Shoutout

To increase your chances of being accepted, you should make it as easy as possible for a top Instagram page to give you a shoutout.

In other words, you should not give them more responsibility, such as looking for a picture on their own or thinking up a caption to describe the product.

It is best to approach these accounts with a pre-made template that they can copy-paste and use as is. These are usually the necessary items:

  • Visuals in the right format - correct size for Instagram stories or posts
  • If necessary, a video showing the product being unpacked, being used, or just from different angles
  • Include a link to your Instagram account (a user tagged with an @)
  • They should use the hashtags you provide
  • A choice of (or more) pre-written captions to accompany the visuals
  • Your external shop or product link (ideally, this will be included in the influencer's bio for a limited time so that it is clickable)

When reaching out to an Instagram influencer, you simplify your request and make their job much easier by providing the above items.

You can imagine how much more time they would have to spend on their own if they had to do everything themselves. As a result, influencers just need one minute to complete everything - increasing the chances of them agreeing to give you a shoutout.

Conclusion

Instagram shoutouts occur when an Instagram influencer mentions your brand or personal Instagram account. Most people will ask an account with a large following to shout them out. By shouting out, you can reach a wider audience, increase your follower count, and boost your sales.

Instagram shoutouts are mostly based on the number of followers an influencer has. Don't pay more than the average shoutout cost and think carefully about who you want to promote your brand.

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