How to embed an Instagram widget on your website
I was heading to a wedding the other weekend, and a haircut was desperately needed a few days before the celebration. Instead of making a phone call or using a clumsy online booking system, the most convenient way to book the appointment with my favourite London salon was through Instagram’s direct messages.
Social media channels and their direct messaging features have become a significant sales channel for many other businesses too. In essence, an opportunity to engage in a one-to-one discussion with customers is something that companies shouldn’t be missing at any cost.
But how do you direct current and new customers to visit your social media profiles, drive engagement (likes and comments), and increase the number of one-to-one conversations?
Using social media channels’ advertising tools is the most obvious option but you might not have the budget or resources to manage and optimise advertising campaigns. Also, the competition is fierce and continuously driving the price per click up.
It’s easy to forget that most companies already have websites and other digital channels to promote their social media activities though - and that’s where an embeddable Instagram widget comes in handy. Embedding an Instagram widget allows you to display a feed of images on any digital service with an elegant look & feel – you can choose between a wall, grid, carousel, and slideshow format and customise the fonts and colours to match your brand’s style. Getting started takes only a couple of minutes (see details further down).
What can be displayed with an Instagram widget?
Display your Instagram feed for inspiration, questions, and feedback
Your Instagram feed provides an inspirational way for your customers to learn more about your products and services, but it's also an opportunity for them to ask questions of your team and get involved in discussions with other customers in the comments section. We trust other customers (user-generated content) more than brands, and authentic tips and feedback from your best advocates will help new customers to make their decisions.
By displaying an Instagram widget on your website and any other digital services, you’ll also increase the time spent on your site and encourage customers to like and follow your brand on Instagram. The widget makes it clear to your customers that Instagram is one of your most important customer service channels, and that lowers the barrier of getting in touch with your team.
Campari's social media page features the latest Instagram images:
Display images by influencers
Are you sponsoring a local sports teams or other community organisation or collaborating with influencers? If you are, make sure that you are taking full advantage of any content they are already producing on Instagram and embed a feed of Instagram mentions on your website. These days, succesful brands online actively repost the content made by influencers, and they make sure to display these posts on their website too.
Philipp Plein, a luxury fashion brand, displays the influencer content on their website with a grid layout:
Display user-generated content by customers
Asking your customers to provide feedback and share their experiences by using a branded hashtag has become a popular and efficient way for brands to increase their brand awareness and reach on social channels. Customers trust user-generated content – they are twice as likely to share user-generated content to their family and friends.
Jay Peak Resort, a mountain resort in Northern Vermont, provides an excellent example of how to feature user-generated content on a website - in their case to help convince potential customers to book their next skiing trip.
For more inspiration, check 7 great examples of user-generated content campaigns.
How to embed an Instagram widget on your website?
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to set up and embed an Instagram widget on your website:
- Gather images of a specific Instagram account and hashtag mentions
- Select the display style of your Instagram widget
- Embed an Instagram widget on your website
1) Gather images of a specific Instagram account and hashtag mentions
Start by gathering the right content – Instagram provides three types of content for you to select:
- Instagram posts by a specific Instagram Business account.
- Mentions and tagged images of your Instagram Business account.
- A hashtag feed of all the public Instagram images by other businesses and your customers.
With Flockler, you can set up an automated feed that updates fresh content to your widget every five minutes. You can create a widget that mixes the content types mentioned above - or you can display content types separately. For step-by-step instructions, watch our one-minute video on how to create an automated feed storing images by any Instagram Business account.
2) Select the display style of your Instagram widget
Once you’ve set up automation to gather Instagram images, it’s time to select the display style of your widget. With the same Flockler subscription, you can create a wall, grid, carousel, or slideshow and display your inspirational Instagram feeds on an unlimited number of digital services.
You can easily edit the style from the widget’s settings, making sure it fits your brand’s look & feel.
For more details and inspiration, see examples of how brands display Instagram feeds on digital services.
3) Embed an Instagram widget on your website
The final step is to embed the widget on your website and other digital services. If you don’t have access to manage your company website, share the embed code with your favourite developer and they’ll add it for you. Adding the widget to any digital service takes only a couple of minutes - and there’s no need for any development work. Flockler’s embeddable Instagram widget makes sure the layout looks nice and clean, while the widget updates with fresh content based on your automated feeds.
Have you already signed up for our 14-Day Free Trial? Get access to our full product without any commitment and embed an Instagram widget on your website in a few minutes.