Using Instagram to generate revenue alongside a great support experience

Do you know how many of your customers are on Instagram? Chances are, more than you think.

According to Pew Research, about 78% of U.S. adults aged 18–29 and 66% aged 30–49 use Instagram. These customers aren’t just scrolling—they’re discovering new brands, engaging with content, and building lasting loyalties along the way.

Selling on Instagram

Instagram has evolved far beyond a photo-sharing app into a powerful sales channel. With features like in-app checkout, product tagging, and Shops that let customers browse curated collections directly within the app, it’s easier than ever for brands to turn inspiration into purchase.

Selling through social media creates opportunities to connect with customers who might never find you otherwise, and Instagram remains one of the strongest platforms for doing so.

That said, relying only on Instagram for marketing and sales can limit your reach. To build a truly resilient funnel and maximize revenue, you’ll need to integrate Instagram into a broader, connected customer experience.

Let’s break down why.

Customers are looking for support

Why would customers seek your brand out on Instagram instead of on your webpage?

They want connection. They want interaction. They want to be able to ask their friends if the product is as cool as it looks. But most importantly, they want to be able to talk to someone at your company with their questions.

Over 70% of Instagram users discover new brands on the platform. Additionally, 70% of customers have already used social media to reach out to customer support or flag an issue they are having with a business.

Converting these users into loyal, buying customers requires answering their questions and demonstrating your credibility on the channel of their choosing.

This is where social support commerce comes in. We define this as providing superior, seamless customer service by integrating customer support systems into the social media channels where commerce is already taking place.

Social support commerce

Utilizing smart tools and smooth integrations, you can interact with customers on Instagram all the way from brand discovery to checkout and through to satisfaction with the delivered product.

For example:

• When a customer comments on your post with a question, one of your customer service heroes can jump on to answer and work with the customer through the point of sale

• If a customer puts an item in their Instagram cart and then stalls, you can have a customer service hero pop up to ask if they have questions about the product

• If a customer is having trouble with the checkout process, you can work with them to close out the sale

• When a customer checks out through the platform, you can develop a customer profile that will reflect all of their preferences for reference across channels

• If a customer comments asking where their order is, your service staff can open up their history and give them a concrete answer right away

• If a customer has a complaint, you can respond with empathy and open up a Direct Message to resolve the issue

• When a customer is happy with your product, you can encourage them to share with their network

• You can find customer posts bragging on your product and work with them to become brand influencers and advocates

Challenges and solutions

Social commerce has not always made support integration simple. As a company, make the most of this trend by using intuitive and streamlined tools so that your customer service heroes can keep up with loyal customers across multiple channels and social platforms.

Gladly offers a platform to help your support heroes offer personal service at scale, tracking customers’ past orders and conversation history across all channels (digital and voice), including Instagram messaging.

Social support commerce offers a huge opportunity for gaining brand recognition, converting browsing customers into buying customers, and gaining a reputation for responsive and personal customer service.