(Note: Please bear in mind that this post was published on the 2nd of July 2021 and that since then Etsy and/or Facebook/Instagram might have made changes to the way things work. Hopefully this post will still point you in the right direction though. Thanks for reading!)
I did it! After about a year and a half of trying (on and off) to link my Etsy shop to my Instagram in order to tag products in my posts I finally succeeded!
I remember the frustration, the tears, the discouragement, feeling like an idiot for not being able to figure it out, and while this is still fresh in my mind I want to help you smash that beast too, because no one deserves to struggle with something this silly.
This, my friend, is the post I wish I’d found on the internet!
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Make sure your Instagram account is set up as a business account.
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If you don’t have one already, create a Facebook page for your business and create an account / sign in on business.facebook.com.
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In Facebook Business Manager go to: Business Settings > Domains > click ‘Add’ > enter your Etsy shop name following the format: yourshopname.etsy.com (for example mine is camillemedinadesigns.etsy.com) > click ‘Add’.
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Copy the meta-tag line (see screenshot below).
5. In a new tab, open your Etsy Shop Manager (the backend where you can see your stats, orders, etc.) > Settings > Facebook Shops > paste the meta-tag that you copied on Facebook Business Manager
6. Go back to your Facebook Business Manager tab. You should now be able to see the status ‘Verified’ next to your Etsy shop name.
7. Add products to your Facebook catalogue. You can do this directly from your Facebook business page or on the Facebook Business Suite website > Commerce > Catalogue > Items > Add Items.
You can simply copy the information from your Etsy listing here.
⚠ When you copy and paste your listing url, replace the beginning with yourshopname.etsy.com, like the domain you entered on Facebook Business Manager earlier! (So for example: yourshopname.etsy.com/listing/123456789/this-is-your-product-name)
This is part of what I was doing wrong (and the part that took me a year to figure out!) and I only figured it out when I compared one of my friends’ listings with one of mine.
8. Go to your Instagram profile: Settings > Business > Shopping > Website and enter your domain like you entered it on Facebook Business Manager (so: yourshopname.etsy.com) and tap Select. You should see a line saying ‘In Review’ under your domain name.
9. It could take a few minutes to a few days but once your domain is accepted it will move under the ‘Current Website’ section and you will be able to start tagging your products on your images!
10. BONUS: I’ve recently learned that you can also tag products directly IN your Instagram posts: type in @ and you should have a screen appear asking you to choose between People or Products. Find your product* and voilà!
*You will have to make sure that you update your Facebook catalogue with your latest products every time because unlike Shopify, Etsy doesn’t currently have a way to sync all your products to your Facebook catalogue.
I hope you’ve found this post helpful!