How to Add Social Media to Shopify

Connecting your social media accounts to your Shopify store is one of the most effective ways to turn followers into customers. This guide shows you exactly how to do it, covering everything from adding simple social media icons to setting up powerful shopping channels on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

Why Connecting Social Media to Shopify Is a Game-Changer

Before jumping into the step-by-step guides, it's worth understanding why this integration is so valuable. It’s not just about adding a few icons to your website's footer. When done right, connecting your social media and e-commerce worlds creates a seamless experience for your audience and a powerful sales funnel for your business.

• Build Brand Trust and Social Proof: A lively, engaged social media presence shows potential customers that you’re a legitimate brand with a real community. Displaying a live Instagram feed on your homepage, for example, acts as instant social proof, showcasing happy customers and a vibrant brand personality.
• Create a Seamless Shopping Experience: The ultimate goal is to reduce friction. By tagging products directly in your Instagram posts or creating a TikTok Shop, you allow customers to buy something the moment they get inspired. They don't have to leave the app, search for your website, and then hunt for the product. The fewer clicks, the higher the conversion rate.
• Reach New Customers Where They Spend Their Time: Your ideal customers are already scrolling through Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook for hours every day. Social commerce allows you to meet them right where they are, transforming your social profiles from simple marketing channels into fully functional storefronts.
• Drive More Traffic to Your Store: While selling directly on social platforms is powerful, directing traffic to your main Shopify store is also a great strategy. Using features like "link in bio" and swiping up in Stories can funnel highly-engaged followers back to your site where they can discover your full product line.

Two Main Ways to Integrate Social Media with Shopify

There are two primary ways to link your social media presence with your Shopify store. You can, and should, do both.

1. Adding Social Media Links & Feeds to Your Store: This involves showcasing your social profiles on your Shopify website. This directs your website visitors to your social channels, encouraging them to follow you and engage with your community. It's about building your audience.
2. Setting Up Social Commerce Channels: This is a much deeper integration where you sell your Shopify products directly on social media platforms. It transforms your social profiles into sales channels, allowing for in-app checkout or a one-click redirect to your product page. It's about driving sales.

Let's walk through how to set up both.

Method 1: Add Social Media Icons and Feeds to Your Store

This is the simplest way to get started. By adding icons and feeds, you create a clear connection between your website and your social community, building trust and encouraging visitors to follow you for brand updates, promotions, and engaging content.

Add Social Media Follow Icons in Your Shopify Theme

Most modern Shopify themes have a built-in feature to display icons that link to your social media profiles. These are usually located in the footer of your website.

Here’s how to set them up:

1. From your Shopify Admin, navigate to Online Store > Themes.
2. Find the theme you want to edit and click the Customize button.
3. In the theme editor, look for a section called Theme settings (often represented by a gear icon in the left-hand menu). Click on it.
4. Inside Theme settings, find a sub-section named Social media logos, Social profiles, or just Social. The exact name will vary slightly by theme.
5. Here, you’ll see fields for different social platforms (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, Pinterest, etc.). Simply paste the full URL of your profile in the corresponding field. For example, paste `https://www.instagram.com/yourbrand` in the Instagram field.
6. As you add links, the corresponding icons should appear in the preview of your store (usually in the footer).
7. Click Save in the top-right corner.

Now, any customer visiting your store can easily click through and follow you, growing your audience organically from your existing website traffic.

Embed a Live Social Feed Using a Shopify App

Displaying a live feed from a platform like Instagram right on your homepage is a fantastic way to display social proof and keep your site content fresh. While Shopify themes don't typically include this feature out-of-the-box, it’s easily done with a third-party app.

1. From your Shopify Admin, go to the Shopify App Store.
2. Search for terms like "Instagram feed" or "social feed."
3. You'll see several highly-rated apps. Choose one that fits your needs and budget (many have free plans).
4. Click Add app and follow the installation prompts to connect it to your Shopify store.
5. Once installed, the app will guide you through connecting your social media account (e.g., your Instagram profile).
6. You can then customize the look of the feed - how many photos to display, the layout, etc. - and use the theme editor to add this new feed section to your homepage or any other page.

Now you have a dynamic, shoppable gallery on your site that updates automatically every time you post on Instagram, showcasing your products in a more authentic setting.

So far, we have added socials to your store - now let’s add your store to your socials.

Method 2: Set Up Social Commerce Shopping Channels

This is where social media goes from being a marketing tool to a powerful sales channel. By integrating your Shopify product catalog with social platforms, you can enable features like product tags, a dedicated Shop tab on your profile, and even in-app checkout.

Think of it less in terms of having millions of followers and more in a B2B sales kind of way. You already know potential customers and prospects, by integrating your Shopify store via your sales channels, you simply show that audience a product they will both love and use.

How to Set Up the Facebook & Instagram Sales Channel

Meta offers the deepest integration with Shopify, allowing you to create a seamless shopping experience across both Facebook and Instagram.

Before You Begin: Requirements

• An active Shopify plan.
• A Facebook Business Manager account.
• A Facebook Page for your business and a professional Instagram account.
• Your products must comply with Meta's Commerce Policies.

Steps to Set Up:

1. From your Shopify Admin, click the ‘+' next to Sales Channels in the left-hand menu.
2. Find Facebook & Instagram in the list and click Add.
3. You'll be prompted to start the setup. Click Start setup and connect your Facebook account.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to connect your Business Manager, Facebook Page, Instagram profile, a Meta Pixel for tracking, and create or connect a 'Commerce Account'. This Commerce Account is what holds your product catalog.
5. Choose your preferred checkout method:
   • Checkout on your website: When a user clicks a tagged product, they are redirected to the product page on your Shopify store to complete the purchase. This is the most common option.
   • Checkout on Facebook or Instagram: (US only for now) Allows customers to buy directly within the app. This is seamless but means you manage some orders through Meta's Commerce Manager.
6. Once completed, Shopify will start syncing your products to your new Meta catalog. This can take some time.
7. After Meta approves your catalog (usually within 24-48 hours), you can start using shopping features like tagging products in Instagram posts and Stories and adding a "Shop" tab to your profile.

How to Set Up the TikTok Sales Channel

With its massive reach and highly engaged user base, TikTok has become a critical platform for e-commerce brands. Setting up an organic TikTok Shop makes converting viral viewers into customers incredibly simple.

Steps to Set Up:

1. Just like with Meta, go to Sales Channels in your Shopify Admin and add the TikTok app.
2. Click Set up now and log into your TikTok for Business account. If you don't have one, you can create one during this process.
3. The app will automatically sync your Shopify product catalog to TikTok, making all your products available behind-the-scenes.
4. Once your products are approved, you can enable TikTok Shopping features. This allows you to tag one or more products in your organic TikTok videos. A small shopping bag icon will appear, and users can tap it to see the tagged products and click through to purchase.
5. If TikTok Shop is available in your region, you can also have a shopping tab live so buyers don't need to find your videos and more easily shop everything you offer.
6. After your one-time Shopify to organic TikTok Store setup your work is almost done. Next time simply link to the relevant product page in your videos captions to convert views to sales and ship them the latest viral hits online.

It's an incredibly effective way to capitalize on trends and drive impulse buys directly from your For You Page content.

Final Thoughts

Connecting your social media profiles to your Shopify store bridges the gap between community building and commerce. From adding simple follow buttons to launching fully-fledged shopping experiences on Instagram and TikTok, these integrations create a cohesive brand presence that makes it easier than ever for followers to become loyal customers.

Once your channels are connected, consistent content is key to keeping the momentum going. Instead of juggling spreadsheets, simplify your workflow with Postbase. Our visual calendar lets you plan and schedule posts across all your platforms from one place, making it easy to stay organized and turn social media engagement into consistent sales for your Shopify store.