We Launched PhotoHero, a Shopify App That Integrates with Instagram
We launched a Shopify app that integrates with Instagram.
After founding our company at the end of 2019, I immediately had the idea to build a Shopify app that connects with Instagram, and just went ahead and built it.
It's an app that links Instagram posts to your products and displays them in a review-like format on each product page.
After submitting it to the app store, it was approved in February 2020 and listed on the Shopify App Store. Since then, Shopify store owners from around the world have gradually been installing it.
By the way, the process of submitting a Shopify app to the app store is explained by Okamura-san from Shopify on their blog. We referred to it when launching our app (reference: How to Develop a Shopify App).
Below, we'll introduce what our Instagram integration app does along with how to use it.
Instagram Integration App: PhotoHero
The app is called PhotoHero. Since it's an app that works with Instagram photos, we received divine inspiration saying "PhotoHero would be perfect" — and so the name was decided (lol).
PhotoHero is an app that links Instagram photos to products registered in Shopify and displays them on the product page.
The cosmetics D2C brand Glossier's product pages display Instagram photos linked to their products in a review-like format, which looked great — so we shamelessly copied it used it as inspiration for development.
How to Use PhotoHero
Since we built this app with speed as the priority, there are still areas we'd like to improve. However, we'd love to get feedback from users, so here's how to use it.
Installing PhotoHero
First, search for "PhotoHero" in the Shopify App Store.
The app is free and we have no intention of charging for it, so feel free to install it (PhotoHero installation page).
Adding the Code
Once installation is complete, you'll be taken to the screen below.
Place the PhotoHero code where you want the Instagram photos to appear on your product page. First, copy the code,
Then open your Shopify theme settings and go to the code editor. Before editing the code, we recommend duplicating your theme first so you can easily revert if you make a mistake.
Once the code editor is open, open product.liquid. Then paste the code you copied earlier where you want the Instagram images to appear.
It depends on your theme, but for the Debut theme, we recommend placing it between the product-template section and the product-recommendations section.
After pasting the code, save your changes.
Finding Images to Display on Product Pages
Go back to the PhotoHero screen and navigate to the Search menu.
In the Search menu, you can search by hashtag. Search using your brand name, product name, or other relevant hashtags. Instagram posts matching those hashtags will then appear.
When you select a photo to display on your product page, you can choose which product(s) to link it to. You can link a single Instagram post to multiple products.
Once you've linked the Instagram post to the product(s), click Save.
Once you've linked all the Instagram posts you need to their respective products, take a look at your product page. The Instagram posts will now be displayed within the linked product pages, as shown below.
PhotoHero Is Easy to Use and Free
PhotoHero is easy to use and completely free. If you've built up UGC or your own posts on Instagram, PhotoHero can put that content to great use — give it a try.
There are other well-known Instagram integration apps such as Instafeed, but we wanted a free app that specifically links Instagram posts to products and displays them on product pages — so we built one.
If you try PhotoHero and notice anything, we'd love to hear your feedback. We'll use it to keep improving the app.