I see you! You are working hard to create awesome content. You are carefully thinking about what to post, finding the best times to post and investing time and energy into hashtag research.

You have a message! And you are adding value. And people are seeing it!

But perhaps they aren’t interacting with it the way you wish they would…

When a post is intentional it serves a purpose and the purpose is usually outcome driven.

So, what is it that you want your audience to do? You need to make this clear.

Do you want them to comment so they can contribute to the conversation and you can build community?

Do you want them to go to the link in your bio to sign up for something?

Do you want them to call you? Email you?

Do you want them to go to your stories to see another piece of content?

Directing your audience with a call to action (CTA) will help you see the results you are looking for based off of your goal for the post.

When users engage with your content it signals to Instagram that YOU are adding VALUE to the platform and in turn keeping people on the app- which is exactly what IG wants.

CTAs essentially tell you audience how you would like them to engage with you and your content on social media. They serve so many purposes including driving engagement, sales and conversation that leads to deeper connections.  Including them regularly in your feed posts and in your stories will help to drive engagement, visits to your website, DMs, inquiries, etc!

There are so many ways you can guide your audience – here are a few examples that you can use on your in-feed posts.

• Double tap/like if ______________
• Double tap/like if you agree with  _________
• Swipe to see _________
• Comment below and share your favorite __________
• Tell me what you think of ___________
• Save this post so you can refer back to it later
• Tag a friend in the comments who would find this helpful
• Head to the link in my bio to/for  ______________
• Check out my stories for more info on ____________

Each example directs the audience to take a specific action or engage with content in a certain way. I love asking a question at the end of my posts that makes it about the reader. I want them to share their own experience, ideas, opinions and knowledge!

A quick tip- keep the ask CLEAR. Don’t include multiple actions that would confuse people or questions that would require someone to write a multi-paragraph answer. Make it direct, keep it easy and ensure that it serves a strategic purpose!

A call to action is an essential part of your caption and an important part of your overall IG strategy. Get comfy with including them on all of your content!