A CTA in digital marketing is like a Trojan horse; when done right, people don’t see it coming, and it’s extremely effective in breaking down consumer’s walls. The best app marketing agencies know how to use a CTA to clearly lead their audience to where they want them to go. But with so many different platforms that constantly update their algorithms to keep up with their growing user bases, how do you create a successful CTA social media campaign? Luckily, the answer is less complicated than you might think. Read on to see how you can efficiently and competently use calls to action on the three major platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to promote leads and conversions for your app.
Call to Action Marketing
We know that using a call to action is important but what exactly is the call to action definition? According to MarketingTerms.com, a call to action is the part of a marketing message that attempts to persuade a person to perform a desired action. Some call to action examples include, “Buy now!” and “Click here to download”. Especially when it comes to social media, an effective call to action is imperative because the landscape is so vast and rapidly changing. Without a call to action to slow them down, your audience will likely consume your content superficially and quickly move on. A social media CTA could be the difference between someone scrolling past your app content and entering the funnel that ends in a conversion.
Instagram Call to Action
When it comes to Instagram, a strong call to action (CTA) is integral to strategy. Instagram’s user base is growing every day, which means your competition is getting stronger and stronger when it comes to marketing. An effective CTA will not only tell your users what to do, but how they should do it. This connection can edge you above your competitors so that your app is the one people are paying attention to.
Although you can’t add a call to action button on Instagram the same way you can with an email call to action, you still have plenty of opportunities to include a call to action in writing on your Instagram page. For example, you can add a call to action in your bio with a link directly to your app’s website. In order to drive traffic to the site, you might write something including your app’s slogan with an emoji pointing down to your link – “Experience our app below?” Oftentimes, posts and stories you create will cause people who don’t already follow you to go to your profile page and you’ll want to be sure that they have an action to take once there.
Two other important places you can make use of calls to action are in feed posts and on stories. In your feed posts, you’ll want to consider using strong words, creating a sense of urgency, and really highlighting the benefits of taking the action you suggest.
If you have more than 10k followers, you have the easier option of using the swipe up feature on Instagram stories to help your audience take action. But for many startup apps, this will not be the case on your profile for a while. In this case, you can direct your audience back to your link in bio with eye-catching graphics in your story. Instagram has a number of in-app graphics with CTAs such as “send me a DM” or “link in bio” to help you drive users to where you want them to go. If these aren’t enough for you, you can easily create a call to action using Canva.
Still yet, other call to action ideas for Instagram include:
- IGTV
- Instagram Reels
- Profile Call to Action Buttons
Instagram has a wealth of opportunities when it comes to utilizing CTAs and you can tailor them depending on your app and your strategy for your target audience. Because you have so any choices, you can always try something new if your current strategy isn’t yielding the results you want.
Facebook Call to Action
Despite the rise of new platforms, Facebook remains the largest platform used worldwide. Because of this, it is critical to nail your social media CTA strategy on the site. And unlike with Instagram, the Facebook call to action button feature is in full effect. Now because Facebook is the oldest popular social media platform of the giants, you will have to be innovative when it comes to your posts. It’s not enough to just include a button that says “see more”, you need to create an overall call to action Facebook post.
The best practice Facebook post includes four key elements: an image, a headline, a description, and a status. Each of these components serve a specific purpose when it comes to creating engagement and driving action from your audience. The image is the main piece that will cause people to stop scrolling when they see your post. The headline under your image is usually the title of the page you’re linking to. This might be a blog post directly related to your app or a video about it. Below this is the description which will give users a slight explanation of the headline. And up above the image is your status. The status is outside commentary you can use to engage with your audience in your voice and provide your explicit call to action. When you put all of these together with the attractive button feature similar to that found in an email, you’re looking at a Facebook post primed for peak engagement. A post that has more likes and shares is a post that will likely have more clicks and that means a post that will likely lead to more conversions, which is exactly what you want for your app.
Twitter Call to Action
Twitter is a very popular app when it comes to business accounts and for good reason. The app is known for being a place where short form content is king. And brands such as Wendy’s and Nike have been able to take advantage of the platform to drive huge amounts of engagement. But like Facebook and Instagram, Twitter is an ever-evolving landscape. While just a few short years ago a best practices Tweet would be full of hashtags, that is no longer the case. These days, popular Tweets are resigned to one or two hashtags, meaning that you have plenty of space to use your precious characters to create a very clear Twitter call to action. It’s easy to overthink when creating a social media CTA but Twitter keeps it simple with a few clear ways to use CTAs to optimize your Tweet campaigns:
- Ask for downloads – When it comes to app marketing, a main goal is procuring downloads of your new app. On Twitter, this doesn’t have to be an overly complicated task. Simply provide value for your app with one sentence or phrase and provide a link for users to click to download. You may include a handle and a hashtag or two, but be sure to keep things simple in order to help your audience stay focused on the action you ultimately want them to take – downloading.
- Ask for Retweets – Asking users to Retweet your messages is a great way to turn a loyal following into social media capital on your behalf. If your company has the ability and it makes sense regarding your app, try hosting a contest or giveaway that users Retweet a message to enter. An additional option would be to have users Retweet a statement they agree with regarding your app. Like with the downloads call to action, you’ll want to be picky about the handles and hashtags you include so that you can keep the Tweet anchored in community sharing.
- Ask for a Reply – Get your audience engaged with your app by encouraging conversation around it in the replies. Try asking a question that will prompt users to share their opinions or ideas. Take advantage of the causal nature of the app by posing your questions in a conversational tone and making users feel like they are interacting with a human being, rather than a faceless company.
Twitter is a great place to make use of call to action marketing and after a short while of implementing best practices, you’ll begin to see for yourself why so many businesses love using the app to promote their products and brand.
If all of these ideas seem overwhelming to you, feel free to start with one platform at a time. Once you master one, you can move onto the next and before you know it, you’ll have engaging CTAs across the board. Be sure to keep in mind the “what” and the “why” of what you’re saying and you’ll consistently have appealing content to share with your audience.