We all know that copywriting is essential when it comes to growing & scaling your business, but copywriting alone does not make a business.
Content marketing is on the rise and cannot be ignored⦠especially social media content.
In this blog, Iām going to show you how to make the most of your social media content utilizing powerful and proven CTAs that follow THE RULE OF THREEā¦
R. L. S.
And to make this as practical as possible for you, Iām also giving you my FREE Social Captions & CTAs Cheatsheet ā loaded with writing prompts, swipe copy, and CTAs to help you grow and scale your social following.
Hey, Posse! Whatās up? Itās Alex.
Welcome back to another in-depth tutorial where I teach you everything you need to write killer copy, grow an online business, and market smarter ā not harder.Ā
If youāre new to the crew ā welcome! If you want to learn even more of my proven techniques, formulas, and strategies, then be sure to subscribe to my newsletter below.Ā
Now itās safe to say that most of us already know that utilizing social media to grow and scale our brands and businesses is the smart thing to doā¦
With over 4.48 billion people actively using social media all across the globe ā these platforms can help you attract new leads, build brand awareness, and connect more intimately with current customers like never beforeā¦Ā
But thereās more to Social Media than ranking up the number of likes and followers you have.Ā If you want to turn your social posts into shareworthy content thatāll help you actually grow your business…Ā
Then you better pay attention to your Calls-to-Action or CTAs. This is the language you use in your captions that tells your reader what to do next.Ā
Whether itās to:
- Like & Subscribe
- Share
- Download
- Or to buy
You always, always, always want to give your audience an action to take. Because hereās the thingā¦
Every CTA on Social Media is an opportunity to create trust, a lead, or a sale.
Which means every single post needs to include a call to action that speaks to one of these three goals.Ā Or as I like to say, the RULE OF THREE: TLS.
So, letās break each one of those downā¦
#1 – CTAs To Build Trust, Rapport & EngagementĀ
While the end goal of using Social Media for your business might be to gain more leads and drive more salesā¦
That is NOT what you should be primarily utilizing it for ā I know, shocker right?!
Because hereās the thingā¦Ā
People arenāt on Social Media to be sold something every second of their user experience.Ā
People are on Social Media for one of the following reasons:
- To be educated
- To receive inspiration
- Or to be entertained
The buying part comes secondary⦠and usually not until after theyāve received some sort of education, inspiration or entertainment.Ā Which means that if you want to build an audience that buys from you AND sticks around for moreā¦
Youāre going to have to focus on building trust, rapport and engagement with your audience.
And that means every post cannot end with a “buy from me” or “download this” or “sign up here.”
For these types of posts, your CTAs need to be kept super casual and easy for people to engage with.
It can be something as simple “Double-tap if you agree!” Or something more complex that drives engagement like ā “Share your thoughts in the comment below!”
Those are two great CTAs to have in your backpocket at all times, but I find that certain CTAs perform better depending on the type of content youāre posting.Ā
So letās get a little more in-depth hereā¦
Assuming you follow the content pillars of promotion, education, inspiration, and entertainment⦠(and if youāre like ā uh, 4 pillars what? Donāt worry ā all is explained in my Social Media Cheatsheet youāll get your hands on at the end of this blog)…
A great CTA for a post thatās educational is to ask for a SAVE.
When people save your content, it tells Instagram that your content is super valuable, and as a result, they will show your content to even more people ā which ultimately expands your reach.Ā
If you want to get people to save your post, here are some examples of what your CTA might sayā¦
- SAVE this post for later to remember these tips!
- Hit the bookmark so you can save this post for another time!
- Want to remember this [thing you shared value on]? SAVE this post!
- Love my tips on [thing you shared value on]? Hit the SAVE button to let me know you want more!
- SAVE this post for later, to help you [what your post helped solve].
Now when it comes to inspirational content, one of the easiest and most effective CTAs is asking for a SHARE.
Ā This one is great because it organically helps get your content in front of audiences who might not normally see your content ā but instead of relying on the Algorithm Gods, youāre relying on your followers!Ā
Some CTA ideas for this one areā¦
- Share this post if it hit you in the feels.
- Share this post with someone who needs to hear this!
- Found this useful? Hit the share button and spread the love!
And finally, for a post thatās providing entertainment value, I love to spark conversations in the comment section.Ā
When people are genuinely entertained by your content, theyāre way more likely to want to engage with conversations.Ā And content that gets a lot of comments is deemed more worthy to the Algorithm Gods, which means ā you guessed it ā your reach gets expanded.Ā
CTAs that drive engagement in the comment section might look like thisā¦Ā
- Whatās your favorite [topic of post]? Drop it below!Ā
- Drop a [emoji] below if you agree!
- Gimme a [emoji] if you want to see more posts like this!
- Letās start a conversation in the comments! What do you think about [what your post was about]?
- Do you agree? Comment YES or NO below!Ā
- Tag your [biz bestie/best friend/coach/mentor/etc].
Remember ā the CTAs you use for these posts should be focused on getting more saves, shares & engagement in the comment section.
These types of posts might not directly drive more leads or sales to your businessā¦
But they do build up massive levels of trust, relatability, and rapport with your audience ā which makes them 100000x more likely to buy from you when you DO ask.Ā
So donāt underestimate the power or importance of these posts!Ā
Okay, next upā¦Ā
#2 – CTAs For Lead Generation
Alright, so youāve done some work to build up great engagement with your audience⦠Now itās time to ask them for something a bit different ā an email address!
Typically through offering them something FREE and SUPER VALUABLE. Like a cheatsheet, webinar, guide, resource list, or even taking a fun quiz.Ā
Theyāre giving you their information (in the form of their email address) in exchange for this free, valuable offer.Ā Ideally, your post would be talking about this free offer ā explaining what it is, how it works, and why your audience needs itā¦
Then your CTA needs to tell them exactly what to do in order to get it.Ā
You can do this in a few different ways. If youāre posting on a Social Media platform that allows you to add clickable links in the caption (like Facebook or LinkedIn), then you can simply say: “Click the link to get your free [what theyāre getting]!”
But unfortunately, if youāre using Instagram (my personal fav) ā you donāt have the ability to add clickable links to your captions. Which means you need to get a bit more creativeā¦
There are a few different techniques I use to get new leads from Instagram. The first way is to manually send the download link ā or free resource ā to each person who asks for it.Ā
So at the end of a post explaining how to write better social media captions, my CTA might say something likeā¦
āAre you ready to write scroll stopping social media captions? Comment YES below and Iāll send you my Free Cheatsheet!ā
Then I would follow up with every person that commented āYESā ā sending them the free cheatsheet.Ā
When they download the cheatsheet, theyāll be added to my mailing list and just like that, Iāve got a new lead that may turn into a customer if they find value from my free content.Ā
Now admittedly, this can turn into a lot of work ā especially if you have a large following.Ā
There are tools you can look into that can help you automate the process, but if youāre looking for more of a hands-off approach to generating leads on Instagram you can always utilize the ONE clickable link Instagram does give youā¦
The link in your bio.
A simple CTA you could use for this would be:
“Head to the link in my bio to get your copy of [free resource]!ā
Now a word of caution hereā¦
Keep in mind using a CTA like this isnāt ideal ā for a couple of reasons.
- Ā Instagram doesnāt like it when people leave their platform, which means posts that ask people to leave likely wonāt get as high of an organic reach.Ā
- What youāre asking of people involves more steps⦠first they need to click your profile, then click the link in your bio, THEN they get their free resource. They have to be pretty committed in order to take all those stepsā¦
I personally find the manual process of DM-ing people a link to be much, much more effective. But itās worth using a combo of both methods!Ā
Alright now onto the final type of CTA you need to be using in your businessā¦
#3 – CTAs For Sales
Hereās where you GO BIG and ask the ultimate ask of all⦠to buy something from you!Ā Now, of course, the most direct way to do this is by telling people to literally click the link to sign up or buy your offer.
And your super loyal and dedicated followers will definitely do it.Ā
But I find that to be a little off-putting for most people on Social Media.
What I like to do for Sales CTAs is a combination of the direct-ask-method I just mentioned with a more engaging, conversational method. Especially if what youāre selling is at a higher price point where a more personal sales process will go over wellā¦
Now again, you want the caption to speak to WHAT your offer is, HOW it works, and WHY your audience needs it ā then instead of telling them to click a link to buy, you can get a bit more creative.Ā
Here are some ideasā¦
- Got questions? Drop your questions below and Iāll answer every single one!
- Want to learn more? DM me and letās chat!
- Slide into my DMs to find out how you can go from [place they are now] to [place they want to be]
- Want to experience [transformation your product promises]? Comment YES or NO below!
- Drop a [emoji] in the comments below if youāre ready to [big promise of your product]!
Again, these would be CTAs that you would follow up with yourself. Whether thatās answering the questions and doubts, chatting with them to see if itās a right fit, or manually sending them the link via DM.Ā
And while yes, this does involve more work on your part ā itās worth it.Ā
Because not only are you more likely to land a sale when youāre being personal and interactiveā¦Ā
But even if they donāt buy, youāre building up a high level of trust and respect from that person and they very well might buy in the future!Ā
So, when it comes to utilizing the right CTAs to grow & scale your business on Social Media ā remember the rule of three: TLS ā trust, leads, sales.
Alright Posse, make sure to leave a comment below if you found this blog helpful.Ā
As promised ā you can grab your FREE copy of my Social Captions & CTAs Cheatsheet in just a few seconds. If you want to see these methods in action ā be sure to follow me on Instagram @copyposse!
Until next time, Iām Alex – ciao for now!