Over the last week, I’ve been using my equine marketer googles to get to know my followers on Instagram. I have been taking a good hard look and what they are posting and how I can serve them better. During this journey of discovery, I came across some bad habits that I want to address.
Mainly, slimy calls to action that make me want to run away. It’s like when you go to a car dealership, and you have five salespeople surrounding your car before you even get out. That does NOT make you want to get out of the car. It makes you want to bolt outta there and take a shower as soon as you get home.
Be an Awesome Equine Marketer
Don’t ever use the following calls to action!
DM Me If …
If I want to hire you, I’m going to DM (direct message) you. I don’t need encouragement to do that. I typically hop into someone’s DM’s about six months before I plan on hiring them. We all know the DMs are there, and we all know how to use them. When someone tells me to DM them, it feels salesy and insincere, like you are here to sell instead of finding genuine connections.
Instead of saying DM me, ask a question. Ask “What is your biggest problem with…?” Then engage with those who answer your questions in the comments. If someone is genuinely interested, slide into their DMs to continue the conversation privately. Making the connection in public first makes the person feel a lot more comfortable once you reach out over DM.
Constant Pressure
Putting your website link, discount code, or asking people to like or follow you at the end of every post is slimy! First, this is a problem from an algorithm perspective. Facebook and Instagram want you to stay on Facebook and Instagram! Using a link that takes users away from the platform on occasion is fine, but if you do it in every post, the algorithm is going to downvote your posts.
Secondly, it puts constant sales pressure on your audience. We don’t like that. If we like your content, we will follow you. If we want to check your website out, we will do that all on our own. If we feel pressured into following or clicking we will probably move on and eventually leave your audience from exhaustion.
Using Links in Instagram Posts
Instagram does not let you copy paste. You want these people to go to your website or whatever link you are promoting (occasionally per the tip above) Think about the end user when you put a link into an Instagram post. They are likely on their phone. They can’t copy paste or click, so they have to write down the link, close the Instagram app, open their internet app, and type in the link manually. NOBODY IS GOING TO DO THAT. It’s not going to happen!!
Instead, use Link Tree. Put the link in your Instagram profile, and you can customize it to put buttons that link out to different things. This way, you can ask your audience to follow the link in your profile, and they will get there in one click.
If you need some more help thinking up great calls to action for your posts grab my list “Don’t Say This, Ask This” in the sidebar. It will help you ditch those slimy calls to action for good.
If you are an equine marketer or horse business owner, I want to welcome you to my Facebook group, Must Love Horses Small Business Content and Social Media Tips. I go live with exclusive trainings in that group once a week, and I’m always available to answer questions. We would love to have you there!
