by 
Want to sell tickets or take reservations on Instagram?
Looking for a way to let customers purchase from you without leaving Instagram?
In this article, you’ll learn how to set up Instagram action buttons to let customers do business with you via your Instagram business profile.
What Action Buttons Are Available on Instagram?
Instagram has started rolling out action buttons to all business profiles. Some accounts may get held up in a lag of the rollout, but most business profiles now have access to this feature.
In addition to the existing Call, Text, Directions, and Email buttons, you can choose from four new action buttons:
- Book
- Buy Tickets
- Start Order
- Reserve
The action button that appears on your account will directly tie into the app you select for the button integration. For example, if you choose OpenTable, you’ll automatically get the Reserve action button.
How to Add an Action Button to Your Instagram Account
To add an action button to your Instagram account, you need to have an existing account set up with the specific third-party app with which you plan to integrate. To illustrate, if you plan to use Grubhub to allow customers to order food from your business, you must have an active Grubhub account set up for your business already.
To add an action button to your Instagram account, go to your profile and select Edit Profile. On the Edit Profile screen, scroll down and select Contact Options.
From the Contact Options screen, tap the Add an Action Button option.
Now select the third-party app you want to integrate with. You can currently choose from Acuity Scheduling, Atom Tickets, Booksy, ChowNow, EatStreet, Eventbrite, Fandango, Grubhub, MyTime, OpenTable, Reserve, Restorando, Resy, SevenRooms, StyleSeat, Tock, Vagaro, and Yelp. Instagram plans to add more third-party apps to the list over time.
Next, enter the URL for the account or page you use on the third-party app to which you want people from Instagram to be directed via the action button.
Finally, tap Submit and your button is activated on your profile.
If you want to remove an action button at any time, go to the Edit Profile option on your profile and navigate to the Contact Options screen again. Select the Action button you want to remove and tap the Remove Action Button option at the bottom of the screen to remove it.
Get Expert Social Media Marketing Training!
Want to keep ahead of your competitors? Need to master a social platform? Discover how to improve your social media marketing at Social Media Marketing World 2020, brought to you by your friends at Social Media Examiner. You’ll rub shoulders with the biggest names and brands in social media, soak up countless tips and new strategies, and enjoy extensive networking opportunities . Don’t miss the industry’s largest conference. Get in early for big discounts.
Sale ends Tuesday, September 24th 2019.
Immediately after you set up the action button, anyone who views your profile will see the new action button displayed.
When users tap on the action button you’ve set up on your profile, they’ll be taken to your page or account with that external app. The rest of the reservation, purchase, or booking is conducted through that app. For example, here the user purchases tickets through Eventbrite:
Maximize Your Results With the Action Button
Simply adding the action button to your Instagram profile will likely drive some traffic and conversions for your brand. If you want to encourage more clicks and actions, however, you’ll want to create awareness and urgency around the ability to use these buttons.
Some effective ways to do this include:
- Add a CTA in some of your post captions to let customers know they can book or reserve directly from your Instagram profile.
- Use Instagram story posts to remind viewers to visit your profile and tap on the action button to make their reservation or order now.
- Put a short CTA in your bio description to encourage visitors to click.
- Offer a coupon code exclusively for Instagram users to include when they book.
- Create urgency around ticket sales when promotion periods are ending or ticket sales are expiring.
Track Your Action Button Performance
As with any conversion campaign you use on Instagram, you’ll want to monitor and track the performance of your action button. You want to find out how many people clicked through using your action button and see if certain calls to action (CTAs) or campaigns on your account led to increases in those clicks or traffic.
You’ll need to rely on the third-party tool to show you traffic generated from Instagram. There should be metrics within the apps that provide these details. For instance, with Eventbrite, you can view the Traffic from Promotional Tools section to see how many visits came from your Instagram account.
Conclusion
Adding action buttons to your Instagram profile makes it easier for your business to drive conversions and for your customers to interact with you directly. It’s a win-win feature that’s sure to help your business grow and generate more revenue.
What do you think? Are you interested in adding an action button to your profile? Or are you using one already? Please share your thoughts or tips in the comments below.
