How to Add an Action Button on an Instagram Post

Adding an action button to your Instagram post offers a direct path for your followers to go from passive viewers to active customers. This guide breaks down exactly how to add those clickable buttons to drive traffic, sales, and sign-ups directly from your content. We'll cover how it works for promoted posts, your main profile, and clever strategies to achieve the same result on your everyday organic posts.

What Exactly Is an Instagram Action Button?

An Instagram action button, also known as a call-to-action (CTA) button, is a clickable link that directs users to take a specific, you guessed it, action. These buttons are designed to make it effortless for users to move from seeing a post to becoming directly involved with your brand, whether that’s by visiting your website, purchasing a product, or booking an appointment.

You’ve seen them before: slick buttons with direct commands like “Shop Now,” “Learn More,” “Sign Up,” or “Book Now.” Their power lies in simplicity. Instead of asking followers to go find a link in your bio, they can tap a button right on the post and land exactly where you want them to go. This reduction in friction significantly boosts conversion rates, turning your beautiful feed into a real business-driving tool.

It's important to understand, however, that you can't just slap a "Shop Now" button on any organic feed post you upload. Instagram reserves this feature primarily for advertisements and your main business profile. But don't worry - there are powerful and effective ways to get those clicks, and we'll cover all of them.

How to Add an Action Button to a Promoted Instagram Post

The most common way to get a clickable call-to-action button directly on a feed post is by turning it into an ad. When you put a bit of budget behind a post, Instagram wants you to get a return on your investment, so it unlocks the ability to add a direct link. You can either use the simple "Boost Post" button on an existing post or, for more control, use the Meta Ads Manager.

For this guide, we’ll walk through the process using the more robust Ads Manager, as it gives you greater control over your audience and campaign goals.

Prerequisites for Creating an Instagram Ad:

• An Instagram account set to a Business or Creator profile. You can switch this in your account settings if you’re still using a personal profile.
• A Facebook Page linked to your Instagram account. This is a requirement for using the Meta advertising platform.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

Step 1: Navigate to Meta Ads Manager
Head over to the Meta Ads Manager (business.facebook.com/adsmanager). This is the command center for all your advertising on Instagram and Facebook. Click the green "+ Create" button to start a new campaign.

Step 2: Choose Your Campaign Objective
You’ll be asked to choose an objective for your campaign. For a post with an action button, you’ll want to select an objective that focuses on getting users to take an action off-platform. The most common choices are:

• Traffic: Best for sending users to a landing page, blog post, or product page.
• Leads: Ideal for collecting contact information through a form.
• Sales: Focused on driving purchases on your website or catalog.

Select the one that aligns with your goal and click "Continue."

Step 3: Define Your Audience, Placements, and Budget
In the "Ad Set" level of your campaign, you’ll define who sees your ad. You can target users based on age, location, interests, and past behaviors. This is where the power of Ads Manager truly shines. Further down, under "Placements," make sure "Instagram" is selected. You can choose to show your ad specifically in the Instagram Feed, Stories, or Explore page. Finally, set your daily or lifetime budget and the schedule for your ad run.

Step 4: Select Your Ad Creative
At the third and final level, the "Ad" level, you will create the ad itself. Under "Ad setup," you can choose to "Create a new ad" or "Use existing post." We recommend selecting "Use existing post". This allows you to pick a high-performing organic post from your feed and add an action button to it, giving it new life and a broader reach.

Simply click "Select post," choose the Instagram post you want to promote, and hit "Continue."

Step 5: Add Your Call-to-Action Button
Once your post is selected, scroll down to the "Call to Action" section. This is where the magic happens. A toggle for "Call to action" should be visible. When enabled, a dropdown menu will appear. From this menu, you can select the text that will appear on your button. Common options include:

• Learn More
• Shop Now
• Sign Up
• Book Now
• Contact Us
• Download
• Watch More

Step 6: Add Your Destination URL
After selecting your button text, paste the full URL of the website or landing page you want to send people to in the box labeled "Website URL." Double-check to make sure the link is correct!

Step 7: Review and Publish
A preview of your ad will appear on the right side of the screen, showing you exactly what it will look like with the action button in the Instagram Feed. If everything looks good, click the green "Publish" button. Your ad will go into review and, once approved, will start running with its shiny new call-to-action button.

But Wait, What About Your Instagram Profile?

While action buttons on individual posts often require ad spend, Instagram offers a fantastic - and free - way to add CTAs directly to your profile. These sit just below your bio and give visitors a permanent and prominent way to engage with your business.

These profile buttons integrate with third-party services to handle specific tasks, like scheduling appointments or placing an order. These are incredibly useful for service-based businesses, restaurants, and consultants.

How to Add Action Buttons to Your Instagram Profile:

1. From your profile page, tap the "Edit Profile" button.
2. Scroll down and tap on "Action Buttons."
3. You’ll see a list of button types, such as Order Food, Book Now, Reserve, or View Shop. Note: "View Shop" uses your connected Instagram Shop catalog.
4. Select the button you want to add. Instagram will then show you a list of its approved third-party partners that can support this action (e.g., Shopify, Squarespace, DoorDash, Eventbrite, Acuity Scheduling).
5. Choose your preferred partner service and log in to connect your account.
6. Once connected, the action button will appear on your profile for everyone to see and use. You can add more than one!

Smart CTAs for Organic Posts (No Fancy Buttons Required)

Okay, so paid ads and profile buttons are great, but what about your everyday feed posts? How can you reliably drive action without a direct button? Smart social media managers have mastered a few key strategies that work beautifully.

1. Master the "Link in Bio" Funnel

Your bio is the only place on your main profile where you get a free, clickable link. Use it wisely. Instead of just linking to your homepage, consider a dedicated link that leads to a mobile-friendly landing page with multiple options. Services like Linktree, Shorby, or a simple custom-designed page on your own website work perfectly.

Then, in your post captions, always include a verbal call-to-action that clearly directs people where to go.

• "Ready to read the full recipe? Tap the link in our bio to get started!"
• "See the full collection by clicking the link in our bio."
• "Enroll in the workshop using the link in our bio before spots fill up."

2. Use the Instagram Shopping Tag

For e-commerce brands, Instagram Shopping is a game-changer. Once you set up an Instagram Shop and upload your product catalog, you can tag products directly in your images and videos. When a user taps the photo, a little shopping bag icon appears with the product's name and price. If they tap that, they’re taken directly to the product page on your website or within the Instagram app to make a purchase. This is, in effect, a powerful in-post action button.

3. Leverage an Old-Fashioned DM to Start a Conversation

Sometimes, the best CTA isn’t about sending someone to a website, it’s about starting a conversation. It's personal, removes sales pressure, and builds community.

Try using captions like:

• "Want our free checklist? DM us the word 'CHECKLIST' and we’ll send it right over!"
• "Curious about how this service could help you? Send us a DM and let's chat."

4. Don't Forget the Most Powerful Link Source: Instagram Stories

The Link Sticker is available to all accounts and lets you add a direct, clickable link to any Story you post. It's the most straightforward way to add a CTA to your daily, non-paid content. Use it to share new blog posts, promote products, announce sales, or collect email sign-ups. Announce on your feed that a new "link is in our story" to push traffic from both sides.

Final Thoughts

Adding action buttons to your Instagram strategy is about creating clear pathways for your audience to follow. From driving website visits with advertised posts to simplifying bookings via your profile, these tools close the gap between interest and action. And, by combining these features with smart CTAs in your organic captions and Stories, you can turn every piece of content into an opportunity for an engagement that truly matters.

As social media managers, we know that planning a content strategy that correctly utilizes each of these methods - from scheduling daily "link in bio" posts to organizing larger campaigns for promoted posts with CTA buttons - can quickly become a juggling act. That’s why we created a tool built for how modern marketing works. With our platform, you can visually plan your entire content calendar, including daily organic posts and ads, seeing exactly when each is going live so your strategy remains clear and effective. We built Postbase to bring that order to the chaos without the clutter of older, more complicated tools.