How to add Instagram action buttons - types, benefits & more

Types of Action Buttons for your Instagram business profile

Among the current Action Buttons that Instagram offers are:

Book – Book an appointment at your hair salon, day spa, hotel, or other business where customers must reserve time in advance.

Buy Tickets – This Action Button is ideal for theaters, clubs, and other performance venues. You can also use it to sell seats to other kinds of events, like yoga workshops, drop-in fitness classes, and more.

Reserve – If you run a restaurant, the Reserve Action Button can help you generate demand and plan more efficiently for your dinner service.

Start Order – This Action Button is the one you want if you offer food for delivery or takeout.

Each Action Button is linked to one of Instagram’s partners. For example, the Book Action Button must be used with partners like Appointy, Setmore, or one of Instagram’s other appointment-setting software partners that allow your customers to book an appointment with you directly from Instagram. Likewise, the Reserve Action Button must be used with a partner like OpenTable or Yelp.

Benefits of using Instagram Action Buttons

What makes Action Buttons worth using? In short, they’re simple and effective calls to action. Every marketing message you create needs a call to action — the thing you want customers to do next when they check out your Instagram business profile. That matters a lot because 34% of Instagram users are there specifically to follow brands. They’re ready to shop, and Action Buttons make it easier.

Action Button metrics are also easy to measure, so you can properly attribute your reservations, bookings, orders, and ticket sales and see how much business your Instagram marketing efforts deliver for you.

Set up your Instagram for Business account

The following is a brief summary of steps to setting up Instagram for business:

• Sign up with your business email.
• Select Professional account.
• Edit and fill out your Business profile.
• Add Contact options.

Add an Action Button to your Instagram business account

Ready to add a call to action to your Instagram profile? Let’s get started!

First, confirm that you have a professional account, because you’ll need it to use Action Buttons. Go to Settings and scroll down. If you see blue text that says Switch to Personal Account, then you already have a business account. You can go to the next step! However, if your blue text says Switch to Professional Account, select that text, complete your business profile and add your business contact details.

Next, you’ll need to have an account with the third-party app you want to use with your Action Button. For example, if you run a spa and want to use your Action Button to let customers book services, your appointment-setting service needs to be on Instagram’s Action Button partner list.

With your professional account and approved third-party service lined up, the next steps are easy:

• Select Edit Profile.
• Scroll down to Contact Options.
• Select Add an Action Button.

Once you tap on “Add an Action Button,” you will see an extensive list of integrated third-party partners to choose from. Tap on the partner of your choice, sign in to your account, complete the information requested and tap on “Done.”

When you go back to the profile page, you will see that your Action Button has been added.

Removing an Action Button

Let’s say you want to switch Action Buttons or just take down the one you have. To remove your current Action Button from your Instagram business account, follow these steps:

• Log in to your Instagram account and select your profile button at the bottom right of your screen.
• Select Edit Profile.
• Just beneath Public Business Information, select Action Buttons.
• Select your active Action Button. Depending on your business, it might be Order Food, Book Now, Reserve, or Start Order.
• At the bottom of your screen, select Remove Action Button.

Now your Action Button is removed, and you can activate another if you want!

Troubleshooting and getting help with your Instagram Action Button

If you find that your interface is a bit different from the ones shown in this article and you need help troubleshooting, select Profile > Menu > Settings > Help > Help Center. Then you can type your question in the search bar.

Now that you know more about Instagram Action Buttons, it’s easy to see how beneficial they can be on your Instagram account. When your customers can engage with your business seamlessly from the Instagram platform, you give your customers more of what they’re looking for.

Further reading

Learn more about getting the most out of Instagram with the following articles:

• Instagram DM automation: the ultimate guide
• How to use Instagram DM for business: 4 ways to boost revenue