Actions Speak Louder Than Words

The research presented on this site is an in-depth analysis of call-to-action messaging on the NFL's Instagram. The research aims to understand how professional sports organizations like the NFL use call-to-action messaging to engage fans and how the messaging impacts fan engagement metrics like likes, comments, and shares. 

Through content analysis research, 200 Instagram posts from the NFL were analyzed to understand the effectiveness of call-to-action messaging. A detailed codebook was developed with 18 coding categories to completely grasp every aspect of the Instagram content. The research questions and hypothesis  asked if posts with call-to-action messaging had higher engagement metrics than posts without call-to-action messaging and what types of call-to-actions were used. 

After analyzing the data, the results found that posts with a call to action had a higher engagement average for likes and shares than posts that did not have a call to action. The results also showed that the most common call to action used was to stream NFL+ (the NFL’s streaming service). These results were supported by previously cited research that indicates CTA's used on social media are designed to target specific audiences that may be different for each social platform. The results also discuss how different types of media content were used, and how the subject of the media content may have an impact on engagement metrics. 

This website will take the reader through the entire research process. This website also provides context to what a call-to-action is and how marketing companies view successful call-to-action messaging.