Podcast Summary: Call Her Creator with Katelyn Rhoades – Episode 127

"Why Your Instagram Content Isn’t Converting (It’s Not Your Hooks) | Buyer Psychology with Anna Rumbold"

Date: February 10, 2026
Host: Katelyn Rhoades
Guest: Anna Rumbold, Business & Marketing Mentor, Buyer Behavior Expert

Episode Overview

This episode explores why strong, consistent Instagram content sometimes fails to translate into sales, even when it garners engagement and positive feedback. Host Katelyn Rhoades brings in Anna Rumbold, an award-winning marketing mentor and buyer psychology specialist, to dissect what really keeps high-intent buyers from taking action. Together, they unpack the invisible gaps between content that educates and content that actually converts—focusing on dissolving buyer doubt, closing the “brand perception gap,” and embodying true authority in your messaging.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introducing Anna Rumbold & Her Journey

• Anna’s background in business management and buyer behavior:
  Anna studied buyer behavior at university and transitioned through business ops and social media management before mentoring creators on buyer psychology and messaging.
  “I work with mostly coaches, mentors, service providers, but really creators… to create certainty that they are the people that their ideal clients should hire.” – Anna (02:26)

• Brand Perception Gap:
  Many clients feel their audience doesn’t recognize the value existing clients rave about, leading to a disconnect between engagement and conversion.
  “They say, ‘I wish people in my audience online could see what my existing clients see.’” – Anna (07:31)

What Is Buyer Behavior and Why It Matters in Content

• Buyer behavior as a lens:
  Putting yourself in your customer’s shoes to better understand their motivations and hesitations. Trends and technology change, but core buying motions persist.
  “What makes people buy?... Especially if we’re looking at things like coaching or selling a service, we start to really look at those specific reasons.” – Anna (04:50)

• Consistent Patterns:
  Buyers look for knowledge gaps, specific expertise, relatability, and a clear outcome.
  “She wants to know someone has knowledge that she doesn’t have… why she should come to this person specifically… to see what it looks like to create that result.” – Anna (06:27)

Translating Client Brilliance Into Sales Messaging

• Articulating the ‘Brilliance’ Factor:
  Most creators undervalue their unique skillset and perspective, assuming it’s common knowledge. Anna helps clients hone their distinctiveness and translate it into value for the ideal client.
  “I think of your brilliance as being the thing that only you can do. It’s the way you think, your unique perspective… when we can articulate those things… that’s what people are obsessing over.” – Anna (08:31)

• Avoiding Jargon and “Dumbing It Down”:
  Explain your zone of genius in ways anyone (not just industry peers) will understand—clients don’t connect with insider jargon.
  “Dumbing it down is one of my biggest things… This is—there’s too many words in there that I don’t even understand as the viewer or the audience.” – Katelyn (09:32)

The Difference Between Informative and Persuasive Content

• Driving Action, Not Just Engagement:
  If your audience is liking and saving but not converting, it’s likely buyer doubts outweigh their desire.
  “If somebody isn’t buying, what we can assume there is that their doubt outweighed their desire.” – Anna (13:18)

• Three Core Points of Buyer Doubt:

  1. Doubt around you (Are you really the right person to help them?)
  2. Doubt around themselves (Can they really achieve this outcome?)
  3. Doubt around priority (Is this offer really pressing or relevant to their lives?)
     Informative content is valuable, but without addressing these specific doubts, it doesn’t convert.

Assessing Audience Warmth & Compelling Content

• Audience Warmth as a Sales Metric:
  Don’t just count DMs and likes—track actual inquiries and sales over 90 days to judge if your content is compelling or just “nice.”
  “If your content isn’t generating those inquiries and it isn’t generating those sales consistently, then… it probably does fit into that informative category right now.” – Anna (15:02)

• Missing the Call to Action:
  Many creators forget to directly invite their audience to take the next step, missing out on potential leads.
  “You’re posting really great content, but you’re not selling at all. So you can’t expect to have these leads when you’re not even giving them a strong call to action.” – Katelyn (15:45)

Authority and Authenticity: How to Stand Out

• Authority Through Authenticity:
  True authority isn’t about emulating someone else’s “high-vibe” style, but about deeply knowing, embodying, and expressing your own value and perspective.
  “That’s what removes your authority, because you’re shaping your personality into someone else… The more we ground into our own brilliance… that’s when we’re most authoritative.” – Anna (16:24)

• “Strip Away” Exercise:
  Instead of striving to be “authentically you,” re-read your content and strip out anything that doesn’t sound like you.
  “I talk about how… being authentic… the best way is to strip away anything that isn’t you… read over [your content] through this lens of does that sound like me?” – Anna (18:48)

• AI & Authenticity:
  In a world of ChatGPT and templated content, authenticity becomes more valuable (and obvious) than ever.
  “With the rise of AI… authenticity is scarce… people are craving that. They want to see those specific ways in which you say [things].” – Anna (21:37)

The Final Moments Before a Buyer Decides

• What Makes People Hesitate to Buy?
  The three types of doubt (around you, themselves, and priority) resurface at checkout.
  • Identity Alignment: Customers need to see themselves in your story or results.
  • Embodiment: Practice what you preach; audience can sense incongruence.
  • Priority: Explicitly connect your offer to what the buyer consciously values.
    “It’s really to do with connecting the dots for people around the thing that they consciously value… not the regulation of hormones, but what that actually creates for them.” – Anna (22:39)

Real-World Strategy Example: Turning Engagement into Sales

• Anna’s 30-Day Game Plan for a Client:
  1. Capture your “brilliance.”
  2. Connect brilliance to your client’s key values.
  3. Reverse-engineer and dissolve buyer doubt.
  4. Position content for high-intent clients (people already trying to solve the problem).
  5. Build buy-in by articulating why your way works, what makes it unique, and who specifically it’s for.
     “…stretch out. People think it’s like step one, step two, but you stretch that step one to step two. Actually, step two is ten steps.” – Katelyn (31:14)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Authority:
  “You are the expert, right as you are… lean all the way into our own personality traits, our own values, our own beliefs, all of those pieces, that’s when we’re going to be our most authoritative selves.” – Anna (16:24)

• On Content Disconnect:
  “When these kids go to this pediatric dentist, they know she’s not talking like that… you have to think about how you talk to your real customers because they're going to feel that disconnect in your content.” – Katelyn (20:46)

• On Hard Truths:
  “Always ask yourself why you're experiencing a certain result. Start with you.” – Anna (34:46)

Actionable Takeaways

• Audit your content for jargon vs. relatability; “dumb it down” for your ideal client.
• Track not just engagement, but actual leads and conversions to assess if content is persuasive.
• Make your authority tangible by showcasing unique skills and authentic voice, not by copying trends or personalities.
• Regularly review your positioning and the specifics in your messaging—ensure they directly address your ideal client’s doubts.
• Embody your message fully—people decide based on how congruent your public and private actions are with your offers.
• When in doubt, ask: “Is my content attracting who I want to work with, or who I am settling for?”

How to Find Anna Rumbold

• Instagram: @annarumbold.co
• Telegram Channel: Insights and real-time buyer psychology tips
• Works with creators, coaches, service providers (via mastermind and 1:1 coaching)

Key Timestamps

• 02:26 – Anna’s Background & Focus on Buyer Behavior
• 07:31 – The Brand Perception Gap Explained
• 10:38 – Liked Content vs. Content That Converts
• 13:18 – The Three Buyer Doubts That Block Sales
• 16:24 – Authority and Authenticity in Messaging
• 22:39 – Top Buyer Doubts at the Moment of Purchase
• 27:03 – Anna’s 30-Day Client Strategy Example
• 34:46 – Hard Truth: Your Content Attracts What You Put Out

This episode is essential listening for creators and entrepreneurs stuck in the “my content is good, but sales are lagging” cycle. Anna’s guidance offers clear frameworks and action steps for closing the conversion gap—anchored in real psychology, not just social media trend-chasing.