138. The Weekly Scroll: Instagram Is Testing a Money Making Feature… and It’s a Big Deal

Summary

Podcast Summary
Call Her Creator with Katelyn Rhoades
Episode 138: The Weekly Scroll – Instagram Is Testing a Money Making Feature… and It’s a Big Deal
Date: March 19, 2026
Host: Katelyn Rhoades

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Episode Overview

In this edition of "The Weekly Scroll," Katelyn Rhoades dives into sweeping changes coming to Instagram—most notably, the testing of clickable links in captions, exclusively for Meta Verified users. The main thread running through the episode is Instagram’s transition from a content platform to an integrated sales platform, and what that means for creators seeking to monetize their presence. Katelyn provides hands-on tactics for leveraging these updates, mindset advice for creators feeling performance anxiety, and practical content creation guidance—all tailored for those aiming for more influence and income.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Instagram’s Shift: From Content to Sales Platform

• Big Picture:
  • Instagram is strategically moving to become a full-fledged sales platform, not just a place to post pretty content.
  • For years, monetizing on Instagram meant jumping through hoops due to “no links, limited features.”
  • Now, IG is “slowly, strategically changing that.” [02:30]
• What’s Changing?
  • Clickable links in captions are being tested, but only for Meta Verified users.
  • This signals that Instagram is “monetizing access to traffic.” [03:02]
  • It removes friction for buyers—no need to go to the link in bio or send a DM to get a link.
  • “Imagine that someone reads your caption and they can just click your link. They buy right there. No extra steps. This is powerful.” [03:19]

2. Winning Tactics: How to Sell on Instagram with Clickable Links

• Not Just a Feature, But a Skill:
  • Katelyn emphasizes, “A clickable link isn’t going to save you… the people who understand sales are going to win, not the people who just know how to go viral.” [03:48]
• Three Tactical Steps for Captions:
  • Clarity Over Cleverness:
    • “You do not need to be cute, you need to be clear. People don’t click because they’re confused… they click because it’s super clear what they’re gonna get.” [05:08]
    • Examples:
      • Instead of “link in bio if you’re interested,” use “Download my 30-day content plan.”
  • Single, Juicy Call to Action:
    • “You gotta keep it nailed down to one juicy call to action. We don’t want five there. It’s going to confuse them.” [05:50]
    • Avoid “paralysis by too many options”—give each post one clear job.
  • Build Desire Before the Link:
    • “Your caption has to do three things. One, call out the problem… agitate it… position your offer as the solution. And then you get the link.” [06:31]
    • Don’t immediately post a link—give context and make them want it.

3. Instagram Updates: Productivity & Mental Health

• Edit Comments Feature:
  • Now you can fix typos and keep conversations “clean, clear, and intentional”—especially valuable if you’re selling or answering questions in comments. [08:10]
• Turn Off Likes and Activity:
  • “One of the biggest things I see holding creators back is they overthink their content because they’re like, it didn’t get enough likes. I’m deleting it.” [08:40]
  • This new feature can help creators stop equating their self-worth and success with like counts.
  • “Some of my best content has come when I stopped obsessing over performance.” [09:12]

4. Content Creation: Built-In Instagram Tools and Originality

• Major Editing Feature Upgrades:
  • Teleprompter: Paste in your script and read it as you go, like a news anchor.
  • Freeze frame and custom effects—now available natively in Instagram. [11:50]
  • Reason: “Instagram does not want you leaving to go to CapCut... The more time you spend inside Instagram… the more they reward you.” [12:17]
• Original Content Protections:
  • Meta is rolling out improved protections for original content—a timely move, as AI twins and plagiarism are more rampant than ever. [13:10]
  • “People want to know your opinion on things.” [14:02]
  • Katelyn shares a personal anecdote about a big creator stealing her content and how responding authentically resonated with her audience, resulting in “almost 2,000 likes… pretty good for a talking head video.” [14:33]

5. Action Steps for Listeners

• Practical Video Prompt:
  • “Go record a 30-second video, maybe 30 to 50 seconds… your feedback on a particular thing that’s happening in your industry that you’re upset about. Talk about it. Be real with them. Start your video with a hook at the very top.” [15:30]
• Katelyn’s Final Advice:
  • “It’s not about posting more content, guys. It’s about knowing how to turn that content into actual revenue.” [16:30]
  • For more in-depth strategy, she recommends her Social Media Sales School, mentioning results like “2,000 to 3,000 followers… just within a month or two,” and a nonprofit reaching “a million people… in the first 90 days.” [16:45]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Instagram is no longer just a content platform, guys. It’s becoming a sales platform. And everything we’re about to talk about today supports that.” — Katelyn Rhoades (02:30)
• “A clickable link isn’t going to save you. The people who understand sales are going to win, not the people who just know how to go viral.” — Katelyn Rhoades (03:48)
• “You do not need to be cute, you need to be clear.” — Katelyn Rhoades (05:08)
• “Some of my best content has come when I stopped obsessing over performance.” — Katelyn Rhoades (09:12)
• “People want to know your opinion on things.” — Katelyn Rhoades (14:02)
• “Go record your feedback on a particular thing that’s happening in your industry right now that you’re upset about. Talk about it. Be real with them.” — Katelyn Rhoades (15:33)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:30 – Overview of Instagram’s transition to a sales platform
• 03:02 – Announcement: Clickable links in captions for Meta Verified users
• 03:48 – Why understanding sales matters more now than ever
• 05:08 – Caption writing: Clarity over clever
• 08:10 – Edit Comments feature and why it matters
• 08:40 – Turning off likes/activity and creator mental health
• 11:50 – Instagram’s new content creation (editing) tools explained
• 13:10 – Meta’s move to protect original content and Katelyn’s plagiarism story
• 14:33 – Authentic content gets engagement: story of the Copycat Saga
• 15:30 – Listener homework: record a 30–50 second opinion video
• 16:30 – Final advice on turning content into revenue; Social Media Sales School offer

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Episode Takeaways

• Treat Instagram as more than a content platform—capitalize on its new sales capabilities.
• Craft captions with clear, singular calls to action and always warm up your audience before dropping a link.
• Don’t obsess over vanity metrics; focus on authentic content and consistent sales strategy.
• Use Instagram’s native tools for content creation—and protect your originality as it becomes more valuable in a world full of AI-generated and copycat content.
• Take real, actionable steps—don’t just consume info; implement what you learn!

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This episode is a must-listen for creators and entrepreneurs who want to move from “posting” to “profiting”—clear, practical advice from an expert who’s learned from experience, not just theory.

Transcript

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This episode is sponsored by Brevo, Collective and Shopify. Brevo is your all in one marketing and CRM platform that helps you turn attention into actual revenue. From email marketing to automation to CRM tools, Brevo keeps your audience warm without you manually following up 247 and collective helps you handle the business side of being a creator or an entrepreneur. From bookkeeping to taxes to compliance, they make sure you're structured correctly and not leaving money on the table. And Shopify your commerce engine. It's how you actually sell the thing. Whether that's digital products, physical products or services. Shopify gives you the tools to build, market and scale your store all in one place. And if you're serious about building a real business, not just posting the content, these are the tools behind the scenes. Get started today with [e-mail] creator save with [e-mail] CHC and launch with Shopify shopify.com CHC Today's show is sponsored by Strawberry Me.

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Strawberry Mech it's like therapy for your career. Welcome back to Call Her Creator Podcast and another episode of the Weekly Scroll. Every week I handpick the most important

[B]

social media changes, break them down into

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plain language and tell you exactly what they mean for your growth.

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Right?

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And if you're smart, you will download today's episode.

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Like right now.

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Just head over to Call Her Creator. The little plus sign up at the top, click download and follow me so that you get my weekly updates every Thursday. This will assure that you never miss

[B]

an algorithm shift or update from me. Okay, so let's zoom out for just a quick second before we even get into today's updates, because if you missed this part, you're going to miss the entire point of this episode. Instagram is no longer just a content platform, guys. It's becoming a sales platform. And everything we're about to talk about today supports that. Four years, Instagram has made it kind of hard to sell. No links, limited features. You kind of had to jump through hoops just to get someone off the app. But now we can see that they're slowly, strategically changing that. So as I go through these updates, I want you to be asking yourself, how can I use this to make money? Not just, oh, cool, that's a great new feature. Okay. Instagram is testing clickable links in the captions. And I know we've been begging for this since, what, 2014, 2015, but it finally looks like it could be here. Um, they're testing it on meta verified users, which tells me everything I need to know here. Instagram is monetizing access to traffic. How are they doing that? They're only testing this on verified accounts. And that's a huge shift, because up until now, the biggest friction point on Instagram has been go to my link in bio or comment the word xyz. And then you're dming people and you're hoping that they go click the link. We've built entire businesses around getting people to click a link or go to the bio. So now imagine that someone reads your caption and they can just click your link. They buy right there. No extra steps. This is powerful. But here's my take. This is going to separate creators, because the people who understand sales, those are the ones that are going to win, not the people who just know how to go viral. Because now your caption matters more than ever. Your call to action matters so much, because your offer is going to matter if you don't have those pieces dialed in. A clickable link isn't going to save you. And here's where I want to get really tactical with you for a second, because everyone's excited about this idea of clickable links, but a link alone is not going to make you money. Okay? And if you're doing too much, it might even turn people off. But your call to action, if it's strong, this could be really good for you guys. So if this feature rolls out fully, here are three ways you need to start thinking about your captions differently if you actually want to sell on Instagram.

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So first, clarity over Being clever.

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Okay, Number one, just be clear with them. You do not need to be cute, you need to be clear. Instead of saying something vague like link in bio if you're interested, you're just gonna say exactly what they're getting, like, download my 30 day content plan. Join my membership for weekly reels trends. Start your email list today. People don't click because they're confused or they need to know more. They click because it's super clear what they're gonna get from that. And then the next step here is one call to action versus having five at a time. This one is very, very important and one that a lot of people struggle with. Okay? But you gotta keep it nailed down to one juicy call to action. We don't want five there. It's going to confuse them. So calls to action aren't always just a link. Calls to action could be like, share this, save this, follow me, click here, comment here, DM me. Like, that's all call to actions. So for each post that you do, you're gonna have to give it one job. So if the goal is sales, your caption should lead to one action, which is to click the link in the caption. That's it. But the more opt you start to give, the less they're going to do anything. Because it's, I think they call it like paralysis. Like there's so many options, they just get stuck and they don't know what to do next. And then the third step here that I want you to remember is to build that desire before the link. So this is where most people get it wrong. They post a reel and then immediately they say, click here. Like, why? You didn't make me want to yet. Your caption has to do three things. It has to. One, call out the problem that your audience has agitated a little bit, like really hit home on it. And then position your offer as the solution. And then you get the link because now they're actually wanting to click because they're like, oh my God, she sees me. She knows what I'm struggling with. Yep, I'm gonna buy it. So this is really actually what I teach inside of social media sales school. Cause selling on Instagram is not about just posting all the time. It's about knowing how to guide people from content to click to conversion. So if you've been posting consistently but you're not seeing sales, it might not be your content, it could just be your strategy. And so I'm gonna link social media sales school in the show notes for you guys. It has everything you need to turn Instagram into a sales machine. And I'm talking chatgpt prompts. I'm talking frameworks that have helped my clients grow 3,000 followers in 30 days. Like, it's got everything you need inside. And there's a special lesson on calls to action and the psychology around selling on Instagram. Okay, next update. Kind of small, but it's strategic in my. My view. So editing comments. Have you guys ever replied to a comment and you misspelled a word and then you're like, dang it. Now I either have to delete that comment and rewrite it, or they're just going to see my misspelling. Like, I do it all the cause I worked really, really fast with my hands. So at face value, editing captions, comments, you're probably like, okay, cool. But think about this. How many of you are selling in your comments? How many of you are answering questions, dropping links, fixing typos after posting? This makes it easier to keep conversations clean and clear and intentional. And Instagram wants conversations because conversations mean time on the app. So you can edit your comments back to people, but then they're going a step further, and they're also going to allow you to turn off likes and activity in your feed. And I. I don't know, I kind of like this one. Because one of the biggest things I see holding creators back is they overthink their content because they're like, it didn't get enough likes. I'm deleting it. Like, that's the biggest main concern I get with my clients. So you post something, you stare at it, you refresh, refresh, refresh, and then suddenly you're spiraling because you only got five likes. So this feature will allow you to just turn those likes and activity off without constantly measuring your worth against the numbers. And I'll say this, some of my best content has come when I stopped obsessing over performance. Actually, it's like the ones that you just throw together are the ones that typically go off. So keep that in mind next time you're hard on yourself about the content that you shared.

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[B]

okay, content creation update. Instagram edits. Whoop whoop. Love edits. They just got another major upgrade, the teleprompter. If you've never seen it, you can literally paste in what you want to say and it will scroll just like you're a news anchor. There's also the freeze frame and there's the custom effects. All of this is inside the app. And this is very intentional. I'll tell you why. Because Instagram does not want you leaving to go to Cap Cut. They don't want you leaving the app to go to another editing app. So the more time you spend inside of Instagram and inside of edits, the more data they have on you, the more control they have, the more they reward you. So I know Adam will say like, no, we don't care if you use another editing app at the same time. Why Would they want you to leave Instagram? So this is your reminder. Simple edits, talking head videos, clear messaging, strong hooks. Just do it right inside of Instagram. This is still what performs. And one thing I want to touch on too. Meta is working on stronger protections, so they say, for original content. And I just find the timing of this very interesting too, because we all know, like, content stealing is happening more than ever. If you missed this week's episode of Call Her Creator on Tuesday, I talked about how a big creator stole my content word for word, like plagiarism to a T. And so I don't think that meta working on stronger protections is going to magically fix everything. I do think it signals that they do care about originality and I think that it's becoming more valuable, especially with AI taking over. There are so many AI twins on my newsfeed, it's crazy. But this should encourage you to use your own voice. Record your videos, act like you're talking to a friend. Literally act like you're facetiming your friend. Share your own perspective of things. People want to know your opinion on things. So whenever the plagiarism thing happened and the creator stealing my content, I was so angry. I literally just popped up on reels without any type of script and went off. And now I'm like almost at 2,000 likes, I think, which is pretty good for a talking head video. And a lot of people have shared it. They've been supporting me through it all, and it's because I was very real with them and I talked about a topic that was pretty spicy and interesting to them. So that is what people actually want to connect with. They want to connect with you. They want to know your thoughts. So if you haven't seen that reel, it's on my Instagram page and it says Copycat Saga. I think it says part one or something like that. Hold on, I have to show you. Oh, disturbing Big creator Copycat Saga, Part 1. So go look at that. It's got. Yeah, it's got a lot of comments, a lot of views, it's doing really well. And it's all because I was sharing my opinion on something. So here's your homework today. Go record a 30 second video, maybe 30 to 50 seconds. Mine was actually 50 seconds long. Go record your feedback on a particular thing that's happening in your industry right now that you're upset about. Talk about it. Be real with them. Start your video off with a hook at the very top of the video that says, you know, unpopular opinion. But I don't agree with XYZ and then talk about it. I. I don't know. I'm really liking Talking Heads. They're hard. They're not. They're not hard. But they do take more work sometimes because you actually have to get on camera, you have to edit, but they work so well. All right, let's see anymore. That was most of my updates for today, but I hope if this episode did open your eyes a little bit on how much Instagram is shifting into sales platform, then this is your sign to go get social Media school because it's available right now and it's on sale for $147. You'll get access to my brain. I'll teach you everything step by step. How to build a social media system that sells for you. Um, you'll get access to videos from me, chatgpt prompts, cheat sheets, canva templates, copy and paste, fill in the blank captions. All the things are inside of Social Media school. And I'm telling you, my students are growing so fast. Using my Core 5 framework. That's inside of Social Media school. I'm talking like 2,000 to 3,000 followers, like just within, you know, a month or two. We use this framework on a nonprofit organization and they reached a million people, like right off the bat. Starting out in the first 90 days through these concepts that I teach inside of social Media school. So it's not about posting more content, guys. It's just about knowing how to turn that content into actual revenue. So if you're ready to stop guessing and start selling with intention, I think you will like social Media Sales school and I will link it in the show notes for you. All right, that's all I got for you today. Like I said, if you missed my episode this week about plagiarism and copycats and inspiration, please go listen to it. It's going to blow your mind. And it also might protect you too, because if you're one of those people that gets inspired a lot by other people, you have to know that there is a fine line and you can actually get in big trouble for using

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other people's content word for word.

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So I've got a really good episode up on that. Please go listen to it and if you liked today's episode, send me a five star review. Let me know you liked it. All right, thanks, guys. See you next week.