You’ve put together a great marketing campaign.
There’s a landing page on your website, you’ve sent an email out, and you’re working your social media network. But not much happened. “Whyyyyyy?”, you cry to your office ceiling.
Your first check is your call to action.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me tell you a story…
I went to a party a little while back. One of those high society deals that us detectives get invited to in case something goes wrong. I met a lady and she told me her troubles (and boy did she have troubles). Her husband was missing you see, and she was starting to wonder about some business deals he’d been involved in. All very interesting, I’m sure you’ll agree. We parted ways as the evening went on.
Two weeks later she called and asked me how I was getting on with the case. “The what?” I asked. See, she’d assumed that I knew what to do with the information. But she never actually asked me.
And it’s exactly the same with your marketing. You can tell your audience everything they need to know but you have a much greater chance of driving action if your copywriting actually includes an action. It’s that simple.
Call To Action = Action
Your copywriting should always include an action. Something like Call, Register, Download, Email, Subscribe, Buy, Like, Share … you get the idea.
Some quick tips to keep your copy action heavy:
- Keep it simple. Don’t jam your copywriting with so many different ‘call to actions’ that it’s confusing.
- Make it clearly visible so your audience really can’t miss it.
- Make it urgent. Turn “Call Us” to “Call Us Today” and “Register” to “Register Now”.
- Add an offer. Give them a reason to do it NOW with a Free Trial or Downloadable Report.
It’s easy! And don’t be afraid to use your call to action multiple times in your copywriting to remind your audience of what they should do.
Do you have a call to action that works for you every time? Leave a comment and share it with this old detective.
The Copy Detective
14 Responses
Great post Belinda, such a basic thing that so many people neglect.
I think it’s vital that you add an offer to your call to action. It doesn’t have to be you giving them something there and then, but you need to explain the value of following the CTA.
Why should I call you today? What am I going to get out of it?
Make sure you effectively communicate your USP to back up your CTA.
I’d say ANY call to action should work most of the time, as too many marketing pieces I see have a weak as water call to action, or none at all. I think any deliberate instructions to ask for the order can be so effective simply because most businesses never ask for the sale in the first place.
I agree Brian. I am surprised by how many business owners think they shouldn’t have to spell it out (because it’s obvious isn’t it?) OR they don’t want to be pushy. Make it big and clear and a lot more action will follow.
I think your point about not wanting to be pushy is actually quite valid. After all, who enjoys pushy sales people?
But there’s a big difference between “Buy now to accelerate your business growth” and “Buy now – I mean it, I know where you live (thanks for filling out the online form BTW!)”, or simply assuming if people are interested they’ll take the next step (or even know HOW to take the next step).
I think you can avoid being seen as “pushy” by simply reiterating the benefit of your product in the CTA. It reinforces why the consumer wants to follow through and tells them how. A win-win situation.
Perfect example of why a copywriter is worth their weight in gold!
Communicating effectively AND appropriately.
You said it! Anna’s comment links nicely back to yours, about giving someone a reason why they should do anything at all. “What’s in it for me” is the key motivation for most of us and it’s got to be tackled it in the copy.