call to action - Express Writers

How to Write a Sensational Call-to-Action to Boost Your Content Clicks & Revenue

December 31, 2020November 17, 2016 by Adam Oakley

Every good writer knows that there are few lines more important to the inbound content creation process than the call-to-action, or CTA. A CTA motivates a visitor to take immediate action by saying things like “Click here to learn more,” “subscribe to our email list for daily updates,” or even, “buy the product you’re reading about here.” Essentially, a CTA tells the audience what it should be doing next, which serves the incredibly important marketing purpose of increasing conversion rates and boosting sale numbers. For the content marketer or copywriter there are few skills quite so important as learning to craft a strong, compelling CTA. Today, we’re here to help you learn how to write a CTA that will boost the ROI of your online content, beyond a doubt. Ready? Why You Need to Worry about How to Write a CTA I don’t need a call-to-action if my content is really good, right? This is a fallible fallacy that I believed once. Would you believe it? Yes, I debated marketers and said once that good content can stand by itself. Then, after a great conversation with Guillaume from Scoop.it, I created some CTAs and I saw more readers click, follow through and visit my services page. You do need to nudge your visitors to action! Unfortunately, that will remain the truth. Do not, do not make the same mistakes I did. To prove why CTAs are so efficient, check this out: Over 90% of visitors who read your headline will actually read your CTA, as well. (Unbounce) Emails with an non-convoluted single call-to-action received an increase of 371% in clicks, and in sales, a whopping 1617%. (WordStream) Adding a CTA to your Facebook business or public figure page can increase your CTR rate by 285%. (AdRoll) Marketer Kimberly Snyder increased conversions by 144% by making her visitors watch an informational video on her services before giving them a CTA. (QuickSprout) Finally, ready for this one? From Grow & Convert: There you go. Without a doubt–CTAs are crucial to the growth, ROI, and value of your online content. Now, let’s talk about how to create them! Defining What Makes Up a CTA Think about the time you spend cruising the web every day. Maybe you read a few blogs, subscribe to an online journal or two or do a bit of shopping. Now, think about how often you see a pop-up window of some type that implores you to please “buy now!” “subscribe!” “sign up!” or “click here.” These are CTAs. A CTA serves the purpose of directing a business’s customers to their next step and helping the business enjoy increased conversion rates and more sales. CTAs are an important marketing tool and can be found in everything from website landing pages to television commercials. But what makes a CTA actually work? Inspire people to take that action of clicking through? The answer may surprise you: there’s a real psychology behind it all. The Inner Psychology Behind Why a CTA Works In addition to serving a marketing purpose, a good CTA serves the distinct psychological purpose of drawing upon people’s desire to act immediately. Because of the sense of urgency in a CTA, people are much more likely to take a specific action than they would have been had there been no CTA to give them a specific and definable nudge in the right direction. This nudge works, because humans aren’t often eager to take action if left to ourselves. This is not to say that we lack the ability to dress ourselves and decide what we want to eat for lunch but that, when it comes to larger decisions, we often need help to determine which direction we will take. This is called perceptual set theory in psychological speak. Perceptual set theory: the theory that our human mind perceives the world around it in a three-fold process, that helps discern, develop expectation, create drive and motivation. This is why we often consult our friends and loved ones for advice in the event of large decisions or purchases. A CTA caters to this need for validation and direction in a somewhat subdued way. Because people expect a nudge from the company or product with which they are flirting, the CTA is both expected and effective at encouraging a desired outcome. 7 Key Fundamentals You Need to Know to Write an Awesome CTA 1) Be Short, Sweet, Direct A CTA is not a platform for the long-winded discussion of benefits or “here are the top 10 reasons you should click here” explanations. Tell your visitors what you want them to do and leave it at that. Utilize strong command verbs like “download” “submit” or “subscribe” and avoid wishy-washy words that convey a sense of uncertainty, such as “try” or “see.” When it comes to marketing, people want direction and the entire purpose of a CTA is to tell them what to do next. Don’t be afraid to be direct. 2) Write In First-Person This simple trick goes a long way. Michael Aagard of Content Verve saw a tremendous 90% increase in clicks by simply using first-person in their CTA content: “Start my free 30 day trial” vs. “Start your free 30 day trial.” When your reader clicks the button, they’re claiming a benefit for them–and writing in first person solidifies that positive feeling. 3) Use CTAs Throughout Your Content, Not Just Once HubSpot discovered that anchor text CTAs increased their conversion rates by 121%. What’s more, between 47 – 93% of incoming leads from a post came only from anchor text CTAs: and 83% to 93% of all leads from a post came from anchor text AND internal link CTAs. Don’t just stop with a CTA at the bottom of your content: incorporate a few well-worded call to actions throughout your content. Example: if I was writing a tip about creating great meta content, I might link to a useful blog on our site about meta content for additional reading, or straight to our meta content writing services to catch service inquiries from interested leads. 4) Give Readers Something Valuable In order for a CTA to be effective, it needs to convey a sense of value and VIP-like inclusion. … Read more

The Call to Action in Copywriting: How to Create Yours

February 7, 2024January 27, 2014 by Adam Oakley

In the business and online marketing worlds, the goal is to motivate customers with potent calls to action. While a call to action may sound like a complex and hard-to-master thing, that’s more of a misconception than a reality. If you strip away the fancy name, a call to action is just an “ask” of your readers. When you look at it that way, the only question left to answer is “how do you ask them correctly?” While it takes some time, effort, and skill to master the call to action in copywriting, doing so can earn you more sales, more customers, and a bigger bottom line, so it’s well worth your while. The Basics of a Great Call to Action in Copywriting: 7 Essential Techniques Remember the magic word we learned early on in life? Please. The epitome of politeness, please had the power to earn us things, to make people help us, and to strengthen bonds with our friends and family. In the world of marketing, it’s no different. Today, most marketing tactics involve asking readers for something, such as their email address or a share with their social following. That’s made difficult, however, by the fact that today’s customers are protective of their privacy, money, and personal information, and rightfully so! While there’s no getting around the fact that most of modern marketing is one big “ask,” there is a right way and a wrong way to ask people to do something for you and your brand. Push too hard, and you risk scaring your readers off. Whisper too timidly, and you’ll come off as confusing and indecisive. To be effective with your call to action in copywriting, it’s critical to master the following CTA techniques: 1. Provide Value It doesn’t matter if something is free or costs thousands. If the customer finds it valuable, price is no object. Unfortunately, most of today’s copy fails to take this simple fact into account. The most effective CTAs work because they offer a clear value proposition. They tell the reader exactly what’s in it for them and what they’ll get for sharing their personal information, clicking, or subscribing. This clarity is essential for great CTAs, and can go a long way to make yours more compelling. 2. Address Objections Head-On Good businesses familiarize themselves with the objections their potential customers will have before they begin marketing. After all, the only way to generate sales is to address and overcome objections. Fortunately, you can use your call to action in copywriting to nip customer objections and concerns in the bud. By addressing and solving customer objections before the customer has a chance to offer them, you can encourage trust in your brand and your company. Simple things, like offering money-back guarantees, providing social proof (stating how many people have already taken advantage of a product, good, or service) or including reviews are ideal for anticipating and addressing customer concerns. 3. Pique Customer Curiosity Curiosity is human nature and it leads us to try new things. Piquing curiosity is a great way to build the customer’s anticipation and encourage them to fulfill your “ask.” Including language like “VIP” or “top secret” can make your CTAs more enticing and exciting for your readers. 4. Tailor the CTA to Your Reader You’ve heard it once; you’ve heard it a thousand times: know your audience. Creating a compelling call to action requires that you custom-design the CTA copy and content for a select portion of readers. By setting up different CTAs and landing pages for different campaigns (rather than re-using the same ones) and ensuring you’re using personalized language, like “you” and “your” in your CTAs, you can offer your customers a truly customized experience. 5. Offer Social Proof Power exists in numbers. This is especially true when it comes to a proper call to action. Your potential customer probably doesn’t want to be the only one trying a product or service. You can entice them into action by leveraging social proof. Check out how Tim Ferriss does this in a CTA on his website: By stating that more than 100 million episodes have been downloaded, he inspires trust in his product and encourages a herd mentality, wherein people want to be involved because so many other people are already interacting with said content. 6. Make it Urgent People are more likely to take action when they feel a sense of urgency. You can weave this sense into a call to action in copywriting by saying things like: Limited time offer! While supplies last! Act now to receive… Only X days left! 7. Offer An Incentive You can make your CTA more compelling by offering your reader something exciting in advance. The way you sweeten the deal will depend on your business and industry, but can take the form of offering a free piece of content, a coupon, or even a voucher for services. In addition to showing readers you value them, offering an incentive makes your CTAs feel like gifts. Using CTAs in Copywriting: Foundational Tips Now that we’ve discussed the seven critical tactics of all good CTAs, let’s talk about how to use them in your copywriting: Tailor Your CTA to the Type Of Content. The CTA you’ll use on a web page varies from the one you’ll use on a blog. By tailoring your CTAs to various pages and approaches on your website, you can make them more effective and compelling. Keep Them Informative. Your CTAs should always be simple and informative. They should tell the reader exactly what they’ll get and why it matters. Information inspires trust, and trust is critical to high-performing CTAs. Personalize, Personalize, Personalize. The goal of a CTA is to speak directly to the customer. By personalizing your CTAs with words like “you” and “yours” and ensuring that each CTA you publish lines up with a specific, targeted offer, can shorten the distance between you and your customers and make your “asks” more compelling. Keep … Read more

Turn Up the Volume on Your Call to Action

December 31, 2020October 14, 2013 by Adam Oakley

You’ve probably heard the term “call to action” a thousand times. Maybe you’ve even tried to write your own calls to action, but found them less than inspiring. If you’re like most marketers, you’ve often wondered if the call to action, or CTA, is just a fancy name for something that isn’t that important. The truth is, though, that your call to action is critical. By compelling your audiences to (you guessed it) take action, a great CTA can spell the difference between thousands of conversions and a few ho-hum reads. Lights, Camera, Call To Action! The reason your call to action is so important is that it performs a job that no other part of your website does. By inspiring your visitors to take a desired action, like clicking your content, filling out a form, or entering their email addresses, a great CTA helps make your content more compelling and interactive. Still not convinced CTAs are all that critical? Let’s look at some statistics. Unbounce reports that 90% of the visitors who read your headline will also read your CTA. As if that weren’t enough, WordStream reports that emails featuring just one call to action increased click-through-rate by 371% and sales by 1617%. HubSpot has also found that personalized CTAs convert a whopping 42% better than standard CTAs. The good news is that there are many ways to create a successful call to action, but you’ve got to create a good foundation first. This involves having enough web content to input a CTA, developing a quality product, and having some level of social following. Once these things exist, you can get to work optimizing and improving your CTAs. 10 Essential Ingredients for an Irresistible Call to Action Every call to action must contain certain elements. These elements make them more compelling, interesting, and exciting for readers. Here’s what each great CTA needs: 1. Images One dilemma many business owners face is whether to use text or graphics in their call to action. While text is critical to a good call to action, many people assume visuals aren’t. Wrong! Visuals are an essential part of the most effective CTAs. The human brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than textual information, so including a great visual in your CTA can be exactly what it needs to tip readers over the edge. For best results, look for an image that’s relevant to the CTA (a picture of the cover of the offered book or guide, for example, is a great option) and won’t be distracting to the reader. Remember: visuals should enhance rather than detract from your CTA. 2. A Powerful Color Scheme To be as successful as possible, your CTA needs to fall in line with the rest of your brand’s color scheme. For an example of what this looks like, check out this HubSpot CTA: HubSpot is known for its orange and white color scheme, and the CTA buttons throughout the site are generally blue. This CTA aligns with that color scheme and provides a sense of continuity and reliability for the reader. If your brand doesn’t have an established color scheme yet, now is a good time to consider how colors are used in marketing, and to pick a few options that convey the messages you’re aiming for. Once you’ve got your color scheme hammered out, be sure to integrate it into your current and future CTAs. Here’s a color diagram from HelpScout to help you decide: No matter what you choose, remember that color, like visuals, should accent rather than overwhelm your CTA. While you may love lime green and orange together, few people want to click on a CTA that looks like a mess of melted glow sticks. 3. The Right Words The wording of your call to action matters. The best way to do this is to use actionable language. Distinct and hard-hitting verbs like “find,” “download,” “discover,” and “get” will help improve your CTAs conversion rates and make it more exciting to readers. Don’t go overboard though: you want to use fewer than four words in your CTA to keep the reader’s interest. 4. The Right Placement Where you place your call to action can make all the difference. What if your page is already full of important information that you want your visitor to see? The general rule of thumb is to place the call to action in a spot that’s easily accessible, uncluttered, and highly visible. This enhances the likelihood that your readers will see it and that they’ll act, as a result. 5. An Understanding of the Reader’s Questions Regardless of what you’re selling, your visitors will be asking one thing as they make buying decisions involving your company: “What’s in it for me?” Your CTA should anticipate this and respond accordingly. When developing your CTA copy, think about what you’ll need to give your reader to justify their action. For example, would they be willing to share your Facebook page with 10 of their friends for the chance to win a contest you are putting on? Is the promise of a complete guide enough to win their email address? By tailoring your CTA offering to your CTA “ask,” you can make your material more compelling and exciting for your readers. What’s more, you brand your company as one that understands and cares about your customers, which makes you more appealing to work with. 6. A Consistent Tone Today’s customers are smart, and they’ll get confused if the content of your CTA is drastically different than the content elsewhere on your page or social profiles. With this in mind, keep the voice of your CTA consistent with that of the rest of your content. In addition to strengthening your brand perception, this will also help your visitors make sense of your CTA and take the action it’s proposing. 7. Personalization The more you can personalize your CTA, the better. When you think about it, CTAs are asking your reader to … Read more