How To Create a Persuasive and Powerful Call to Action
Are you wondering why your posts, blogs, and overall content strategy aren´t giving the desired results? Maybe you´re missing a persuasive and powerful Call to Action to boost your content marketing.
As business owners and content strategies, we are so busy with our products, visuals, and sales that we tend to overlook the power that words can bring to our business.
Today we dive deep into how a simple and short Call to Action can make all the difference in how your content is perceived and acted upon.
What is a Call to Action?
You probably recall scrolling on Tik Tok or watching YouTube and seeing your favorite content creator saying something along the lines of “Subscribe for more content” or “Don´t forget to like this video.”
These are examples of a Call to Action — a simple and short request, usually placed at the end of the content to act or interact in some way.
In other words, a Call To Action (CTA) in marketing is a phrase or sentence that encourages a potential customer to take a specific action. Typically, this is done with the intention of driving sales or generating leads.
A Call To Action is a crucial element of marketing, and it needs to align with your campaign’s goal; if you don´t have a Call to Action, then your marketing strategy isn’t complete.
The Different Types of Powerful Call To Action
How do I choose and write a CTA? First, you´ll need to understand that CTAs are highly versatile and can take many forms, depending on your marketing objective. To choose the best one for your business, you’ll need one that targets the action you want your lead to take.
Also, it´s important to note that CTAs aren´t just a short clip at the end of a video; they can also be written down in a piece of content, in the description of the post or show notes, it can even be at the end of a blog article, a newspaper, or at the end of a video game.
CTAs can be in any format as long as words are involved; that is the magic of them, and that’s why there are many different types of Calls to Action out there. But there’s no need to get overwhelmed; here are a few of the most popular, effective, and powerful ones.
Buy Now CTA
Buy Now is often used in e-commerce marketing campaigns where the objective is to increase sales. This type of CTA is usually placed on a product page or email. It creates a sense of urgency that encourages the potential customer to purchase the product immediately.
Sign In CTA
This Call to Action is used in lead generation campaigns where the objective is to collect customer information such as email addresses or phone numbers. This type of CTA can be used on a landing page or in email and offers customers something of value in exchange for their information, such as a free trial or a discount code.
Learn More CTA
“Learn more” or “Want to learn more” is often used in content marketing campaigns where the objective is to educate potential customers about a product or service. This type of CTA can be placed on a blog post or on a landing page and encourages potential customers to get more information about the product or service.
Subscribe CTA
One of the most popular out there: this one is used in pretty much everything, but in email marketing campaigns or social media where the objective is to build a subscriber list is particularly useful. This type of CTA can be placed on a website or in an email and offers potential customers the opportunity to receive regular updates and news about the product or service.
Download for free CTA
Any useful freebie is a powerful CTA; similarly, the objective is to encourage the audience to learn more about a product or service but also to offer valuable information to the user to create a trust bond and let them get a preview of your work. We strongly believe that this is one of the most powerful CTAs out there.
Tips For a Powerful Call To Action
Now that you understand all the types of Calls to Action, how do you create your own? Which one is the best for your business?
Remember that a well-crafted CTA can be the difference between a potential customer taking action or moving on to something else. Here are some tips on how to create the best CTA for your business
A Powerful Call To Action Creates Urgency
A good Call to Action creates urgency in potential customers by using action-oriented language that motivates them to take immediate action; This is achieved by using words that convey a feeling of wanting to be present at the moment, or how Gen Z on tik tok will call it: FOMO (fear of missing out.)
If you want your CTA to create urgency, you can use phrases such as “Don´t miss on this opportunity,” “Jus for a limited time period,” or “Get yours now.”
Be Specific: Know Your Target Audience
When creating a Call to Action, being specific and knowing your target audience is essential.
A good CTA should be tailored to the target customer’s specific needs, interests, and wants. This means understanding what motivates them and using language that resonates with them.
For example, the CTA “learn more” or “download the PDF Now” may be more appropriate for B2B marketing, while “Subscribe Now” or “Don´t Miss On Any Video” can be used easily in Social media content for B2C marketing.
Set a Goal
A clear and measurable goal helps marketers focus on creating an effective CTA to achieve the desired outcome. If your goal is to gain subscribers, then you´ll lean toward a “subscribe now” type of CTA.
Without knowing what action you want the user to take, crafting a compelling Call to Action and tracking effective results is impossible.
Steps for Writing an Effective And Powerful Call To Action
Once you know the goal of your Call to Action and who your target audience is, you can work on writing a persuasive call to action. Remember: words are everything, so choose them carefully to make your audience actually take action on your content.
- Choose an appropriate action verb and make it prominent in the message. Use verbs that convey action. Phrases like “more info here” or “pricing list” isn´t action-oriented and lack verbs. On the other hand, using verbs can change the tone of your CTA; it can be as simple as “Buy,” Subscribe,” “learn more” etc.
- Craft compelling content that educates, entertains, and excites the reader. When you create quality content, your audience is more likely to act on the CTA because they already feel engaged.
- Keep it concise. CTA is a form of promoting your business; you don’t want your content to feel like an ad, so limit your CTA to about 15 words. This will make it easy to read without feeling too spammy.
- And lastly, try to Include an incentive if appropriate, like discounts, limited offers, special rewards, or freebies. This will boost the chances of your audience acting upon your content.
Testing Creates a Powerful Call To Action
Once you have a well-structured and targeted CTA the last step is to test different versions of your CTA and measure the results; this will improve the reach of your content marketing efforts.
Testing different CTA to see which ones are most effective is essential. This can be done through A/B testing, where two different CTAs are used simultaneously, and the results are compared to see which generates the most click through rates, leads, conversion rates, or sales.
Content is Everything. We Make it Easy.
Most business owners struggle with digital marketing because they don’t have the time, budget, or expertise to manage it all themselves. If you need help with your marketing content strategy and creating a powerful Call To Action, we are here for you, and you can get started with a FREE marketing audit report that we will review with you.
From free weekly marketing resources on our podcast, Midwest Mindset, to professional coaching and consulting, we are ready to do all the work. At Two Brothers Creative, we believe every business deserves affordable and effective marketing.
Contact us to get started for free today.
