Marketers spend a lot of time focusing on creating awesome content as they should. After all, statistics show that content remains an integral part to successful marketing campaigns. The same goes for paid search and social media: as marketers, we have a thousand different moving pieces that make up our overall strategy. But sometimes the trickiest part of marketing isn’t the tweeting and the blogging and the bidding: it’s getting your audience to take the next step, whatever it might be. And to do that, you need a killer call-to-action (CTA). Here are 5 tips for ensuring that your marketing skills aren’t being wasted and how to get your target audience to take the next step.
Choose Your Language Carefully
This kind of advice is given often: Be clear in what you’re asking them to do. If you want them to download, say download.’ If you want them to subscribe, say subscribe.’ And that’s completely accurate. But take it a step further in the way you think about the language as a whole. Are you an e-commerce site? Include words like “shop or “order” in your CTA. What is your business, specifically? It should be mirrored in your CTA.
Also consider the fact that the choices you make in your text can provoke emotions: exclamation points, pointed personalization by saying “you,” etc. can all have an effect on the action your audience takes. Remember that you’re addressing people, not some faceless Internet audience. Play to their emotions.
Give Them the Option of Calling You
It’s 2015. Mobile search is expected to surpass desktop search this year, and Google reports that 61% of mobile searches result in a phone call. When providing a call-to-action, consider the way that your audience would most like to contact you as many browsers are on their mobile device these days, using call now instead of fill out a form is a more effective call-to-action.
Give Them One Good Reason
In the digital age, you’re floating in a sea of competition. What is your unique selling point that differentiates your product or service from your competitors? Find a way to communicate that in your CTA. Do you offer free consultations? 50% off a customer’s first order? Highlighting what makes you special is an excellent way of standing out from the crowd and ensuring that you get those clicks, calls, and retweets.
Use Numbers Whenever You Can
Phone numbers, yes. But also percentages, prices (if they’re low), etc. People of all generations are conditioned shoppers now: when we’re looking for a deal, our eyes gravitate to numbers. Whether you’re writing ad text or a tweet, using numbers can draw your target audience to your messaging and entice them to take the desired action.
Make It Easy
The audience should be able to go directly from the CTA in question to performing whatever it is you have asked them to do: downloading an asset, making a phone call, etc. Steps in between guarantee the loss of a lead. This is where click-to-calls really come in handy: for mobile browsers, they connect the audience directly with a representative from your business with no hassle. (Tip: Consider using a phone number with a local area code, as customers are more willing to dial it.)
Want more tips? Download this free webinar, Smartphones and Omnichannel Retail: 7 Tips to Optimize Sales in a Mobile World.