A call to action is the term to get your reader to do something after reading your letter. Every sales document that you write should have a strong call to action. This includes your sales letter, your website, your blog page, your newsletter. There are a number of benefits to using a call to action for both you and your reader.
Benefits to You:
1. It helps you focus on your sales pitch
2. It makes you limit your sales page to one offer.
Benefits to Your Reader:
1. It provides closure on the subject
2. It directs your reader to take a specific action
There are a number of ways to get your call to action actioned! Here are four tips:
1. Be clear
Don’t confuse your reader with too many call to actions so they don’t know what to do. Too many options can be off-putting to your reader.
2. Offer a little something
Sometimes you have to give a little encouragement to your reader to get them to take your call to action. A free ebook, a trial period, free shipping, entry to a competition or a discount. A human characteristic that we all share (even secretly) is that we hate to miss something. That’s why a time limit often works.
Here is a nice example from Toodle. It includes a time limit offer as well as a nice discount.
3. Use strong language
If you were lost in a forest, you’d want to hear decisive words, not weak murmurs. Which directions would you follow:
“Take a left by the big oak tree, jump over the river and run.”
or
“Skip over to that tree, stop and look around, then decide to take a direction.”
You should use strong language. Don’t pussy-foot, tell your reader what you’d like them to do:
- Call us
- Order now
- Sign up
- Subscribe here
- Register now
Amazon doesn’t use airy fairy language. It goes for the jugular and says ‘Order Now’. Follow their example.
4. Have a Call to Action on every page
Don’t limit yourself to one call to action on one page. Make sure, particularly on web pages, that you have a call to action on each page. Just remember that every page is a landing page.
Krishna De of Biz Growth News does it well with an email subscribe box on every page.
Day 18 – Homework
- Click on five web pages that are bookmarked on your browser.
- Do they have a call to action?
- If not, can you write one for them?
- If yes, would you action it? Would you change it?
