47: The Magic of a Call to Action (How to Do CTAs Right)
Welcome back to Making Good, the podcast for small businesses who want to make a big impact.
I’m your host, Lauren Tilden, and this is episode 47.
Today’s episode is one I’m really, really excited about, because it’s something that is actually fairly easy to get right… and yet so few people do.
In this episode, we are talking about how to use Calls to Action, or CTA. A Call to Action is a way of activating your reader or your audience. In this short & sweet episode, we will define Call to Action and provide some examples, and we’ll go over some simple rules for writing effective Calls to Action.
First, let’s define “call to action”.
So. A Call to Action is exactly what it sounds like -- it’s a marketing term for every time you ask your audience to take an action. It’s asking your audience to *DO* something.
You see MANY Calls to Action every day, even if you don’t always recognize them as such.
The most obvious “Call to Action” is “BUY NOW”.
Here are some Calls to Action that might sound familiar:
Go to the link in my profile
Save this post
Register for my workshop
Click this link to set up a free consultation
Reply to this email and let me know your thoughts
Subscribe to this podcast
Sign up for my newsletter
Email me for a consultation
Sign up here for a free sample
Another word you’ll hear a lot is conversion, and I want to define that word for you too, since it’s very much related to the “Call to Action”.
A conversion is the word we use to describe when someone has taken an action as a result of our marketing. In other words, when they have converted from one stage to the next … from prospect to customer, for example.
And so what is the relationship between a Call to Action and Conversion.
When someone responds to your Call to Action by taking the action you requested, that is a conversion.
Conversions can be big -- like, someone receives your marketing email advertising a product, and they go buy it. Or they can be small, like they received your marketing email, and they clicked the link you told them to click.
You may hear the term “conversion rate” when people talk about assessing their marketing efforts. A conversion rate is the percentage of people exposed to the Call to Action who actually respond to the call to action.
As an example, let’s say we have a signup form on our website that offers a discount code in return for submitting your email address through the form.
On a given day, let’s say 100 people visit your webpage, and 5 people enter their email address. That would be a conversion of 5 out of 100, or 5%.
Any time you have the data on how many people were exposed to your call to action and how many people took the action you requested, you can calculate this conversion rate.
So. Those are some definitions.
Now, why are Calls to Action important?
Well, it’s actually pretty simple. Calls to Action are important because they invite people to take action with our business. To sign up for our email list. To comment on an Instagram post, to buy our product.
In order for us to have a business, people have to take action. Calls to Action are the invitations to do something. To take the actions, large and small, that help our customers get to know us, to develop a relationship with us, to learn what we’re about, and eventually - to buy from us.
One more thing before we get into the “HOW TO” part of this episode. And that is to answer this question:
When should you use a Call to Action?
And my answer is: As often as you can.
It wouldn’t be too often to have a Call to Action in every single thing you write. Of course, you don’t want the call to action to be “BUY THIS NOW” every single time.
But asking your reader to do something (and being very clear on what you want them to do) is a great way of creating more engagement with your brand.
It most certainly should not always be promotional or to ask for a sale or something that serves you and your business. Bu
The Call to action could often be as simple as “reply to this email and let me know what you think!” or “tag a business you admire below”.
You can put a Call to Action pretty much anywhere: In an Instagram caption or story, on your website (buttons are great for this!), in your email newsletter, at an in-person event, etc.
Create opportunities to do Calls to Action as often as you can.
Okay, now that we've got the basics covered, let’s talk about how to write a good Call to Action.
The most important ingredient of a good Call to Action is INTENTION.
And one of my favorite ways to get intentional when I’m doing my marketing writing is through an exercise called KNOW / FEEL / DO. I talk about this exercise pretty extensively in episode 21, the episode about effective business writing, so go listen to that if you want more details. But the cliff notes version is this.
Whenever you write something for your business-- a marketing email, a social media post, a page on your website -- I would suggest that you get super, super clear on 3 important things: your KNOW, FEEL, and DO.
After your reader reads this, what do you want them to KNOW? What do you want them to FEEL? And what do you want them to DO?
Getting clear on what you want your reader to KNOW and FEEL will help you write direct, thoughtful and effective marketing copy.
Getting clear on what you want your reader to DO is where the Call to Action comes in.
Try to make your Call to Action the natural, flowing extension of whatever you’ve written.
When you’re thinking about what to choose as a Call to Action, you usually want to choose something that is (or that you can position as) a logical next step after reading your message.
If your marketing email is about a sale you are running, you might choose for your Call to Action to go browse the items on sale by clicking a link.
If your Instagram post is an inspiring quote, you might choose for your Call to Action to be “save this post”.
The Call to Action should not feel like it’s coming out of left field -- it should flow naturally from the rest of the message.
When you ask yourself what you want your reader to DO after reading your Instagram post, for example, you might have a whole laundry list of things that it would be nice if they would do.
And you might be tempted to give your reader all of these different options of ways to engage with you!
Sign up for my email list!
Buy this product!
Download my free PDF!
Send me a DM!
Tag a friend below!
It would be great if the reader of this Instagram post would do ALL of those things. But they almost certainly will not.
So if you *actually* want someone to respond to your call to action by doing what you ask, you need to exercise some serious self-control and limit yourself to ONE action.
This is hard, and this is something that I struggle with myself, because I always want to provide ALL THE INFORMATION ALL THE TIME.
But while that might make ME feel like WOW look at all of that stuff I wrote, it’s not about how I feel, it’s about how the person READING it feels.
And when a reader is faced with a laundry list of tasks you’re asking them to do, they are most likely going to feel overwhelmed and move on.
So, again, you’re going to choose ONE thing to ask your reader to do as a Call to Action.
Now, there’s another very important thing that comes into play when it comes to a Call to Action.
This is actually one of the best pieces of business advice I could ever offer you, and that is: MAKE IT EASY.
The easier you make it for your customer, the more likely they are to take the action you want.
Make it EASY to sign up for your email list (don’t ask them to fill out more than their name and email).
Make it EASY to purchase your product -- make sure the checkout process is as seamless as possible.
Make it EASY for them to get their questions answered -- maybe a FAQ section if that’s relevant to your product.
This might sound obvious, but I would encourage you to ask yourself every time you’re writing a Call to Action: How can I make it as EASY as possible for my customer or reader to take the action?
Here’s an example of something I do sometimes to make things easy that is SO EFFECTIVE.
If I have a link I want to direct people to, I put it in my IG bio… but I know that not that many people will click it.
Instead, I’ll post a story with a POLL. Instead of YES / NO, I make the options of the poll two different emojis.
Then, I’ll explain whatever resource or link I want to direct them to, and say, “if you want me to DM you the link, pick your favorite emoji below”.
And then, ANYONE who selects either option on the poll, I’ll send them a direct message with a nice note and a link (you can copy/pasted this).
Yes, this is more work for me. But if my goal is that people actually go to the link, then this is a good way to increase my chances, because I’m making it SO, SO easy.
Okay!
If you’ve been multitasking, now is the time to come back and take some notes! I’m rounding up the cliff notes of this episode for you:
A Call to Action is anytime you ask your reader to DO something
A conversion is what happens when your reader responds to your Call to Action by taking the action you requested
Calls to Action are important because they make people interact and engage with your business.. things that ultimately lead to purchasing
I encourage you to use a Call to Action as often as you can
The most important ingredient of a Call to Action is INTENTION — I suggest the KNOW / FEEL / DO exercise. The DO is your Call to Action.
Your Call to Action should be the natural extension of your marketing message
Each marketing message should only have ONE Call to Action
The easier you make your Call to Action, the more likely people will be to take action
Alright. I hope this provides you with some clarity on the topic of the Call to Action.
The main takeaway that I hope you have from this episode is that business is a two way street. For our business to be a business, we need people to take action.
And a really great way to generate more of this kind of action is to very simply ask people to take a specific, very easy action.
That’s what I have for you today!
I would LOVE to hear from you. How are you using Calls to Action in your business? Connect with me on Instagram @laurentilden.
Links and notes from this episode can be found at makinggoodpodcast.com/47.
And this IS a Call to Action episode…. So of course I’m not signing off without a call to action!
Here it is:
If you love learning about small business marketing, mindset, and ways to do good through your business, you will really love the Facebook group for this podcast. We’d love to have you. To join, go to makinggoodpodcast.com/community and you’ll be redirected to the Facebook page.
Thank you for being here, and for focusing on making a difference with your small business!
Talk to you next time.