Calls to Action
Calls to action (or CTAs) appear in most types of copy and content. In simplest terms, it’s the copy that gets your reader to take an immediate action.
Your CTA should be focused on the next step your prospect needs to take. Think of it as an invitation. If they’ve just read a blog post or a case study… What next step will help them? Or if they are reading your ad on Instagram or Google and want to learn more, what should they do? If they have just read your sales copy and are interested in your product or service, what’s the next step?
The most common approach to a call to action—which is some combination of button copy and the copy immediately around it on a sales page or marketing asset—is something like saying, “get the thing and a button that says “add to cart” or ‘buy now’.” Or in the case of lead magnets and workshop registration pages, the button likely says something like, “sign up” or “submit”.
And those work, especially when the next step is clear and your prospect wants what you are offering.
But there are other ways to think about your call to action. Here are a few things to keep in mind when you’re writing your copy.
First, as we said earlier, you need to know what you want your prospect to do next. Is it to read something else? Book a call? Add to cart? Find out more? Download additional information? That next step helps determine the invitation you need to extend.
Next, what are the reader’s expectations? Did they click on a sales page that makes a promise? If so, it may be a good idea to echo that promise in your call to action. For example, let’s say the sales page promises 5 new leads in the headline. Then the copy talks about the way you do that for your client. The call to action might be as simple as saying “get 5 new leads now.” Or you could put that in your reader’s voice, as if they are asking for it… “yes, I want 5 new leads now!”
Next, you’ll want to understand what your client wants from you. Not necessarily the product, but the thing the product helps them achieve. So instead of “buy protein powder now” you might write something more like, “start your journey toward better nutrition now.”
If what you’re offering is free, it may help to mention that. Free is still a powerful motivator that helps entice readers into taking the next step.
Finally, you want to make your call to action easy to do. Anything you can do to minimize the work or commitment for your reader will often help improve your click rates for your call to action. People don’t want sales calls. But they may welcome a free audit or consultation, especially if they know they won’t be sold on the call. The easier the commitment made when they click, the better.
If your CTA includes a form, or a request for an email address or other customer information, keep in mind that the reader is giving you something of value, so what you provide in return needs to be valuable and useful to them. Your call to action can help communicate that. Also keep in mind that the more information you ask for, the lower your response rates will tend to be. (This isn’t always true, but it’s a good rule of thumb. Make it easy for readers to respond by limiting what they need to do beyond click a button.)
Here are a few approaches for writing calls to action…
1. Focus on the benefit to your reader. They want something. So word your call to action to make that clear.
If you’re writing about a weight loss product, you might consider a benefit oriented CTA like: “To lose 10 pounds, click here now.”
If you’re offering a lead magnet that will help them set up a new channel on YouTube, you might consider a CTA like: “To grow your online authority, join now.”
2. Focus on the problem or pain your reader has. They need help. They’re struggling with something. Your CTA can address that.
So for our weight loss product, we could say: “End the ongoing “what do I eat” frustration now.” And for our YouTube lead magnet, we might say something like, “Show up where customers will find you, download this amazing resource now.”
3. You can focus on urgency and trigger your reader’s fear of missing out by focusing on the deadline (if there is one), the number of products or spaces available (if they are limited) or by using time sensitive language.
“Just 7 bottles left. Get yours now.” Or, “Don’t let another day go by without showing up as an expert where your best clients are. Download your YouTube guide now.”
4. For ads and other marketing assets that drive traffic to another page, it may be helpful to create some curiosity around what they’ll find when they get to the next step. In these cases, you may want to use a CTA like these…
“Discover the secret to fast, long-lasting weight loss.” Or, “Get my exclusive 5-step formula for attracting clients on YouTube.”
5. Some products may lend themselves to using social proof in or around your button. Newsletters and memberships often fit this CTA well. In cases like these your CTA may read…
“Join 12,603 other healthy athletes using PoundOff.” Or, “Get the YouTube Guide now and join 3,875 other smart marketers who have successfully built their online authority.” Something like that.
6. If you have a unique mechanism, you can bring that into your CTA. This is the thing that makes your product both different and better than anything else.
“Lose 10 pounds with Activate Lipid Solvent.” Or, “Find clients on YouTube with the P7 Client Acquisition System.” The P7 Acquisition System is actually our proven method for finding clients for your copywriting business and not a YouTube program, but you get the point.
7. When readers have a problem, they’re often in search of a “how-to” that will teach them how to fix it. You can use this in your CTAs…
“Click here now to see how I lost 10 pounds in 14 days.” Or, “See how easily you can start building your YouTube presence by downloading this guide now.”
But don’t overdo it. Sometimes “click here”, “buy now”, “add to cart”, “download your report”, or even “submit” is the right CTA. It all depends on your product, your user, the problem they want to solve, and the result you deliver.
Play around with some of the ideas here. Write your CTA using each of the ideas I’ve shared. Then choose the ones that resonate and test them. You may be surprised how much a different CTA can change the response you get to your copy.