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Making CTAs An Essential Part of Your Content

by Sheetal Pinto - Published on 6/27/2019 09:53

Call Me, Definitely!

What do you think of when you think of a CTA for your digital content?

Is it “Read More” or maybe, “For a limited time, you can subscribe for $9.99 and pay no delivery fees?”

Though different in tone, both answers would be correct! With the rise of social media and a necessary push to market themselves online, brands are using different techniques and methods to convince their audiences to become customers in unique but pointed ways. CTAs, or Calls to Action, are definitive ways to give your audience some direction after digesting your content.

What’s a CTA, Anyway?

A Call to Action is a prompt that tells viewers to move in a precise direction. Most commonly, you’ll see CTAs in the form of buttons or hyperlinks that lead you to the next desired step. Sometimes in blogs, you’ll see a CTA in the form of a well-crafted sentence at the end of the post. With the saturation of content available on the internet, CTAs are an essential addition to content for brands. Think of an Instagram post without a caption - the content is a lot less effective at doing its job.1

It can be easy for marketers to forget to include direct CTAs in the content, but they’re more important than you might think. According to the team at Optimizely, a CTA is an imperative engagement point to keep users engaged with a site. “If a reader lands on a blog article and there is no clear call to action at the bottom of the post, it is likely that the reader will leave the site without completing any other tasks.”2 They can be encouraged to keep exploring the site and learning more about your business by seeing a CTA that asks them to read more or sign-up for a newsletter.

C is for Compelling

Writing your ‘Call to Action’ can be easy with the right tools and knowledge. Writer Billy McCaffrey emphasizes the importance of speaking your customer’s language and using industry-specific words or messages that they might respond well to.3 He also offers these general tips that can help marketers craft compelling CTAs:

  • Start Strong: Use strong command words to start your CTA, telling your reader exactly what you’d like them to do. Good examples are words like, “Buy,” “Subscribe” and “Download.”
  • Tap into Emotion: Simple punctuation or rephrasing can make your CTA more enticing for viewers. What’s more enticing to you? “Plan your family vacation” or “Click here to plan your next family getaway!”
  • Know Your Devices: Adapt your CTA to the device your content will most likely be viewed on. If most of your customers view your site on their mobile phones, consider making your CTA a push to call. Simple tweaks like this make a huge difference in user experience.
  • Give ‘Em a Reason: Give your audience a reason to follow your CTA. It’s not enough to ask them to subscribe - give them a glimpse at what a subscription might do for them. A great example: “Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest trends in home decor.”

The most important thing to remember is that your CTA should be concise and to the point. By keeping things direct, you’re giving your viewers proper direction and leaving little room for guesswork. Crafting good CTAs will help you elevate your content from one-off pieces to effective marketing tools for your business.

Is writing not your strong suit? We can help you with that! Our team at MintCopy is comprised of experts in SEO and content marketing. Our writers follow digital copywriting best practices to enhance your marketing strategy and help you achieve greater business success online.

You can reach us online or call toll free at 1.888.646.8003.

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1 15 Call to Actions for Blog Posts that Convert. Writtent. https://writtent.com/blog/15-call-action-samples-rocking-blog-posts-convert/

3 Hook, Line and Sinker: 7 Tips for a Killer Call-to-Action. https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/10/09/call-to-action

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