In marketing, you are almost always trying to convince people to do things.

Sign up for mailing lists, download a document, contact the team, and so on.

When you want your audience to do something, you have to encourage them, and a good way to do this is by using a CTA (call-to-action).

A call-to-action is self-explanatory, it is you, calling the audience to carry out the desired action.

So, how do you write a good CTA?

Make it direct and conversational

Establishing a personal connection with your audience will make any call-to-actions much more meaningful.

Using conversational language makes it feel like you and the viewer are already connected and friendly.

Direct the statement towards them using words like “you” or “your”.

It immediately makes it personal, less vague, and like you’re trying to sell them something.

Tell, don’t sell.

Use action words

You don’t want to suggest an action, you want to tell them to do it.

Inspire immediate actions to be taken with your phrasing.

You should be clear and instructional.

Simplicity helps, the more direct you are the more likely the viewer is to get decision fatigue.

Don’t be vague

Again, you’re trying to tell them to do something specific, so be clear.

Rather than saying “Click here”, say “Click here to get 50% off”.

The more context you give the reader, the more likely they are to click, as the action should benefit them.

You also only have one CTA per post, as giving many actions and instructions at once can be overwhelming and confusing for the viewer.

Focus on their benefit

The viewer will have to take time out of their day to carry out the action you are instructing them to do, even if it's only for seconds.

This is why it’s essential to show them the benefit of your CTA, if they don’t gain anything, what’s the point?

The best way to inspire them is just to tell them what they want to hear and make them aware of what they gain, so they have the incentive to do so.

Phrasing plays a huge part in this.

Don’t say “Click here to download our PDF” but say “Click here to improve your sales by up to 60%”, you get the gist.

Make it snappy

You want to make CTA’s feel almost urgent.

Whether it’s a limited-time offer, or something related to current events, impulsivity is easy to profit from when it comes to your target audience.

If they feel like it’s their only chance to get the benefits you are offering them, they are much more likely to take it.

Test and experiment

If you use a CTA that doesn’t get many clicks, don’t let it get to you too much.

It isn’t an instant failure, it just means you should mess around with the wording, size, colours, etc.

A/B testing can also be a great resource, if you run two identical campaigns at the same time, each with a different CTA, you can see which is more effective for next time.

It’s all about learning as you try new things.

Take any data and feedback that you can get.

A good CTA should fit in with your brand personality, be short but persuasive, and be influential enough to get the viewer to follow through.

If you need help with your social media marketing and copywriting, our chimps can help.

Contact us and see what we can do for you!