How to create a powerful call to action?

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I still remember that on the afternoon of January 24, 2018, I held a “Content Marketing Practical Class” at [Zhongshan 15 Lecture Hall] (http://www.cpchin.live/p/zs15-class.html). It not only introduced the content production process, but also how to start content marketing? The biggest feature of this course is that it not only introduces theory, but also spends a lot of time allowing students to think and practice.

In this class, Teacher Baixiong and I also talked about Call to Action (CTA) many times. The purpose of the so-called call to action is to inspire the target audience (Target Audience) to actually take action after reading the copy and video - for example, hoping that consumers will buy goods, make donations, participate in activities, etc.

Simply put, placing a call to action in the copy or landing page is like giving a clear and specific instruction to the target audience. “Call to action” sounds a bit mysterious, but in fact everyone must have seen similar examples in daily life:

1. Call today.
2. Welcome to send us inquiries.
3. Pre-order now.
4. Click here.
5. Welcome to subscribe.
6. Help!

Do you often see the above sentences on websites, DMs or signboards?

In order to prompt visitors to take specific actions (calls, subscriptions, clicks, etc.), we usually need to go through some careful design. In other words, before laying out the “call to action”, we must have a clear and executable strategy.

This is because in today’s fragmented era, our eyeballs are easily attracted by colorful novelty things, and we are easily restless and impatient to listen to long speeches. Even if we write a great article, if there is no deliberate presentation and design, it is very likely that readers will leave after reading it in a hurry!

It should be easy for everyone to understand that concentration is our most precious asset. Therefore, if we want to create a powerful “call to action”, we first need to grab the attention of the target audience.

Some people will place the button (such as add to shopping cart) in a conspicuous place, and even label it with a special color; others will change the font and use bold or italics to highlight the key points. The purpose of these designs is nothing more than to arouse people’s attention.

How to create a powerful call to action? It is recommended that everyone must adhere to the principles of simplicity, clear instructions, and conciseness and effectiveness.

Simple and easy to understand means that people should be able to understand our “instructions” at a glance and quickly. Clear instructions allow the audience to have a direction to follow, such as donating via credit card to help the helpless elderly, attending charity garden parties, etc. As for being concise and powerful, it helps everyone save time. On the one hand, it can prevent visitors from being distracted while browsing the web page or copywriting, and on the other hand, it can also improve effectiveness and conversion rate.

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In addition, I also suggest that you make good use of these four elements that impress people: sense of value, practicality, uniqueness, and sense of urgency.

I recall that when Jobs said with high spirits: “Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone,” the audience applauded like thunder. That moment is still vivid in my mind. It is conceivable that this is not only due to the personal charm of Jobs, but also because the iPhone has subverted traditional communication tools and forms, and also brought unique and extraordinary value to the world.

But have you discovered it? Even though everyone applauded and the media gave the iPhone good reviews, Jobs did not forget to urge everyone at the end of the conference to remember to buy an iPhone!

Well, it should be easy for everyone to interpret the sense of value, practicality and uniqueness literally. As for the sense of urgency, what does it mean? You may wish to think about it, in our daily busy life, there are too many things that pass by us, but you and I may never face them directly.

If you think about it carefully, this phenomenon is actually quite normal. Because if it is not an issue that is directly related to them, or if the matter has any specific or obvious benefits, it is likely to be automatically ignored by people, or they may think, “Let’s check it out when we have time.”

But it is conceivable that the result of looking at it when you have time is usually nothing. If we cannot create a sense of urgency in a timely manner, such as “flash sale”, “imminent deadline”, and “limited quantity is cruel”, it may not be easy to arouse the audience’s attention.

Therefore, using the “sense of urgency” trick in a timely manner can indeed improve the effectiveness of the “call to action” - of course, you cannot do this trick every time, as everyone will lose flexibility after a long time!

★ Photo Credit: Caleb George

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Further reading

• 94 Let customers see: funny current affairs pictures, let you follow the trend and attract people
• Use pictures and text to tell stories and create your unique content marketing tool
• The 6th Content Hacking Lecture (CHL6): Clever use of presentations to implement content marketing

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