Today, a guest post from Stuart Cooke, Blog Editor at
Irish Parcels, a courier comparison service based in Dublin.
A call to action is, in a nutshell, a prompt to get your reader to do something. Whether you want to drive more traffic to a blog post or landing page, for your readers to sign up for a free trial, to get a quote, or download an app—implementing effective calls to action in your social media strategy can do wonders to help with all of that. If you’re struggling to write CTAs that convert, we’re discussing some top tips to help you make them more effective.
- Ask for Action
- It really goes without saying, but call to actions are called that for a reason. Their entire purpose is an invitation to act—so don’t be afraid to make that abundantly clear to your readers. The most effective way to do this is by being mindful of the language that you use in your copy, by taking that extra step to ask for action. Make use of powerful command verbs, such as “sign up”, “download”, “learn more”, and “share”, to name but a few. It sounds easy, but this powerful addition of outright asking for action is often overlooked, and so applying this simple technique to your strategy could really set you well ahead of your competitors.
To add to this, it never hurts to add a sense of urgency to your CTAs, to make your asking for action that little bit more impactful. Escalate the invitation to act even further by adding the psychological trigger of immediacy and exclusivity. One of the most effective ways to do this is by limiting time, for example, “get a quote today” or “today is the last day to sign up for our free trial”—this technique usually works wonders in enticing readers to respond to CTAs.
- Write from the Reader’s Perspective
- If you hope to craft CTAs that actually convert, you have to consider the reader’s perspective above everything else. If your CTAs aren’t converting, it could be because you’re using too many jargon terms that are all too easy to gloss over, making you lose the attention span of your readers. An effective way to combat that is, instead of making your CTA feel like a sales pitch, make it feel more like a conversation between friends. Make it personal by using “you” and “yours” to make your readers feel like you care (because, well, you do!) and go out of your way to show readers what’s in it for them, because at the end of the way, that’s what they truly care about. They don’t necessarily care about what you or your business does, they care about what they can get from you, so make that obvious in all of your CTAs.
- Be Impactful with Images
- The majority of social media platforms are becoming increasingly more visual. With that in mind, images should be key in your strategy for crafting more effective CTAs. After all, it is frequently proven that humans process images much faster than words. So, why not use that fact to your advantage? Impactful images and graphics can go a long way in enticing readers to respond to your CTAs. It goes without saying that creating aesthetically pleasing visuals will take a little more time and effort, but you will quickly find it will grab much more attention.
- Measure your efforts
- Testing different CTAs is a no-brainer, and a fool-proof way to figure out exactly what works best for your business. The great thing about CTAs is that they are measurable. There’s no doubt about it— you should absolutely keep an eye on the analytics, and monitor how well your CTAs are performing. What is the click-through rate? Are they converting? If you are getting the results you hoped for, tweak your CTA and see how things change. Switch up your visuals, re-word your copy, refine and polish until you get the results you’re hoping for.
