Why do we write? To share knowledge, to promote, to offer an opinion… the reasons are many. Although the content will always differ, there’s one element that is almost always shared across all writing – a simple statement that urges audiences to do something: the call-to-action. It’s a phrase that gets thrown around a lot, but an article without a call-to-action is like leading a party into the woods and then intentionally getting lost. If you want to ensure that your audiences are always pointed the right way after reading an article, read on!
The power of action words and the active voice
Conciseness and simplicity in headlines and copy are quintessential, but does this rule still apply to the call-to-action? While it’s never a bad thing to be consistent throughout your writing, optinmonster.com reported that the inclusion of power words in the call-to-action raised conversion rates by 12.7%.
What are power words and why are they… well, powerful? Power words “trigger a psychological or emotional response” in readers. For example, consider an advertisement promoting a sale, which call-to-action below is more compelling?
· Buy now!
· With these savings, it’s a bargain! Buy now!
Savings and bargains are considered greed power words according to optinmonster.com. “Greed it the natural human tendency to want more stuff than we actually need,” they write. “These power words can trigger that tendency by playing on scarcity and loss aversion, or simply by making something sound more valuable.”
In fact, many of the deadly sins can have uses for power words! For sloth, people and animals alike will always prefer the path of least resistance when it comes to making choices – making words like convenience, easy and effortless very tempting. Lust, or desire, can be triggered with words like thrilling, exposed or allure. Try having a think about what words work with the other sins like pride or wrath and you’ll have an impressive repertoire of emotional words to play with!
Now, let’s talk a bit about the active voice and why you should use it. An active voice occurs when the subject of a sentence performs a verb. Conversely, a passive voice is where the sentence’s subject is acted upon by a verb. Consider these call-to-action examples:
· You won’t want to miss out on this deal
· This deal won’t want to be missed by you
The passive voice sounds unsure and is clunky compared to the active counterpart. While passive voices aren’t necessarily bad, the certainty of the active voice does wonders for persuasion. When writing call-to-actions, you just can’t go wrong with the active voice!
Risk avoidance and assurance
People are wary when they have to invest their effort and time into something, which is why devious marketers have thought of ways to circumvent this. If you go onto Google Play or Apple Store Online, you’ll see hundreds of mobile games that you can download and start playing for free – emphasis on the word free. Since the barrier to entry is whether or not you have the storage space for it, the lack of any tangible upfront cost (i.e. a price tag) means that anybody could download these apps and start playing.
The same reasoning can be put behind call-to-actions. Combining the sins of sloth and greed, emphasise ease of use and create a sense of value:
· Join today, it’s easy!
· Enjoy a $100 signup bonus
· Not convinced? Have a free trial – it’s on us!
· Try before you buy, satisfaction guaranteed
· Free delivery for your first purchase – sign up today!
The call of urgency
Nothing pushes people to act like a bit of urgency. When thinking of call-to-actions, include elements of urgency as motivation – it’ll plant inkling of fear that they’d be missing out if they don’t sign up or make a purchase!
There are several triggers you can consider:
I. Time-sensitivity – people fear deadlines, especially if it’s a one-off chance for something they want or need. Black Friday is a notorious example of marketers exploiting people’s desire for savings during a specific period.
II. Scarcity – if you have limited stocks of an item, stating that there are “only X units left” achieves two things: it tells audiences that your products are actively being sought after and that they should act fast before it’s all gone!
III. Avoiding embarrassment – what do people fear more than deadlines? Embarrassment. Although it sounds sociopathic to play on people’s fears, “encouraging” them to avoid an undesired outcome is an effective way to motivate.
Some examples of call-to-actions appealing to urgency:
· Hurry, our sale lasts for 3 days only!
· We’re down to the last 5 boxes, grab them while you can!
· Don’t be the only one left out, this new trend is only going to get hotter!
After typing in a search query, Google’s “I’m Feeling Lucky” button bypasses the results page and directly takes you to the first website listed. Although the first result is rarely the best result, users still click on the button because of their insatiable curiosity.
Curiosity doesn’t always kill the cat
If instilling fear into your audiences just isn’t for you – try using curiosity and anticipation. Think how Buzzfeed writes their headlines. Instead of simply stating an incentive, marketers use clickbait tactics to wrap incentives under a veil of curiosity.
“Building curiosity would be something like ‘learn how this former pizza delivery guy started a 7-figure online business at home’,” writes trustpulse.com. “To effectively build curiosity, you reveal the result of whatever story you’re going to tell in your content, without showing how you’ll get there. The goal is to connect your audience with something they really want (the result) and get them curious about how they can achieve it.”
This sort of call-to-action works best when you have a big shiny button at the bottom of your page or article. Audiences who don’t bother to read through the entire article will half-heartedly scroll around, be captivated by the button, and then either click the button directly or be motivated to reread the article!
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Putting the audience in the driver’s seat
Our final tip is offered by Steve Harrison from his book How to Write Better Copy: Concise Introductions to the Topics that Matter. What he means by “putting the audience in the driver’s seat” is to offer readers more than one method of contacting you. Although this is less about call-to-action and more about having a thought out “Contact us” section, we believe the two are very closely entwined. After all, what good is a call-to-action if audiences can’t reach you?
Harrison quotes a case study by Ogilvy Group UK’s Vice-Chairman Rory Sutherland, “the medium of engagement is often far more important than what might conventionally be called the ‘core product offering’. I first noticed this in my very early days as a direct marketer – we learned that allowing people to respond to a letter by telephone or by post, rather than by insisting on one or the other, massively increased response to any [American Express] mailing. Logically, it seemed strange: either you want an AE Card or you don’t – surely the option to request by telephone should not make much difference.”
Oddly enough, the method of contact did matter. This could be because some audiences are uncomfortable with writing letters. Conversely, some are more at ease writing than speaking to a representative. According to Psychology Today, “people feel that the more options they have, the greater their chances are of finding the choice that will perfectly satisfy their needs.” Provided you don’t overload your audience with too many options, they’ll appreciate having more control in the buying process. A phone number, an email address and a few social media channels are all you need.
With a few simple words, a carefully constructed call-to-action can convert mere interest into solid sales. Need help crafting and tailoring the perfect call-to-action? Give your friendly neighbourhood copywriters a call!