You can’t talk content marketing, strategy or return on investment (ROI) without mentioning the CALL TO ACTION.
You’ll find these little beckoning words on websites and billboards, ads and posts, blog articles and marketing materials. So what exactly are calls to action (CTAs)?
BusinessDictionary.com defines a call-to-action as,
“Words that urge the reader, listener, or viewer of a sales promotion message to take an immediate action, such as, “Write Now,” “Call Now,” or (on Internet) “Click Here.” A retail advertisement or commercial without a call-to-action is considered incomplete and ineffective.”
I’m constantly looking for effective and innovative CTAs, because let’s face it, “Click Here!” gets old after a while.
So, I’ve compiled a list of some smart and savvy CTAs just for you. Thank me later!
The BEST CTAs I’ve Seen
Here are twenty of the BEST CTAs I’ve seen, accompanied with tips or [LINK] – meaning that is the link placement for the user to complete the CTA and visit your content/blog/event/site/etc..
- Grab Yours Now –> [LINK] (yep, it had that little arrow leading me right to the link)
- Will You Be There? [LINK]
- Hope To See You Soon! [LINK]
- Please Share With Your Friends And Fans: [LINK]
- What Are Your Thoughts On This (Topic)? [LINK]
- How Would You Handle ______? [LINK] (asking for responses; tie it in with your topic)
- Read This Post: [LINK]
- Have You Ever ______? (enticing comments or engagement)
- What’s YOUR Favorite ______? [LINK] (tie it in with your topic)
- This Article Will Teach You How To ______: [LINK]
- YES or NO? ____________ (see example below from Amy Porterfield)
- Seriously, SIGN UP! You’ve Got Nothing To Lose: [LINK]
- Save Your Seat! [LINK]
- Limited Seating Available: [LINK]
- View This _____ To Learn How To ______: [LINK]
- Want A Sneak Peek At ______? [LINK]
- QUICK QUESTION: Do You Prefer A, B, Or C? (enticing comments or engagement)
- You Don’t Want To Miss _______! [LINK]
- This Is THE Solution For ______: [LINK]
- This List Is Filled With Resources For ______: [LINK]
Why All Of Your Content Should Come With A CTA
Whether it’s an ad, blog post, tweet, or update, each piece of your content marketing should have quantifiable goals. What are you hoping to accomplish? What do you want the reader to do?
Without this critical step, you’re using the loathed (by me, anyway) “post and pray” method – which is fruitless when trying to measure ROI. If you’re a real marketer looking for real results, you will have a goal in mind for your content. And with it, some sort of call-to-action. Slapping a post on Facebook and waiting for ‘likes’ is SO 2010!
So is using, “Click Here” for every, single CTA.
Get in the groove of testing and implementing some of the CTAs I’ve outlined above. And, if you have any BESTS you’d like to share, by all means, post them in the comments section below!
See you in the social sphere!
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27 Comments. Leave new
This is a great list Brooke! I’ve used #8 and #10 but your list has given me some additional CTAs to use real soon! Thanks!
Thanks, Shannon! I’m happy it helped. With our own content and then that of our clients, I thought we were using “Click Here” WAY too often. I decided to go out and see what some other peeps were doing and wrote down the ones that resonated with me. I’m excited to use them too! 🙂
Absolutely love this, Brooke! I have used a few and will be testing out your CTA suggestions. Thank you!
Robin Strohmaier recently posted…How to Brand Your Company in 2013 – Does blogging help?
That’s great, Robin! Please let me know which ones work for you and maybe I’ll make another post about what’s tested and true for us. 😉 Thanks so much for reading and chiming in today.
Terrific list! “Click here” is used so often–these are great ideas to use as alternatives. I’ll definitely be referring to this when writing CTAs.
Thank you, Nancy! I’m so happy this is useful to everyone. Please let me know what works for you or if you come across any other CTAs that are worth sharing. 🙂
This is beautiful and very helpful article Brooke, I’m planning to grab some of your suggested CTAs. 😀
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you SO much, Jitendra! You will have to let me know how the CTAs work out. I’m glad you stopped by and am very happy to help. 🙂
Your CTA must always have two targets. First you want it to rank well in search which is why ‘Click Here’ or similar are to be avoided.
Secondly you want to draw the visitor into your sales funnel. Tease them with a freebie is always a good approach on that.
So a good CTA might say ‘Grab your copy of Best Call to Action Phrases. when you subscribe to our newsletter’ with the link to do it being on ‘Best Call to Action Phrases’.
Potentially good from the search optimisation because it is linked to another page that is meaningful to their algo. Makes sense to the page reader too because they are being offered something for free and it should be clear where to click.
Just be sure that the link is clearly just that to a visitor or they may totally miss your intended CTA.
I write more on this at Inaregee IM Campus
Ian Dixon recently posted…7 Ways to Show Authority in Website Copy Writing – Part 1
Thank you so much for you advice, Ian. I’ll be sure to take a look at your post to glean more insights about CTAs as well. Appreciate you stopping by!
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Brooke – this is a fantastic list. May I ask you – we are just about to launch a training product teaching people how to create their own graphics for Social Media. Blogs etc and we’d love to include a link to this post in that, as we think it would be very helpful. Would you agree to this? – Caroline
Thank you so much for reading and saying so, Caroline! Of course you can include a link to this, I’m always happy to share! Shoot me an email if you need anything else in writing: brooke@bsquared.media
Thanks Brooke – you can check out our site to see that we’re not Axe Murderers, Grammar Goofs or any other unsavoury characters. for further proof, have a chat with that wonderful woman, Robin Strohmaier 🙂
You bet! And ANY friend of Robin’s in a friend of mine. She is a gem! Wishing you lots of success (I’m going to sneak a peek, myself!).
Brooke, Thank you for Sharing. I attended a real estate seminar sponsored by my company yesterday. One of my takeaways from it was that SEO will help you to be found on the internet; but once found.. You still have to direct your perspective client as to when you would like them to go. This old dog is leaning new tricks everyday. Thank again for sharing 🙂
Keith Lawrence, Realtor
Hi, Keith! You’re most welcome. SEO and social go hand-in-hand if you ask me, and YES, you still need to direct people where to go with a well placed CTA. (It’s a well-known secret that people actually secretly like being told what to do) 😉
Thank you for stopping by and sharing your story! Best of luck with learning new tricks.
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