Every sales copy depends fully on its call to action. Unless you ask your audience to take some kind of action, they won’t.
But maybe you think…
“I persuaded them throughout the sales copy, and the few consumers who desire what I have to offer will just click on the button and buy. There’s no need to spend time on writing a call to action.”
Well, that’s not the truth. According to Unbounce, more than 90% of visitors who read your headline also read your CTA copy.
So, you want to pay close attention to how you write your call to action.
And to do that, you must understand what a call to action is…
What Is A Call To Action?
The call to action (often abbreviated to CTA) is a simple, clear declaration of what you want your reader, viewer, or listener to do.
For example:
- Click here to learn more
- Add to cart
- Call now to speak with a customer representative
It’s the holy grail of every good sales copy. You can see them everywhere. On the websites, search engines, social media, magazines, ads, etc.
Every good sales copy has one. That’s why I’m going to show you a step-by-step guide for writing an amazing call to actions that sells…
So, let’s dive in…
Define The Goal Of Your Call To Action
To be able to write a mega-powerful call to action, you must first know what you want your audience to do…
Do you want your audience to:
Click on a link?
Book a call?
Set up an appointment?
This is very important because everything takes some level of commitment. For example, buying decision takes a much higher commitment than just visiting some kind of website.
Your whole call to action will be based on this step, so don’t neglect it.
Keep The Call To Action Clear And Concise
Call to action needs to be clear and concise to make most people act. Don’t try to be complex and write a huge chunk of text explaining what will happen after they will click on the button, etc.
Just tell them what to do and remind them concisely why they should do it.
For example, “Click on the button below and learn how to save $20,000 when paying taxes every year!”
No literary work, just a clear and concise call to action that will make them act.
But that is not everything by a long shot!
Trash Generic Wording In Your Call To Action
Take the word “Submit,” as an example. Think about it: can you define “submit”?
Neither can I, and your audience can’t either. The thing is that nobody cares about submitting…
They care about what they’re getting in return.
It’s the same with words like “download”, “buy now”, “purchase” or whatever other generic phrase you can think of that you see over and over in online call to action buttons.
So, trash generic wording and start using phrases that make them see what they will get…
For example, use a phrase like “Save $20,000 in taxes right now!” instead of “Learn more”.
This is more important for the amazing call to action than you ever thought possible…
Cumbersome Active Verbs Vs. Passive Verbs
The active voice resonates more with people and persuades them to act! Instead, passive voice makes it all boring.
So, whenever you are writing a call to action, you want to use an active voice. Consider this…which call to action is better?
“Write killer sales copies with this book right away!”
or…
“Read this book that will let you write killer sales copies right away!”
I would bet that the first one. Why? Because it is written in active voice. It is a huge difference, and most copywriters forget about it.
So, from now on, whenever you are writing a call to action…use ACTIVE VOICE.
In fact, you should write the whole sales copy in active voice. Again, you don’t make people buy by boring the hell out of them…
Include Multiple Call To Actions Throughout The Sales Copy
There are two kinds of consumers. First, there are ones that buy a car because it is blue. Second, some need to be highly persuaded to buy the car.
If you will include call to action only at the end of the sales copy, you will bore the first kind of consumers that don’t need to be persuaded out and you will lose them.
And that means leaving an extreme amount of money on the table.
Some consumers are persuaded in the middle of the sales copy. They know enough…but there is no call to action. And you will lose them.
That means losing a huge amount of cash.
That’s why you want to include multiple call to actions throughout the sales copy.
If you will, you will be able to capture the maximum amount of consumers that want to buy. And that can increase your sales incredibly.
I recommend using 3 call to actions. First, after you have introduced the product or service and concisely written what it is about. Second, after you have stated the whole offer. Third, at the end of the sales copy.
It can be more or less. Depends on what kind of sales copy you are writing.
Use Urgency-Provoking Words
Urgency is the most important thing I’m mentioning here. You see, people love to procrastinate. We put things on tomorrow.
It is human nature, and as a copywriter, you need to fight with it. As Dan Kennedy said…
“Imagine your message being read by a guy in an apartment in Cleveland, during a ferocious winter storm, with gusting winds and snow outside at thigh height.
You’ve got to get him so excited that he’ll get out of the chair in front of the fireplace, bundle up, slog through the snow, go out to his cold car, and drive down to the post office to get a money order and a stamp to send his order in – rather than taking the risk of waiting until tomorrow.”
There is much more to urgency than just choosing urgency-provoking words in your call to action.
But it increases the efficiency of the call to action unbelievably. Here is a list of the words and phrases you want to use:
- Ends tommorow!
- Limited time only
- One-time offer
- Expires soon
- Urgent
- Deadline
- Now
- Only available to_____
- Only______days left!
- Offer ends on______
- Closing soon
- Today
- Today only
- Last chance
- Hurry
- Immediately
- Before
- Ends
For example, instead of call to action like “Learn how to sell like crazy!” write “Learn how to sell like crazy immediately!”
Do you see the difference?
Include An Embedded Command
Using embedded commands entails crafting the action you want your reader to take and wrapping it in the cushion of a casual, innocent-looking sentence.
Consider the following one:
“As you read every word of this message, you’ll discover super-powerful secrets about making money you never dreamed of.”
It looks innocent, but it’s not. Your reader might consciously take it as a hypothetical comment. But notice the embedded command, which causes quite a hypnotic effect: read every word of this message.
Embedded commands are copywriters army of resistance fighters. They are designed to create positive reader expectancies while reducing the natural resistance a reader has to your sales message.
They allow you to speak directly to your prospect’s unconscious mind, overcoming objections and breaking down sales barriers in a completely covert way.
When writing them you want to emphasize them with things like:
• Bold type • Different color
• Underlining • Italics
• CAPITAL LETTERS
Here’s how to craft embedded commands:
First choose the command you want…(there are unlimited options, but here are some of them):
Act on my advice
Click on the button
Read every word of this message
Agree with me
Next, simply embed the command into some sentence. Your sentence could go like this:
“If you want to change your life forever, I urge you to act on my advice.”
In call to action you can apply it in a way like this…
“Click On The Button Below And Skyrocket Your Sales To Another Level!”
It is very useful when creating call to actions that will make them buy. Especially in the final part when you ask them to do something.
Challenge The Reader
We want to prove the nay-sayers wrong and show others that we are the best! This is human nature, and challenge can be an insane motivator that can turbo-charge your call to actions.
Use phrases like “Do you have what it takes?” before you will show them the button and you won’t believe the results.
Conclusion
The call to action (often abbreviated to CTA) is a simple, clear declaration of what you want your reader, viewer, or listener to do.
For example:
- Click here to learn more
- Add to cart
- Call now to speak with a customer representative
It’s the holy grail of every good sales copy. You can see them everywhere. On the websites, search engines, social media, magazines, ads, etc.
First, you need to define the goal of the call to action!
Do you want your audience to sign up to your email list or purchase something or visit a website?
You need to know this before you will go any further.
Keep in mind that your call to action should be clear and concise.
Call to action needs to be clear and concise to make most people act. Don’t try to be complex and write a huge chunk of text explaining what will happen after they will click on the button, etc.
Also, remember that you should trash generic wording and start using phrases that will show them what they will get in return if they will act…
However, you also want to use many call to actions throughout the sales copy to capture the maximum amount of potential conversions.
The next thing you want to do is to use urgency-provoking words. People love to procrastinate and as a copywriter, you need to fight this human nature.
If you can, always try to include embedded commands. This incredible psychological tactic can turn your call to action into a conversion factory that will blow your socks off!
The last thing you want to do is to challenge the reader. We want to prove the nay-sayers wrong and show others that we are the best! This is human nature, and challenge can be an insane motivator that can turbo-charge your call to actions.
Filip Konecny 