Calls To Action, And Why Advertisers Need Them
No matter your objectives or previous experience with campaigns, you want any advertising invested in to yield maximum results. Most business owners literally can’t afford ad spend that doesn’t pay off. So it’s important to remember that successful ads contain calls to action, regardless of medium. What’s a call to action? Simply put, an ad’s call to action puts the theoretical message into practice for prospective customers, instructing them to “Call today for this amazing offer!” or “Visit Dewy Skin dot com for an appointment.” The phrasing varies, but the intention is the same: provide a concrete way to follow up with whatever someone just heard/read/closed out on their device.
Calls to action are especially valuable to the sales process. They serve as transitions between the phases of a buyer’s journey, prompting them to take immediate action. Their beauty lies in their wide range of applicability. If you have a brick and mortar business, you can direct prospects to a physical location; if your business operates online, you can direct them to your website or social media. They can be general (“Call Company X today!”) or ultra specific to the campaign (“Visit Company X dot com and post a picture of your pet in Sports Team gear for a chance to win $100!”). They can be integrated into e-mail copy, radio scripts, television spots, and beyond. With the right copy, a strategic call to action enhances your advertising message and makes your ad spend go further. It shepherds consumers to the next step of the purchasing process, bringing them that much closer to conversion.
Not only do consumers want calls to action, but they need them. People are expecting to hear a telephone number at the end of radio ads, or to see a button at the end of e-mails asking them to load up a digital cart (or make an appointment or donate or…). If they’ve engaged with your message up to this point, they want an obvious next step to engage with you further. Don’t fumble this opportunity by omitting a call to action; it can confuse prospects and discourage them from continuing their journey towards conversion. Including a call to action is perhaps the one time you want to be predictable in your advertising communications.
Calls to action increase the success of your advertising efforts — full stop. Without a CTA (or “C-T-A” in radio copy speak!), no matter how creative or compelling the copy might be, it ultimately falls flat. It must inspire people to take action in a way that makes clear the campaign’s intent, e.g., “Call Caribbean Cruises today at 555–5555 to plan your next awe-inspiring cruise vacation!” Call now, because those ill-advised cruises aren’t going to take themselves, baby. Knowing how scarce consumers’ attention is — and how tight most business owners’ ad budgets are —it stands to reason that including a call to action is always the right call. And if you’d like guidance on crafting effective CTAs, you can always turn to Write Label’s on-demand writing services.
