Content Marketing

Working in Call-to-Actions into Your Content

Your content is useless if it doesn’t compel the audience to take action. That is, if your readers browse through your blogs, infographics, etc. and then simply close their browser and move…

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CAll to Actions in Content Marketing

Your content is useless if it doesn’t compel the audience to take action.

That is, if your readers browse through your blogs, infographics, etc. and then simply close their browser and move on with their day, then you’re doing it wrong.

Your content should be compelling enough to leave a lasting impact and actionable to the point where it will move your audience to the next step in the conversion funnel. In terms of making it compelling, you need to do some research to find out what it is your customers and potential prospects want to read.

One of the best ways to create actionable content is to use call-to-actions within your message. A properly written call-to-action placed in the appropriate spot will help your audience along the buying process.

Writing a Call-to-Action

If you aren’t familiar with what a call-to-action (CTA) is, it’s exactly what it sounds like. A CTA is a sentence or two of your content that is designed to create action on the part of the audience. It should incorporate a link to another portion of your site that, as previously mentioned, will lead your audience down the conversion funnel.

Let’s start off by talking about the way NOT to write a call-to-action (CTA). Don’t directly tell your audience to click somewhere. That’s a tacky way to try and get users to other parts of your site and it just doesn’t work. Your CTA should flow with the rest of your content and shouldn’t feel like something entirely separate.

Remember, your content is for your audience, not for you. If you write a CTA that is self-centered and all about, you’re not going to get that next click. But, if you put your consumers’ needs above your own, you’ll hit a home run with your call-to-action.

A bad CTA: “Click here to learn more about our products.” (Booooo…)

A good CTA: “We offer tons of great products designed to help your home remodeling needs. Check them out and see which is the right fit for you!” (Wooohoo!)

Placement of Your CTAs

A lot of times you’ll see a CTA placed at the bottom of the content. And while it is important to incorporate a call-to-action at the end as a final “sales push” of sorts, you can also sprinkle some CTAs in other areas of the content as well.

At the End- The end is the most compelling place for a CTA. After looking through and reading your content, a well-written and timed call-to-action can act as the final “sales push.” It should be a part of your overall conclusion, meaning it will tie in the overall topic of your content.

Typically, a CTA at the end will also try and persuade the audience to contact your business. “If you’re in need of new roofing, reach out today…”, “Contact us to learn more…”, or “Set up a meeting…” can all be frequently found at the end of articles and blogs.

Within the Post– When writing CTAs into the body of your posts, they should be a little more subtle. A great way to do this is to mention one of your product or service offerings or past case study or work that is related to a specific idea or subtopic within your content.

Let’s say you’re home remodeler and your blog topic is centered on the different types of kitchen styles you can remodel your home with. You may then call out a specific project briefly with a link to a case study, inquiring them to learn more about it. It may look something like this: “With horseshoe kitchens, you are given an efficient and entertaining cooking area. If you’re interested in this model, check out some of our horseshoe kitchen designs and see what works for you.”

Call-to-actions within the post itself are a great way to help add context to your topic and how you can help address the needs and wants that your audience has associated with the topic.

Sidebars- You can even use call-to-actions outside of your content, or to be more accurate, on the side of your content. Sidebars, the areas to the left and right of your content, are a great option to bring attention and draw conversions to other areas of your business.

A furniture brand may right a blog about a type of couches. In the sidebar, they may link to a seasonal sale for another product with an ad. Another example is ESPN’s site, which has “Editor’s Picks” articles linked to regular articles.

ESPN-sidebar-call-to-action

Sidebar CTA’s should be used to help bring users to other areas of your site with related content that they would be interested in seeing.

Words to Use for Your Call-to-Actions

When it comes to CTA’s, they need to be attention-grabbing. To help you get started on creating some eye-catching CTA’s, here are some of our favorite words and phrases to use:

-New               -Get Started          -Get a quote

-Now               -Explore                -Read reviews

-Results          -Discover               -Take a look

-Learn            -Try it for free       -Hurry

-Need             -Start/Stop            -Request yours today

Don’t Ignore CTAs

It may be as little as 1 or as much as 20, but people will click on your CTAs and convert. But, they need to be written well and placed organically within your content. CTAs are another one of the finer details within your content that when utilized correctly can have an impact in a big way.

Take the time to flesh out strong call-to-action to incorporate into your blogs, articles, and other content to help your audience flow down the conversion funnel.

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