Crafting a copy or call to action is like writing poetry. It’s not difficult to do, and easy to master. When I was introduced to poetry in high school, I fell in love with it. I’ve even written a few poems since then.
Writing copy does take practice, but here are 6 tips that will help you to craft an effective call to action every time.
Ask, and You Shall Receive
Previously, I wrote an article entitled, Encourage Social Sharing Using Shareaholic and A Call to Action. In it, I encourage readers to give a call to action when it comes to social sharing.
Therefore, if your copy doesn’t ask for anything, then no one will be willing to give anything.
Verbs vs. Nouns
Dan Zarrella from danzarrella.com, quoted from William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White in one of his articles where they stated,
Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs. The adjective hasn’t been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place… it is nouns and verbs, not their assistants, that give good writing its toughness and color.
The Elements of Style
In Zarrella’s Facebook stats which he collected, he found out that Strunk and White were correct in that nouns and verbs outperformed adjectives and adverbs when it came to call to actions in social media.
If you really give it some thought, it makes perfect sense. Call to actions use verbs such as Download Now, Subscribe Now, Buy Now and so forth.
Add A Bit of Urgency
One thing humans hate is a missed opportunity. That’s why phrases such as Get While Supplies Last and Offer Expires in 6 Hours are so effective.
Minimize Risk
Below is an image of Constant Contact’s homepage:
Their copy is enticing for a number of reasons. One, they state that it is a free trial, second, they mention there is No risk and third, No credit card required. Businesses and brands can feel safe to just try it for free, and the fact that you don’t have to give a credit card is an absolute BONUS.
Remove Barriers
I’ve been interested in services in the past but was put off by the process. Besides entering your name and email, they want your address, age, income, and more.
It’s all so unnecessary when you are trying to convert visitors to customers. Your call to action must be simple if you want to give away a download. All that should be required is an email address, but you could also ask for their first name. Keep it simple!
Above the Fold
All the aforementioned tips are great, but this is one that you need to stop and do right now if you haven’t already. If you are giving away an ebook, cheatsheet or some other download, you need to place your call to action above the fold on your homepage.
But not only just place it on the homepage above the fold, but make it stand out. Make it big, bold and colorful and really work on your copy in order to convert your visitors into potential customers or clients.