“Make sure your call to action is appropriate to the level of your relationship.”
What is a Call to Action (CTA)?
A CTA is any action you ask your prospect to take…
- Read my article
- Watch my video/webinar
- Download my lead magnet
- Book a call (free or paid)
- Request my book (free or paid)
- Take a quiz
- Book an appointment
- Buy a course / product
- … the possibilities are limited only by your imagination!
So…
One of my pet hates is those pop-ups that block your view of the page seconds after you have opened an article and invite you to sign up for their list or book a call before you have any idea what they’re about. They’re not just annoying, they actually no longer work well for long-term list building.
Exit popups are a different story because…
It’s All About Your Relationship
We all know what happens when we enter our email address into someone’s system. They start to send you emails.
I get it!
Every savvy business owner wants to build a list (ideally one that includes mailing addresses as well as email addresses)… the question is: whose email list do you want to be on?
In theory, you can always unsubscribe (although some email lists make that difficult – “if you no longer want to be on my list, send an email to [email address] and ask to be removed” is another irritating message)… or send their emails straight to spam, but why not give people some time to decide whether they really want to hear from you before you ask them to sign up and save yourself and them the hassle?
Maybe your lead magnet really is just what I’m looking… but before you force me to leave or sign up let me learn some more about you. Give me time to read!
How Much Time Are You Asking People to Give?
So this brings me to another important relationship consideration. I don’t want to commit a huge chunk of time to you until I know you better.
There are two parts to this:
- Make sure you get right to the point and deliver value or say what you have to say especially if you are using audio or video to deliver your message to cold contacts; and
- Give people the chance to consume your message in well-formatted text as well as any other media because it is less linear so they can control their attention, skip over familiar material, and determine whether you have something that appeals to them.
When you respect your prospect’s time and energy right from the start they are more likely to respect your time, energy, and processes once they decide to work with you.
That’s not to say that you can’t offer longer videos and trainings, it’s just that you need to create them with the understanding that your prospect is probably just as busy as you are and may not watch all the way to the end unless you are exceptionally engaging.
Personally, I feel that the best practice is to let people know in advice how long your session will last and stick to the time limit. If it’s pre-recorded letting them see how much time is left is also important and can dramatically improve viewing.
Remember: Every Micro-Commitment Builds Trust and it’s Your Job to Deliver
There’s a lot of talk about the power of micro-commitments to lead prospects and clients to the next big ‘yes’.
That’s true, but so is the converse:
Fail to deliver on your end of the bargain and you’ve breached their trust and taken the relationship backwards, especially in the early stages of your relationship.
Consistency and congruency are very important. That’s why it’s crucial to set up your implementation properly and pay attention to the fine-tuning so that each CTA leads to fulfilment not frustration.
What is Your Goal?
Not every action has to result in a sale. There are 3 primary types of call to action:
- List Building
- Prospect Nurture
- Sales
You need to know what your goal is for each particular email, page, post, or mailing so that you can craft an appropriate call to action that matches the state of your relationship and level of trust.
Are you Interested in a System that Helps You Do This?
A well-designed marketing system not only avoids the 7 major causes of marketing failure, but ensures that your marketing succeeds. You can work this all out for yourself, you can hire a marketing consultant and ask them to set up a direct-response marketing system for you, or you can invest in the 25th anniversary edition of The Magnetic Marketing(™) Program developed by Dan Kennedy to short cut your learning curve.
If you’d like to learn more about the underlying principles of a Magnetic Marketing System you can get a copy of Dan Kennedy’s Magnetic Marketing book for just $10 (includes shipping and handling anywhere in the world. Visit https://hiltoncopywriting.mykajabi.com/offers/CXivH6fe/checkout to order your copy.
If you’re in Melbourne, why not visit our Magnetic Marketing Mastermind which meets monthly in Box Hill. To learn more and sign up for notifications visit https://memg.com.au
