Four Keys to a Strong Call to Action
Include a call to action whenever you possibly can.
(Oh, I love when things get meta.)
I remember being a fresh-faced newbie in communications and discovering the call to action. I could feel the shift in what I was doing when my manager left a note on my newsletter draft that said "Needs a call to action." I was trained in journalism, so my style was to just lay out the facts; it never occurred to me that I should—or even could—tell people what to do. Light bulb!
A call to action is exactly what it sounds like: You are calling on the reader (or listener, or viewer) to do something. So if every piece of communication—big or small—has a goal, it probably also needs a call to action.
The call to action takes out the guesswork for your audience, while forcing you to be clear about your goals. If you know what you want to do, and who can help you do it, you'll have a much easier time crafting that call to action. Don't make people suffer through an email or meeting they don't understand the point of. Take the time to get clear about what your goal is and what your audience needs to do. Then ask.
A good call to action is four things:
It's direct.
When crafting that call to action, focus on the action. Find the verb and eliminate the fluff. It took several drafts to get my opening call to action as direct as possible, cutting words and picking better verbs so I could get the point across quickly and easily.
It's clear.
Don't leave any room for error or misunderstanding on your call to action. I used to end emails asking for review by saying "Take a look and let me know what you think." But I got much better results once I started saying things like "Please review and have any suggestions or changes to me by 3:00 p.m." My goal was to have people review the content I was sending them and give specific feedback in time for me me hit my deadlines. The clearer I got about what I needed, the more often people did what I asked.
It's honest.
Good communication is not the place for ulterior motives. Smart people can (and will) sniff out your bullshit if your call to action doesn't align with what else you're doing. A common example I see right now is the social media call to action to "drop an emoji in the comments" and its many variations. I see you trying to up your engagement numbers, brand managers, and I just wish you'd focus on writing content that organically makes me want to respond. (I know your job is hard, don't get me wrong, but quality content is always going to win my heart.)
It's easy(ish).
Do everything in your power to help your audience do what you're asking. Give them all the information they need as close to the call as you can. Include direct links and clear, well-formatted instructions. If you're asking them to contact someone, provide the email and phone number in the same sentence. A big ol' button that says "Register Now" and links directly to the registration page is going to work much better than a sentence (with no link) saying "Go to our website to register." Some calls to action are going to be easier to accomplish than others, but the easier you make it for your audience, the better your chances of success.
It's also easier to find a call to action at the very top and bottom of your communication—and there's nothing wrong with using a call to action more than once. With emails and speeches in particular, your opening and your closing are critical to getting the action you want, so spend time making the first and last sentence the best they can be.
You’re more likely to get results when you:
understand what you want from a communication;
ask for it clearly and directly; and
make it easy for your audience to do what you ask.
A strong call to action showcases your goals and respects your audience's intelligence and time. So next time you're writing an email, a speech, a text message, a social media post, or a report, get that clear call to action in there and watch what happens.
