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Why do you do any marketing or advertising? It’s probably not just to put pretty pictures into the world... Or kill trees... You want to get clients or customers, right? Sure, a big goal is getting the attention of your ideal client and letting them know what you have to offer. But just doing that is not enough. The real goal of marketing and advertising is to get people to take action. Whether that’s calling for an appointment, going to your Website, walking in your store, or busting out a credit card and buying something right now. The thing is, most entrepreneurs forget all about this when they put together their marketing materials. So they spend a ton of time and money creating attractive pieces that are basically just a bunch of company info. They talk about their company, what they do, how they do it and who their clients are. Then stick their contact info on there, send it out into the world, and wait for something to happen. Only it never does. Or if it does, the results are nowhere near what you’d hoped for. Sound familiar???? If so then you’re probably asking… ----- Why aren’t I getting good results? ----- Well, it could be the benefits of what you offered weren’t clear and compelling. Or your writing style wasn’t friendly, readable and engaging. It could also be you didn’t get it in front of the right People often enough. But let’s say you did all those things, and still didn’t get any response. There is one more, critical thing that might be missing. And you can add it to every piece of your marketing and advertising to dramatically increase response rates. What is the magic, response boosting item???? A “call to action”! ----- What, exactly, is a call to action? ----- Fundamentally, it’s where you tell someone exactly what to do next if they are interested in getting what you’re offering. On TV infomercials, it’s where the announcer says “Call 1-800-buy-this within the next 30 seconds to get your super juicer and the special, bonus slicer-thingy for just $9.95”. In a print ad, it might be “Visit www.dogtricks.com to get your F*ree report 7 Fun Tricks You Can Teach Any Dog” Or “Call Jennie at 867-5309 and mention this offer to save 50% on your first massage” on a brochure. On a Website, it could be as simple as “Visit my services page (insert link) to learn more about what I can do for your business...” Even a “Buy Now” button is a call to action. ----- Why is a call to action so darned important? ----- I always say, “If you don’t tell someone what to do next, there’s no telling what they might do.” Life is busy and full of interruptions. Even if someone is ready and willing to buy, they might not be sure what to do next if you don’t tell them. Or they could end up going to the bathroom, answering the phone, or clicking to another Website as easily as calling you. That’s where a clear call to action comes in! ----- How do you create a powerful call to action? ----- STEP 1: Decide exactly what you want someone to do after they read your ad, brochure, Webpage or whatever. STEP 2: Make them an offer they can’t refuse. These days, a free consultation isn’t enough. A lot of folks think this will just be a sales pitch-filled waste of time. Ditto for just saying sign up for my f*ree e-newsletter. STEP 3: Tell them exactly what to do to take advantage of your offer. IE: Do X to get Y STEP 4: Make it painfully easy. Put the phone number, link, Web address or BUY NOW button right there. Don’t assume they’ll take time to find it in the small print on the back of your brochure or your contact page. STEP 5: Whenever possible, add an incentive like limited availability (only 10 left!), deadlines, or special sale prices. People are busy. The more reasons you can give them to take action now, the more likely they are to do so. Just don’t lie. That’s it. Give ‘em a good reason to take action…Tell ‘em what to do…And make it easy as pie to do so. You’ll be amazed at how many people take action once you do. ©2008 SuccessStream. All Rights Reserved. www.success-stream.com Author’s Bio Practical Marketing Expert, speaker and author Stacy Karacostas specializes in taking the stress, struggle and confusion out of growing your small business. She’s the author of the 2-page marketing plan workbook Putting Your Business on the Road to Success and The Small Business Website Bible. For more down-to-earth, business-building wisdom grab a copy of her free report The 7 Deadliest Small Business Marketing Sins…Are You Guilty?
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