No More Boring Calls to Action! Nailing Them Like the Pros Do

So you’ve written your sales page and you’re down to that all-important Call to Action when you freeze.You don’t want to sound like an infomercial or used car salesman. (no offense, car salesmen who are reading this)But you need to put something there, right?Buy Now?Sign Up?Learn More?Sure. You could use one of those old standbys but there’s a reason they’re the “filler” text on a lot of sales page templates.Because you can do better.Your products and services deserve better than filler text.But what do you use for a compelling Call to Action? How can you really nail that moment that takes your reader from browser to buyer?Calls to action might be small bits of text you’d prefer to overlook but big things come in small packages. You are most often writing for people who are on the fence and who can be pulled over to your patch of grass with great messages, says Joanna Wiebe.So let’s look at some top Calls to Action from leading bloggers to find out what works, what doesn’t, and how you can apply it all to your own business.

Eliminate Buyer’s Remorse

Have you ever shopped at a store that didn’t have price tags on their items? “Hm. I really like these pants but I have no idea if I can afford them or not. I mean, I might be willing to stretch my budget since they fit really well, but how much do they cost??”Then you have to do that awkward thing of finding a staff member, asking about how much they are, and then deciding in front of that person if you want to buy the pants or not.It’s not only somewhat embarrassing, it’s a waste of time.Save your potential customers the same time and embarrassment by telling them right up front how much your product is.You might be inclined to save this tactic for smaller priced items only but here’s some encouragement to try it out on your bigger price point products too.Just like when you were trying on those fancy pants and searching for the price, your buyers are going to be searching for a price for your product until they find it. It’s part of the overall buying decision! If there's a price conversation going on anyway, don't you want to be a part of it? It's up to you to own the price conversation…. Openly share results and what your service costs with the people who are looking for that information, says Doug Kirk on the Hubspot blog.Mariah Coz tells you exactly how much her Find Your Niche Masterclass costs right on that Call to Action button:FemtrepreneurAnd nothing says “Click Here!” like the word FREE. Check out how Marie Forleo and Laura Belgray use it to promote The Copy Cure’s opt in:Copy Cure(And if a course about powerful copywriting is doing the thing, you might want to pay attention.)

Get Social

It’s frustrating, isn’t it? Trying to tell people how much impact your course has made, how other people have loved your services, or just how much you really do care.Well stop relying on your own words to tell them - let other people speak for you!Adding social proof – those testimonials or brand logos from people who have worked with you – right by your call to action helps your potential customer feel even better about the decision they’re about to make.Trying using a quote from a past customer like James Clear does:James ClearOr include the logos of companies you’ve worked with for some visual appeal like Andrea Vahl does:Andrea Vahl

Stay Active

Nothing puts a reader in the driver’s seat like using first person language in your calls to action. It’s like they’re already doing the thing you want them to do.You could tell them they’re part of something already like Jay Acunzo does with his email opt in that says “I Am Unthinkable”Jay Acunzo Or you could invite them to join others (there’s some social proof baked into this one) like Paul Jarvis does with his opt in:Paul Jarvis

Decision Fatigue? Not Here!

Decision making is hard.To prove the point, Copyhackers told the, er, sticky tale of a certain jam company. See, Columbia’s Sheena Iyengar presented some patrons of a high-end grocery store with six jams to sample and other patrons of that same store with 24 jams to sample. The 24-jam display attracted more people than the six-jam display, but it converted far fewer into paying customers.Marketing masters know the power of limiting choices. Take Amy Porterfield’s three options on her website:Amy PorterfieldThere’s power in three. Think about it:We learned our ABCs, read about the three bears, three little pigs, and three blind mice. We watched the Three Stooges and ate Snap, Crackle and Pop. We played rock-paper-scissors, tic-tac-toe, and duck-duck-goose. The power of three is part of our culture and it’s smart to use it in your marketing too.Natalie Sisson uses three choices on the homepage of her website to help direct you to where you want to go. She offers so much more than just three options, but Natalie knows that any more than three can be overwhelming.Natalie Sisson

Help Me Help You

Want to get what you want out of your potential customers?Jerry Maguire knew what he was talking about. If you want to guide them in their decision making process, you going to want to make it as easy as possible for them.Take Darren Rowse of ProBlogger, for example. He wants you to subscribe to his email list so he can make the most of the new relationship there. So what does he do?ProBloggerHe makes the subscribe button bigger and bright orange and the “tell me more” button is barely noticeable in comparison.Chris Brogan takes a similar approach on a sales page for his Online Course Maker product.He wants you to go ahead and buy the course right now. So he gives you a time-related incentive and he slashes that price (that’s right, price slashing is not just for infomercials).Chris Brogan

One Last Tip

While you can go put all of these tips to work right now (and we suggest you do!) it’s important to remember one final bit of advice:Always Be Testing.Test out what works and what doesn’t for your audience. What works for Chris, Andrea, Mariah, and Jay may not work for you. No matter where you get started, improving your Calls to Action is one of the easiest ways to see a big impact on your website quickly.How do you make the most of your calls to action? Tell us in the comments below what you’ve learned and what you’re off to put into place on your own site!