Every piece of content has a purpose, something you want your users to do. What makes them take the bait? How do you get them to click on that buy, subscribe or share button? Do you have a call to action? Does it make any sense to your reader?
Sometimes it’s as simple as asking them to do so. Whilst every single communication doesn’t need to drive a sale, it needs to play it’s part in moving your customer through their journey. Even if that’s just keeping them happy & building evangelists.
A well placed call to action (CTA) will guide your customers through your content, and make it easy for them to buy. It also gives your content a specific purpose –making it easier for you to create, and makes it easy to measure. Did your prospective customer read this and then click-through, or just leave? Once you’ve got purpose, you’ll know what content is actually working for you.
Why is your customer here?
Take a quick look at your blog posts, the email’s you’re sending, and any physical collateral you’re sharing. Where does that content fit in your customers journey? What’s the best possible outcome for the customer at that stage? Does your content have a CTA asking the customer to take that step?
Pick any page on your site and check it against this simple framework:
| Option 1 | Option 2 | |
| Blog Post / Email Title | ||
| Customer Stage | Discovery | Consideration |
| Objective/Purpose of the content | Demonstrate thought leadership & attract new subscribers | Share best practices for existing readers & promote online content purchase |
| Best Possible Outcome | Reader enters details and subscribes for future content | Reader buys downloadable content |
| CTA for the page | Highly visible “subscribe” box at the bottom of post | Link to landing page (with tracking code so we can drip follow-up emails) |
Importantly your CTA’s should be concise and convey purpose, which means generic buttons like “Click here” are a strict no-no. Take a look at the title of your page, and the objective of the post again. If you are writing about fast cars, and wanted someone to download a car-speed-cheat-sheet, the best possible CTA would include something about fast cars!
It’s why your reader came to the page, your CTA needs to deliver on your promise.
