Why do people read your blogs? Well, ideally, you're providing them with useful information that's relevant to their lives. You're showcasing your authority on the subject matter, igniting excitement about your brand, and letting consumers know just how you can solve their problems.
Then what?
If you're not ending with a proper call-to-action, you're wasting your valuable online real estate. Too often, people are blogging without bringing their readers into their sales funnels. That's what a call-to-action (or CTA) is for. CTAs complete the readers' experiences, drawing them into your white papers, contact forms, landing pages, or service pages seamlessly. Without CTAs, your inbound marketing efforts really have no strategy. With this in mind, let's explore a bit more about CTAs and the reasons you need them when you're blogging.
What Do You Want Your Readers to Do?
You constructed your blog for one reason or another. Maybe you're trying to beef up your contact list, or perhaps you've recently published a white paper that you think everyone in the world should read. In any case, you have a goal in mind, so it only makes sense that you would drive traffic toward your end goal. This is why you need a call-to-action. When you're blogging, ask yourself what you want your readers to do, then follow up with a conclusion that leads people that way. A CTA can be a nicely designed link, a bar or button, or a form that someone fills out and submits; it doesn't have to just be a link within the content itself, but those work well, too, as long as they make sense within the context of the content.
Where Are Your Buyers Within Their Customer Journeys?
Relevancy is key when constructing great CTAs. By understanding where people are in their customer journeys, you can direct them to the next step in the sales funnel. For example, if you're talking to newbies who don't know much about the product or service you're peddling, you might invite them to learn more about your company by sending them to your services page. On the other hand, if your blog speaks to in-the-know industry professionals, it might make more sense to send them to a stats-driven article that's downloadable once they fill out a contact form.
You don't want to push or intimidate your readers; instead, you want to invite them to take one or two more actions to get to know your brand. Your inbound sales process hinges on welcoming people to take a series of steps—all pointing them toward the ultimate goal...making a purchase. When blogging, your job is to construct CTAs that tell customers what to do next.
Need Some Ideas for Great CTAs?
Now that you've asked yourself what you want your readers to do, you have the beginnings to a great CTA. Here are ten examples of CTAs you can use in your blogs:
- Read another blog
- Shop online
- Make an appointment
- Visit another webpage
- Take a quiz
- Download an e-book
- Sign up for newsletter
- Ask a question
- Request information
- Start a trial membership
Remember, the point is to call your readers into action so they take the next step necessary towards making a purchase from your company.
How Do You Know When CTAs Work?
Tracking software can help you know which CTAs are generating responses. Play with placement, color, size, design, and wording to see which calls-to-action garner the best results.
At fuze32, we know what it takes to get people engaged. If you're trying to figure out how to bring people to your brand, be sure to check out our case study so you can see how we take marketing to the next level!
