Think of driving a car. Whether you’re going to the grocery store five minutes away or going on a road trip cross-country, there are signs, directions, and words pointing you where you’re supposed to go. Not to mention the signs and directions telling you how to get to your destination and what you’re not supposed to do.
Without signs and calls to action, the world would be an extremely stressful and unclear place. In simple terms, it would be chaos.
What if we told you that not telling your potential customers what you want them to do is like a world without traffic signs? When you build your website, write content, or sell a product, you need specific and clear calls to action that help your customer take the right next step for them. Keep reading to learn more about calls to action and how to use them for your brand.
How to Use Direct and Transitional Calls to Action
In the StoryBrand Framework, there are two kinds of CTAs: direct and transitional. A direct call to action might say “buy now,” or “book an appointment today.” It tells the potential customer what to do in order to work with you or use your product. However, most people don’t want to take the risk of working with an individual company that they aren’t familiar with. So, rather than demanding your potential customers buy your product or work with you before they can weigh the pros and cons, a transitional CTA can help them learn more before taking the leap.
Here are some examples of a direct call-to-action:
- Buy now
- Book an appointment
- Register today
- Order today
Here are some examples of a transitional call-to-action:
- Download our free guide
- Schedule an intro meeting
- Schedule a consultation
- Sign up for our webinar
You’re giving your customers a free trial of sorts (or maybe literally). If you’re following the StoryBrand methodology, you know that customers face risk when it comes to not using your product. In their minds, they are weighing the risks of spending money on your product or service. Giving customers a nudge with the transitional CTA can ease their stress and help get them out of a place of uncertainty.
Where Does Your CTA Go on Your Website?
When it comes to a CTA, the best strategy is to place it all throughout your website. Your customers could make a decision at any point while exploring your content, so why not make it easy for them? To give you a visual, here is our website. You’ll notice that right away, there are two buttons with CTAs: “Let’s talk about marketing.”
If you click “more about brand messaging & design,” you get to this page, where our stakes and successes are. You’ll notice the button for “let’s talk about your marketing” below.
Scroll down even more and you’ll see another CTA, “schedule a call.”
There should be enough CTAs on your website to clearly tell your customer what you want them to do.
How to Use CTAs on Social Media
CTAs don’t just go on your website, they can be used in social media and blog content as well. I know what you’re thinking- isn’t that a little too salesy?
Not if you do it the right way. Not every CTA on your social media posts has to say “buy now.” A CTA for social media could be as simple as asking your audience to comment or share your post.
Here are a few CTAs you can use on social media today:
- Comment [something related to the post] below
- Find this post valuable? Share with your friends!
- Tap the link in our bio for more information
- Tap the link in our bio to download our free resource
- What do you think? Comment below
- Share this post
- Drop a [emoji] in the comments if you agree
- Tag a friend in the comments
- Follow us on [social channels]
When it comes to social media, you’re providing value, educating people, and connecting with your audience. Not every CTA has to demand that they purchase something!
CTAs Give Your Customers Clarity and Provide Direction
A huge part of the StoryBrand Framework is being the guide for your customers. Part of being the guide is providing your customers with direction and a plan so they can get the results they want.
If you don’t help your customer take the right next step, you’ll lose their business.
8Bend Marketing Can Help You Get Started with StoryBrand.
8Bend Marketing is a premier StoryBrand Certified Agency. We are on a mission to help business owners break the cycle of frustration from bad marketing. 8Bend Marketing helps companies develop inspirational brand messaging, create powerful sales and marketing plans, and then execute them with precision. We believe that supercharged sales and marketing are the keys that will help our customers achieve unprecedented growth.
Sydney Waddle is 8Bend Marketing’s Content Strategist. Responsible for content creation such as blogs, social media posts, eBooks, emails, and more, Sydney helps clients distribute entertaining, informative, and quality content on a monthly basis.
