Yesterday, we had another iPhone app approved by Apple (yay!), however this post is not about iPhone apps. It’s about getting people to take action, whether it be new visitors to your site, newsletter subscribers, people reading your sales page, or iPhone owners reading the copy of an ad you created to try and get them to download your new iPhone app.
Immediately after our new app went live in iTunes, we decided to promote it with advertising. Our goal was to break the top 100 in the Paid Utilities category, which is important because once you break 100 in any category, your app will have additional exposure on the top 100 lists on iTunes.
The most popular advertising platform for the iPhone (at the moment) is Admobs. It’s kind of like Google Adsense and Google Adwords all bundled into one: for free you can put code into your own applications that generate ads (and you get paid per click), or you can pay to have your ads shown in applications that have that code in them.
After setting up our advertising campaign and letting it sit for an hour, we were surprised to come back and see that the ads were not performing well at all. In fact, the CTR (click through rates) were abysmal, hovering around 0.25% to 0.5% for each variation.
*Note, I would show you the screenshots of the data and the actual ads I used, but I don’t exactly know what AdMobs’ policy is for doing so. I know Google Adsense has some restrictions on publicly showing data, and because Google ended up purchasing Admobs, I think I’m better safe than sorry. Thanks for your understanding!
What it really comes down to is the copy - what’s written in the ads. It’s the ad copy that gets people to click an ad, not the product itself.
So, with only 80 characters to work with, we had to figure out the best way to drastically increase the efficiency of our ad copy. How do we get people to click on these ads?
The answer is simple: Add a call to action.
Without a Call to Action, There Will Be No Action
For those of you who don’t know, a call to action is simply a request or direction to do something – or take action.
A link that reads: Call to Action: A Powerful Marketing Tool is not an example of a call to action.
A link that reads: Read Call to Action: A Powerful Marketing Tool is just an okay example of a call to action.
A link that reads: Click Here to Read Call to Action: A Powerful Marketing Tool is a better example of a call to action, because you’re telling people exactly what they have to do (which is to “click here”).
It’s not that people are stupid and they need instructions on how to click on something. It’s more of a subconscious thing that tells people in their “automatic” state of minds to do certain things.
This is the theory at least, so we wanted to put it to the test.
We revamped each of our ads and made sure to place a call to action in the ad copy, simply by adding words such as “get”, or “download”. We let the ads brew for another hour and then checked our results.
The CTR was much, much better.
Now we were seeing between 2-3%, which is huge, especially over hundreds of thousands of impressions. Of course, getting people to click an ad is only half the battle – converting that traffic into sales is the other.
So did we ever crack the top 100?
In about 12 hours, we were able to reach #95, thanks to some call to action copy in our ads, and within our app description as well.
We’ll see if it continues to climb or if it drops off, but that doesn’t really matter. What matters here is that call to action copy works and it’s absolutely necessary if you want people to do something, even subscribe to your blog.
The next time you run into a sales letter, or even a sales pitch on TV, on the radio, or in a podcast, listen for those calls to action.
They are there because they work.
Powerful Call To Action Words
So before I finish up, I’d like to leave you a list of words that you may find useful the next time you want to write call to action copy. Some may be more appropriate than others in certain situations, so really the only way to know which ones work best is to test, test, test!
- Get…
- Download…
- Click Here to…
- Press the…
- Enter your…
- Grab Your Copy…
- Go to…
- Insert your…
- Add to Cart
- Buy Now
- Use my…
- Order Now.
- Reserve your copy of…
- Select the…
- Choose a…
- Enroll in…
- Attend…
- Pick up the Phone and dial…
- You can start by…
- Act now by…
- Order now and get…
- Create a…
- View Demo
- Register…
- Donate…
- Subscribe…
- See in action…
- Take a tour…
- Sign up now…
- Cast your vote…
- Send…
- Check out…
- Share…
Obviously this isn’t a list of all of the call to actions, but I’m sure you’ve seen many of these before.
And don’t forget, a call to action doesn’t just have to be used in the body of your website, it can and should be used whereever you want people to do something. For example, a call to action within a button you want people to click is a great idea.
Lastly, if you can combine your call to action with some verbiage that creates a sense of urgency, you’ve got yourself some great “take action” copy:
- Order now to get your free gift.
- Sign up now because this offer will expire soon.
- Reserve your copy before it’s too late!
Are you showing people what they should do, or are you telling them?
If you use calls to action on your on website, please leave a comment below and give an example of how you use one.
I’ll start: I usually always include some text similar to “leave a comment” at the end of my blog posts.
Cheers!
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{ 36 comments (Click Here to Leave a Comment Below) }
Oh, am I first to comment here, if ever?? Anyway, I love your calls to action list. I will definitely be checking those out when I start re-vamping things.
Hey, Pat
Curious that you mention it, I should come to terms with my “call to action” systems. Now I use a big “COMMENT BELOW” sign to ask the readers to suggest a follow-up frame for my comic. I can’t say that I have had much success yet, maybe people is too busy to comment on such content? Comics are the core of life, that’s why the iPad was invented in the first place.
Pat, thanks for the tips. I ran an ad on Facebook a few weeks ago and didn’t garner a single click! I just set the ad up again using your tips. Hopefully this time, it will convert and I will get some sales of the eBook I put so much time into for my Army site. Thanks!
Just noticed your call to action in the title as well “Read This Post…” Nice!
That is a good point there Stacey. I set up a facebook ad not too long ago for my page but it did not have a call to action. I am definitely going to change it now!
CALL TO ACTION is one of the fundamentals of building any sales material. You’d be surprised how we’re hard-wired to follow directions when they’re put in front of us.
I prefer subtlety to hitting people over the head, but that’s because I’m not selling a product. But you can easily see how the direct approach is often the best approach in terms of quantity.
I have a similar preference in not hitting people over the head. As a designer, I want my design to cause the user to instinctively realize that since it’s big, shiny, and shaped like a button, it’s supposed to be clicked. Regardless of whether the button says “Click Here”.
But the reality of it is that people read “Click Here” and… they click.
It’s a constant battle for me, but ultimately if a call-to-action works best, that’s what I’m going to use.
Just did some looking at my calls to action and they could be much more dynamic, like in your example above. Thanks for the list, I plan on making some improvements tonight.
Pat, thanks for the tips. Have to implement these on my blog. I’ve been too shy of offering my services – I don’t page a services page yet!!
I’ve started adding a “click here,” or “subscribe to,” message at the end of every post to make it easy for people to take action, and I need to keep this in mind about the site as a whole. When I read other people’s blogs I appreciate it if they point out things that might be interesting to me and make it easy to order, subscribe, download, etc.
Have you noticed an increase in conversions with your recent additions of calls-to-action? Just curious, I enjoy hearing about people’s results.
Wow! This is really a great post. So many people fail to understand the importance of call to actions. I sometimes receive some emails, I am most likely going to read the one that tells me to take action immediately while leaving the one that has no matter of urgency or call to action for another day.
Thanks a lot for the great post,
Onibalusi
Call to action is needed to help remind the market we are targeting to take our desired action. It is a must if we want results. There are people who are shy about calling others to take their desired action. Don’t be shy about it and ask for what you want. The surprise is you usually gets it!
Cheers,
Vincent
I laugh when I read an article that is so simple… and then I realize all the times I am not using “Call to Actions”. This is the article that drills it into my head once and for all. Click on my name to see what I mean.
Pat, many thanks for the fantastic tips. Your blog is a godsend.
Mike, well done – putting it into action.
Click MY name for a Vintage experience.
ha! you got over on me with the “vintage experience”. I had to check it out. really cool site. My girl is a bit on the vintage side,me too, I think. nice site Sandra
Thank you for the tips and suggestions of possible calls to action. I hope to be able to put these into use!
Okay, you peeked my curiosity. What’s the Anti Theft Alarm? lol I’m going to check it out. Congrats on the new app. You are just cranking them out. It’s exciting to see. I like your call to action list and really liked that you tested out the conversion rate. I’ll have to test this as well. A little bit better CTR is always a good thing.
Another important aspect often overlooked of the call to action link is the graphic design. The best copy in the world isn’t worth anything if it isn’t backed up with a nice big button in the correct colour.
great calls to action Pat! I love the list thanks
I’ll be using some from there in my new website!
Pat,
Thank you for the great post. This is very valuable information. I’m going to edit and test these ‘call to actions’ on my sales pages right now.
Thanks again,
Ian.
After reading this post I added more calls to action to the Innovative Passive Income Resource List. Check out the list and find a useful tool by clicking my name right now. It is inspired by Pat’s resource page but is full of other great resources.
I end my post saying “please share your thoughts in the comments”, but I can definitely work on using call to action words better.
Earlier this week I added a phrase to the end of my singlepost.php file inviting folks to sub to my feed etc. and it has made a marked difference. I’m going to oomph it up with some better call to action words.
Thanks Pat!
DON’T READ MY COMMENT: Just kidding. You can read it. I often make a call to curiosity when I really need a call to action. Is anyone else guilty of a “call to curiosity” and not to action?
I’m often guilty of that. Often times I don’t want to impose, so I do a “call to action prefaced with stipulations”. For example: “If you’re interested and have time and money, click here to get started.” Why not just use “Click here to get started”?
The call to action in the title cracked me up
This is something I need to work on though. *Adds it to my list*
yes i agree, your words are sooo important when you want someone to do something, i’ve also started to leave a small paragraph at the end of my posts which tells the person to leave a comment or describe their own view of the subject, i think the more ‘literal’ you are, the better the results, im going to implement my email subscribers list and this post will be a fundamental part of my knowledge-base for that, thanks Pat!
Truly believe in this. I remember when I sold vacuums door to door. I had to ask to buy at least 7 times during a demo. What I did is I use to carry these pieces of paper that we put in the vacuum to clean the carpet, every time I asked to buy I would pull one out of my pocket, when all seven where gone I knew I had ask to buy 7 times…It didn’t work every time but it did at least 1/3 times a day. I believe we all like to be lead in some way, asking people to take action is just a way to help someone make a decision I would say.
I am definitely going to use some of those in the list now on my blog for sure pat. great post!
In our call to action, we always tell our readers how much difference they’d make if they subscribed or clicked on a link. We also know that it’s very important to meet their expectations when they’ve taken the action we want them to do.
yep.. the age old call to action. I really would like to know the philosophy behind it though. The call-to-action combined with a benefit that they get on the other side is a powerful tool
Great post, relevant as I just read “Make Your Words Sell” a free ebook which has a few pages of these call to action words at the back…check it out if you need some Pat and all! Google, “Make Your Words Sell”
This type of info is stellar for creating any type of salespage, or ad, something where you want your users to jump to it and purchase. I’m learning I need to get comfortable with these if I want to create income online.
Contrary to many entrepreneurs belief, people are not just sitting around and waiting for you to sell them something. You have to grab them by the throat and get their attention amongst the 8,000 other marketing messages they are getting in the same day.
The call to action is the answer. Super marketer, Gary Halbert used to include step by step instructions in his ads, like “pick up the phone,” “place stamp here,” and others in order to get the highest closing rate. A sale is a very fragile thing and people need to be told exactly what to do each step of the way.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
Congrats on the new App Pat! I always use calls to action on my “money pages” at the very top of the page. I usually use both an image with text and a plain text call to action as well. i make the text blue and underlined – I find this helps my click through rate
You are exactly right Pat, a call to action is key. It is great you had the opportunity to test this strategy. I have a website that is free to join. So we have a big green button on the home page that says “Join for Free.” The number of members has increased considerably from when we did not have a call to action.
“Click here” is always a bad call to action. Instead, you should use the anchor text to explain what will happen when the user clicks. The “anchor text” is the clickable part of a link. The only person that “click here” can possibly help is someone who is only beginning to learn to use a mouse.
Thank you for the list of words that call to action. People throw that term out, “call to action” but I never saw what it was. Now I do!