Snail-mail marketing campaigns can be a real asset to your brand, and one of the most important parts of any marketing campaign is an enticing call to action. A call to action is a sentence or phrase that asks the reader to take some form of action—whether it is buying a product, visiting your business, subscribing to a newsletter, or submitting information. This is a very small piece of content, but it has a big impact. Here are 5 key elements of a successful call to action and how to implement them in your next marketing campaign.
Add Incentive
Give your reader some incentive to do what you’re asking them to do. Give them a coupon, freebie, or discount. Make the reader feel like they are part of something exclusive by telling them that this deal is only available to people who have received your letter (not in store or online). If people feel like they are being given exclusive access to something that others do not have, they are more likely to take advantage.
Make FOMO Work for You
People’s natural fear of missing out, or FOMO, can work to your advantage as a marketer. Tell readers what they’ll miss out on if they don’t act right away. Use phrases like “while supplies last,” “before time runs out,” and “don’t miss.” This creates a sense of urgency that will make people more likely to act quickly as opposed to filing your campaign away for later and forgetting about it altogether.
Keep it Professional
Don’t use all caps, make everything bold and red, or add a bunch of exclamation marks (one at the end of your sentence is great, but don’t go overboard). These things may catch the eye, but they come off as spammy and make your business seem desperate. This will make people more likely to disregard your content without even reading it. You want your call to action to stand out, but still look polished and professional.
Make it Stand Out
You want your CTA to stand out visually from the rest of your copy. Give it its own paragraph, change font color, bold it—anything that sets it apart visually without making it look gimmicky (see the above point on keeping it professional). Additionally, you can have more than one call to action in one piece of mail, but don’t go overboard. One or two is all you need, and if you pepper your entire document with CTAs, they will lose all meaning.
Tell Readers What to Do
Make it really obvious what you want your readers to do in your call to action. People respond best to clear instruction when you want them to do something. Do you want your readers to buy a specific product? Tell them! A simple “buy your (name of product) now” can make all the difference. Begin with a strong verb like “buy,” “shop,” “discover,” or “join.”