Whenever you create a new piece of content for your business you need to think about what you want it to do. I know that might feel as if I’m asking you to analyse every single little thing that you put out there (and I am) but it doesn’t have to be a pain. Your marketing has one really simple job to do. It needs to tell customers that you exist and convince them that you have something they need. I know it’s not that easy in practice but it gives you a good starting point. There are loads of ways that your content can achieve your aims. It could explain the benefits of what you offer, educate your audience or just raise awareness of your brand. Whatever you want each post to do, you need to follow it up with a good call to action. Here’s how it works.
What are your goals?
A good marketing strategy should be linked to your overall goals for your business. You can read more about that here if it’s something you struggle with. When you have a vision for where you want to get to you can work out what types of marketing will get you there. It’s often a combination of things, like increasing your brand recognition but also getting more people signed up to your mailing list. You can create a variety of different types of content for different reasons.
Clear ideas about what you want your marketing to do can also help you decide what kind of call to action you need.
Why are you posting?
At a more granular level, think about each post and why you’re creating it. This might sound overly time consuming but it’s better than the alternative. Having a plan means you know what you’re going to post when. When you don’t plan you might find yourself panicking because you haven’t posted in ages and people might think you’ve gone out of business. It’s the sort of situation that ends up with a half-hearted post that doesn’t reflect your business or win you any new customers.
Thinking about why you’re posting helps you to create a call to action. It also helps you with the next question…
What do you want people to do next?
There are loads of different ways that people could respond to your posts. They could like, share, or comment on social media or sign up to your mailing list. They might subscribe to your YouTube channel or send you a connection request on LinkedIn. You could leave it to chance. The only problem with that is that people are lazy. If you ask them to do something they might not do it. If you don’t ask they definitely won’t. That’s where your call to action comes in. If you’re trying to widen your reach ask them to like and share your post. Ask them a question to get people talking. Tell them what they’ll get out of signing up for your mailing list and give them a nice big sign up button to make it easier.
Sometimes it’s not just what you ask but how you ask it that counts. There are tools and resources that will help you craft a good call to action but they’ll only take you so far. Getting to know your audience is the key to creating a good call to action. Over time you’ll get to know what gets you a good response and what falls flat.
