Tag: Call to Action

#PlanYourBusiness – Including a Call to Action in Your Social Media Content

When you post something to social media, what’s your purpose? In other words, what do you want the person who is reading your content to do? If your answer to this question is that you don’t know or that you never think about wanting your audience to do something, then stop – do not pass Go!

Instead, go back to basics and think about why you’re posting. Unless you’re passing along something for information purposes (yes, that’s ok too), then you always need to have a clear call to action in your social media content.

Through your call to action, you let your audience know what you want them to do and how to do it. If you are trying to sell something then you want them to buy; if you want to add them to your database, then you want them to sign up. Or maybe you want them to comment or share your post. You get the picture. Everything you post should have a clear purpose, and your purpose defines your call to action.

5 Things You Need to Know About Calls to Action

  • CTAs should be straightforward – Your calls to action don’t have to be boring, but they do have to be simple enough to understand so that your community will get the point.
  • CTAs should be strategic – Before you post you should consider your objective. If you know what you hope the content will accomplish, then you’ll know how to frame the call to action.
  • CTAs can be creative – Your call to action can be funny, ironic, or different as long as it is true to your brand and clear enough to be understood.
  • CTAs should be consistent – Whether you choose to use a color theme, a button style, or some other element, your calls to action should be consistent with your other brand elements.
  • CTAs can (and should) be tested – It can pay to take the time to test your calls to action. Get a benchmark by trying it out to see if it converts. If not, try something else.

If you study the science of sales, then you know that a key tenet is that you have to ask for the sale. The same is true for your social media content. Your call to action is where you ask for the sale. Your CTA is your money shot. It lets your audience know what you want them to do and asks them to do it. So go ahead, don’t be shy. Ask for the sale.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedInFacebookTwitterBlogGoogle+YouTubePinterestInstagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media TrainingSpeaking and Strategy Consultations.

 

#AwesomeBios – Promoting Your Offers in Your Bio

When we first talked about building your #AwesomeBio, we mentioned that it was necessary to include a Call To Action. If you have an offer for your potential clients and customers, you have a call to action ready to go.


Bios are the profile sections on main social media pages. You recognize them as the About Us areas. Each social media platform functions as a powerful internal search engine. Therefore, fully fleshed out bios that are loaded with the right keywords are how people will find you. We talked at length about marketing on different social media platforms to gain a return on investment here. This offer that you provide is something called a lead magnet. It’s a way to turn social media browsers into potentially loyal customers.


When you promote your offer, stay away from clickbait titles. A person wants to know exactly what they’ll receive for clicking your action link. Don’t make them doubt your credibility as an honest business. Put only one offer in your bio. It’s a great idea to build a social media campaign for particular offers. Keeping the same one may grow stale, and your current customers want in on the action, too. A long term customer or client is worth its weight in gold. As a matter of fact, 80% of your company’s future revenue will likely come from 20% of your existing customers. Lee Resources Inc., a trusted consulting firm, conducted research about customer retention. They found that attracting new customers will cost your company five times more than keeping existing ones. 

Your offer should involve scarcity. Scarcity is a time limited option that triggers the urge to buy or take on the offer. Without this, it’s too easy for a potential client to wander away from your site. Even with the best intentions, there is no guarantee that they will remember to return and take you up on your offer.


When setting up your promotional offer, keep these three things in mind:
  1. Use short links for character-limiting platforms.
  2. Keep the promotion valid and up-to-date.
  3. Make the offer limited time to induce the urge to buy.
  4. Make sure the link goes directly to the sale, signup, etc. that you’re promoting. Otherwise, it feels like a scam.
  5. Create unique offers, bonuses, etc. unique to the platform you’re using. Consider it insider perks that make people more likely to follow you on their preferred platform. Experiment to find out which perks work best on which platforms. You may be surprised!
  6. Track your results so you can gain a deeper understanding of your customer base.

Your bio (with the offer you provide within it) becomes a first impression technique for anyone who doesn’t know or understand what you do. Take the time to develop one that’s right for you, while keeping it specific to your social media platform, and you’ll gain a loyal following of enthusiastic customers and clients.
Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!
Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedInFacebookTwitterBlogGoogle+,YouTubePinterestInstagram and the tools to manage them.


Learn how to use social media to grow your business online with our video series!

  • Learn the fundamentals of social media
  • Learn how to build better brand engagement
  • Learn how to enhance your visitors' experience
  • Learn how to grow your business using social media strategies.

If you want someone to break down aspects of social media to get more clients and build your business using social media, this is the program for you.


©2008-2023 Clere Communications / The Social Media Advisor