What’s equally important is getting people to click on your links, submit inquiries and ultimately become customers. To make that happen, you need to be able to write strong copy and call to action phrases that make your audience want to do what you’re asking them to do.
What is a call to action?
Call to action wording can be anything from “Download now!” to “Give us a call to learn more.” Essentially, you’re just giving your audience a clear call for what to do right after seeing your post. Do you want them to download your eBook? Do you want them to click and read your blog post? Do you want them to request a demo? Let your audience know what their exact next steps should be with a call to action, or CTA.
How to write a call to action
First things first, you need to know your objective of your social media post or website page. What action should your audience ideally take next? If it’s a top of funnel page or post, it might be something as simple as “Read on.” Whereas, if it’s a bottom of funnel page or post, a “Sign up now” or “Call us” or “Send us a message” call to action makes more sense for your goals. When you’re actually crafting your CTA, there are three things you need to do:
Start with an action word, like read, download, call, contact and more. Create a sense of urgency with words like today, now or in the next 24 hours. Tell your audience what’s in it for them if they do take action.
Focusing on those three steps will help you create a powerful call to action that will entice your readers and website visitors to take the next step. Let’s dive into a few great CTA phrase examples so that you can see some of these in action.
Social media call to action examples
It’s not always enough to know what a CTA is and how to write one. You need to see actual examples of these phrases in the wild to get an idea of how to implement them. Lay out your upcoming calendar of scheduled posts and review everything from your images to CTAs in Sprout’s Calendar. Your team can easily pull in pre-approved text from Sprout’s Asset Library so every post matches your brand voice perfectly. Try out our publishing features for yourself with a free trial, or schedule a demo today. So we’ve pulled 10 examples of some of the best call to action phrases that work so that you have proper inspiration the next time you need to persuade your audience to make a move.
1. Read on
Like we mentioned, a simple top of funnel can be as easy as “Read on” leading into a blog post link. If you’re sharing a blog post on social media, give a brief snippet of what your audience can learn inside before leading into your “Read on” call to action phrase.
2. $100 off
Another great call to action that entices your audience to take action is offering a discount. While it might not necessarily be $100, this number is interchangeable with whatever makes sense for your product, service or business. This Sprout Social example is offering a $100 discount for a social media marketing conference to our audience. Offering a discount is an awesome way to make a sale while also making your customer feel included as a fan of your brand.
3. Get started today
This is a great CTA that simultaneously creates a sense of urgency. You’re telling your audience exactly when to get started. Today! This can be a great strategy for getting people to take action right away. You’re not saying “Consider this” or “Think about signing up” at some point in the future. No way. You’re telling your audience to get started today. It’s compelling, and a great CTA to include in bottom of the funnel content.
4. Retweet
Another great way to ask your audience to take action is by asking them to share your post. Asking your audience to retweet your post if they agree is a great way to engage with them, leading them to share your content–and subsequently your business–with their own followers. You can do this on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Simply close out post with a quick “Share with your friends!”
5. Install now
Another great way to use call to action phrases on social media is by adding a button directly onto your post or ad. When you create an ad, you’re able to choose which CTA button you want to use. This is a great way to add an extra dimension of interactivity within your ads. Not everyone will read your caption all the way through. And while it’s still important to include a CTA there, having a separate button with a succinct and powerful call to action phrase grabs the viewer’s eye and can help inspire even more clicks than before.
6. Send message
Asking your customer to get in contact with you is a great way to move them towards the end goal. If someone is nervous about diving in and making a purchase or signing up for service, making yourself or a team at your company accessible is important. Facebook makes it easy for you to place a Send Message button at the top of your business page, directly underneath your cover photo. You can even use your cover photo as an even more obvious CTA, by using text or design elements that tell people to message you about your service or an arrow pointing to the Send Message button.
7. While supplies last
Another great way to create a sense of urgency in your audience is by letting them know that this is a limited time offer, sale or product. Nothing gets consumers clicking like realizing they might miss out on something. This Instagram post is creatively offering a sale on a candle scent that’s relevant to a social holiday while simultaneously letting their followers know that this sale won’t last forever. First of all, it’s a one day sale. Second of all, supplies might not even last that long. If someone wants a 50% off candle, they need to act immediately. This CTA works.
8. Free download
Ready to seriously awe your audience? Give them something for FREE. Putting together an ebook, checklist, cheat sheet, template or other useful content, and offering it as a free download is a great way to get your audience taking action. While you typically want to pair this with a full CTA like “download your free ebook now,” just the word “free” works to draw your audiences’ attention. Giving your audience something for free helps your company to stick out in their mind because they were able to get valuable information from you without having to even pull out their wallet. Of course, you can easily offer free downloads in exchange for an email address to add them to your email list, but this is a much easier exchange than a purchase. Plus, this way your business stays top of mind and you can place a call to action in an email for making a purchase to eventually convert these customers.
9. Ask a question
When you ask a question, whether it’s relevant to the content you shared or you’re genuinely asking your audience for their input, it’s a call to action for your viewer to engage and respond. Ask for your audience input. Creating a call to action doesn’t have to be all about getting your customer to do something for you, like sign up for your newsletter or make a purchase. Instead, a CTA for engagement can simply be a great way for you to open communication with your customer and build rapport. This leads to customer loyalty and brand recognition and makes your customer feel good. Don’t ever underestimate the power of good, old-fashioned social media interaction with your audience. Ask a question the next time you’re creating social content and see where it gets you.
10. Subscribe
Last, but not least, is subscribe. This is the perfect call to action to get your audience to subscribe to your email list and receive your newsletter. If you’re going to use this CTA, you need to be sure to let your audience know exactly why they should subscribe. What’s in it for them? Let them know what your newsletter covers and why they’re going to want to read it. Will they learn something? Will they get a great deal or discount code by subscribing? Do you share exclusive content with your email list? Another great call to action that can be used similarly here is “Sign up.” If you’re looking to grow your email list, make sure your newsletter sets you apart from competition, then set up a lead magnet or sign up form and ask your audience to subscribe. It’s as simple as that! Creating CTA phrases doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Remember, all you’re doing is giving your audience a next step to take after viewing your content. Whether it’s a sign up, a download, a purchase or a message, make sure your call to action is relevant to the content you’re sharing and makes sense for your goals and objectives in your social media strategy.
