A call to action is simply telling your reader what you want them to do. Phrases such as “Call now” and “Click here to buy” are examples. There is nothing complicated about a call to action, but all too often we forget to include it.

Why Is a Call to Action Important?

When writing sales copy it is obvious to you why you are writing it. You want people to purchase your product or service. So it’s easy to forget to tell them to do that. At first glance, it may seem quite unnecessary.

Think about it for a minute. People today are quite busy with their day-to-day activities. They have work and family to think about. In their spare time they have hobbies and entertainment to keep them busy. There is no shortage of things to occupy their minds. When reading a sales letter they often read what they see and that’s it.

Sure, if the reader stopped to think about it, they would realize that the copy is urging them to make a purchase. Most of the time they don’t. They think, “Gee, that sounds nice,” and go on about their business.

In an online sales letter this is even more of a problem. The Internet is full of information and your sales page is one of millions that are out there waiting to be read. You could have the most compelling sales copy in the world, but without a call to action, your sales will not be as good as they could be.

Another reason for a call to action is to let customers know what course of action they should take to purchase. If you don’t tell them to click the link or call the toll-free number to order, they may not know what they need to do. Instead of investigating they may just look elsewhere.

Where Does the Call to Action Go?

The most common place for a call to action is at the end of the sales letter right before the signature and P.S. There should definitely be a call to action in that very place. There are other places that you can add a call to action for added convenience and visibility.

If your sales letter is long you could consider putting a call to action after each main section. Some readers could make up their minds without reading all the way to the bottom. Other readers may read all the way through but go back to look over the details again. Letting them know what they need to do to order when they are ready will seal the deal.

Calls to action are important in sales and marketing copy. A few simple, well placed words may be all it takes improve your response rates. Tell your readers what to do and they’re more likely to do it.

Originally posted at Linda Stacy's Business Opportunity Connection. Please click the link below to read the complete post, add your comments, and find similar articles.
Want a Better Response to Your Online Sales Copy?

But ask any highly successful Internet marketer and she’ll tell you that the long letter is better. It gives you more time to present the features and benefits of your product and convince your readers to buy.

So how do you grab and keep attention in a long sales letter? Here are some tips:

1. Create a good first impression. Professional looking ad copy makes the reader feel that your letter is worth reading. A misspelled word in your heading can immediately turn away a potential customer. Why would one buy from you if you don’t take care of details? What should your customer expect from your products, or even your support to the product later on?

2. Use a lot of headlines and sub-headlines to easily catch your visitors’ attention. Expand on the benefits and features of your product. Have a sub-headline on each benefit. Your readers may want to read further if they find your headlines and sub-headlines interesting.

3. Use pictures or graphics that show your product and bonuses. They will make your product more concrete to your visitors. Pictures and graphics also easily attract the eye.

4. Be sure your graphics load fast and correctly. People don’t want to wait. This is true especially if your graphic is at the top of your sales letter, and your whole web site will only be shown after downloading that picture.

5. Use short sentences or sentence fragments. It is easier to read and understand short sentences than long ones. By just looking at the length of your sentences, the visitor will know the degree of difficulty in reading your sales letter.

6. Use color, bold, italics, underlining to highlight important words and phrases. However, use them sparingly. Too much of them may look like you are hysterical and will turn away potential buyers.

Use highlighting near the area where you want to have your visitors read more. You may want them to read the features or benefits of your product.

7. Pick the three most powerful and appealing benefits of your product and repeat them in various parts of your sales letter. This will help your visitors easily remember these benefits. Just be sure to rewrite them, so it won’t appear that you just copied and pasted them in your ad copy.

8. Use bullets to list the features and benefits of your product. Bullets make reading easier making your visitor read more.

9. Use a postscript (P.S.) at the end. This is some of the most read sections of a sales letter. You may repeat the strong point of your product, remind the bonuses included, or emphasize the urgency for the prospect to take action.

10. With a long sales letter, place buy buttons at different places of the letter. Your prospect may have been convinced to buy, so provide them with the opportunity to do so.

People are in a hurry to quickly get over reading a sales letter. Unless something catches their eye, they’ll just skim over the letter and go on to the next site… and you lose them as a customers. Using these eye-catching techniques you’ll keep their attention, and be more likely to convince them to click the buy button.

—————
iRepNetwork.com
Lead Generation and Team Building Tips and Tools
—————

Originally posted at Linda Stacy's Business Opportunity Connection. Please click the link below to read the complete post, add your comments, and find similar articles.
10 Ways to Get Their Attention