Succeeding as an author isn’t just about writing strong books. Sure, that may be the most important factor, but the rise of self-publishing has resulted in authors facing more competition than ever. If you want to stand out in the crowd, you need to make sure that you also write strong marketing copy.
It’s particularly important to focus on writing an effective call-to-action (CTA). Whether you’re asking people to sign up for your email list, attend one of your signings, or simply buy one of your books, your CTAs have to convert.
These tips, used by digital marketing experts across industries, will help. Keep them in mind to ensure all your marketing content delivers results.
How to Write Effective CTAs
- Emphasize Urgency
- Find New Opportunities to Include CTAs
- Offer Something
1. Emphasize Urgency
Creating a sense of urgency is one of the smartest things you can do when writing CTAs. You’re simply leveraging a basic psychological principle. People are more inclined to act when they only have the option to do so for a limited time.
There are numerous ways you can take advantage of this in your CTAs. For example, if you were selling tickets to a book signing or related event, a CTA on your website might read:
“Get your tickets now! Act fast, only [x] spots left!”
You can program the CTA so the number of tickets updates every time a ticket is sold. Or, if you were promoting a discount, a CTA for a social media ad might read:
“Get your copy at this low price before it’s too late!”
2. Find New Opportunities to Include CTAs
CTAs are more effective when you know where to use them. That means not limiting yourself by merely including CTAs in ads, emails, and landing page copy.
For instance, if you publish ebook versions of your titles, include CTAs in them with links to your other books. Additionally, include a section at the end of all your books in which you urge readers to leave reviews.
Don’t overlook the importance of this. Research indicates reviews on such platforms as Amazon drive 20% of sales. In fact, when an item gets just one review (as opposed to zero reviews), sales begin to rise by as much as 65%.
3. Offer Something
The point of a CTA is to give people a reason to take a certain action. Thus, you should consider how you can do so to make your CTAs more effective.
Perhaps you’re trying to convince website visitors and social media followers to sign up for your email list. Obviously, your CTA needs to highlight the benefits of doing so. This will be easier to do if you provide value first, through something marketers typically refer to as a lead magnet. You might achieve this by including a CTA at the end of a free ebook. If readers find the book’s content to be genuinely valuable, a CTA at the end that reads “Sign up for my email list to receive more great content like this!” will probably attract subscribers.
Luckily, writing strong CTAs should come easily to you. After all, you are a writer. By leveraging your own skills and remembering these tips, you’ll write CTAs that deliver results.
