Creating An Effective Call to Action: 6 Tips for a Winning CTA
/When you conclude an executive presentation, how do you want your audience to remember it? What action do you want them to take? The answer is to create an effective call to action (CTA). A CTA should be memorable and persuasive, so that your presentation has the desired impact on its recipients.
At the end of your presentation, your audience should be moved to take action. You may be aiming to persuade the board members to vote on a particular corporate strategy, encourage your clients to purchase your products, or to inspire your employees to stay motivated during a meeting. In either case, it is important to know how to create an effective call to action that will have an impact on your audience.
First, let’s dive deeper into what a call to action is.
What Is a Call to Action?
A Call to Action (CTA) is a message encouraging your audience to take immediate action related to your presentation. It should be persuasive and effective, as it is the key to achieving the desired results. It serves as a bridge between your presentation and the action you want your audience to take.
For example, let’s say you are presenting to the executive board the end-of-quarter financials for your company. At the end of your presentation, you may want to encourage the board members to vote on a particular stock option or strategy. The effective CTA should be something like: “Let’s review the financials together and make an informed decision about our stock options for the quarter.”
Now that you know what a CTA is, here are 6 tips to creating an effective call to action for your executive presentation.
6 Tips for a Winning Call to Action
Start Your CTA With a Strong Action Word
An effective call to action begins with a word that moves people to take action. This is why you may often see phrases like "Buy Now" or "Book a Demo" or "Schedule a Consultation." Consider your desired action and choose effective keywords that will motivate people to take the desired step.
It is best to avoid passive words and phrases as it gives the audience the impression of a lack of confidence. If you had a call to action like "If you are interested, please schedule a consultation," then it would not be as convincing. Words have the power to evoke emotion. This is why effective CTAs contain strong persuasive words that really compel people to take action. So consider using emotionally charged words to create a sense of immediate urgency and motivate your audience to act fast.
Embrace Your Creativity
The more creative you are with your call to action, the better. Consider incorporating effective visuals that can help bring your CTA to life. This could be anything from a simple illustration to an interesting video clip. Additionally, effective CTAs often have catchy slogans and phrases like "Go for it!" or "Take the leap." The idea is to make your CTA as memorable and effective as possible. Ensure that it stands out and grabs the attention of your audience.
Your Call to Action should be effective enough to evoke curiosity and anticipation in your audience. This will help create a sense of eagerness among the people that would motivate them to take effective action. Consider including phrases like "Discover What's Next," or "Unlock Your Potential" as they can effectively pique people’s interest and compel them to take effective action.
Focus on Value and Benefits
Your CTA should emphasize the value and benefits of taking action. Consider what your audience stands to gain by taking the desired step. This could be anything from the opportunity to add value, or receive recognition or additional training. Highlighting the advantages of acting fast will motivate people to take effective action.
Another way to motivate your audience to take action is to focus on the problem they are having and how your solution will give them the benefits they need. For example, if you are trying to motivate people to purchase your product, focus on how your product will help solve the issue they are having. Then, when you move to your call to action, you can encourage them to buy your product to get the solution they are looking for.
Make Use of Social Proof
Social proof is effective in motivating people to take effective action. Consider incorporating customer testimonials, reviews or awards into your CTA slides as they can help demonstrate the value of taking effective action. People are more likely to act when they know that others have already done it successfully.
Furthermore, if possible, you should also include the names and images of the people who have already benefited from your offer. This will help create a sense of trust in your audience, and encourage them to take effective action.
Has Only One Clear Action
Effective CTAs should have only one clear and effective action. Too many calls to action will give your audience too many choices, leading to confusion. This is why effective CTAs usually focus on one simple action like "Sign Up Now" or "Download Now." The idea is to make it easy for people to understand what action should be taken, and motivate them to take effective action.
Test and Optimize Your CTA
Once you have created your effective Call to Action, test it out and see how it works. Make sure that the CTA is easy to understand and effective enough to motivate people to take prompt action. Once you are satisfied with the results, you can optimize your CTA slides for maximum effectiveness.
How to Write an Effective Call to Action: Next Steps
Preparing your call to action is not something to be afraid of. Actually it can be quite exciting! This is your opportunity to deepen the relationship with your peers, customers, and your audience. Your call to action shows them the tangible benefits of your executive presentation. It shows them the first step that they can take to achieve the results that you have presented.
If you want to discuss your organisation’s (corporate, NGOs, Associations and Universities) Public speaking or Presentation skills needs, I offer free 30-minute consultations through my site. I’d love to meet you.