In the design industry it seems that as technological advancements are increasing our abilities to create brilliant looking ads, we are forgetting the largest principle behind our work. The most important aspect of design is the often-forgotten call to action.
Any way you look at it, the content of a piece of work is much more important than the way it is presented. Presentation is indeed important, but it is nearly impossible to deliver a poorly developed message and see returns. A quick look at the Madison Ave. era proves that solid content is what sells products, and content should always be written with the audiences’ next action in mind.
Generally speaking, there are two main categories of action that an advertiser is trying to persuade the audience to pursue: Thought and Purchase.
Thought:
Asking potential consumers to think about a product is emerging as the most popular – and probably the most realistic call to action in today’s advertising world. The problem is, you simply can’t write copy that says “We want you to think this over, read reviews, and discuss it with your wife.” Consumers have to be carefully guided into thinking about the decision, and made to believe that “thinking it over” is a wise decision (it is).
One of the best ways to guide a consumer towards thinking about the product or service is to give them the next step to take. Collecting email addresses in exchange for more information or something free (which is still really just more information) has been popular in the past. However, as more and more producers are using this tactic as a call to action, consumers are becoming overwhelmed and ignoring it. The only way around this is to develop content and information that is worthwhile for the consumer to pursue.
While it is often difficult for business owners or advertisers to give their information and knowledge away for free, the results are undeniable. Being a go to resource keeps your product or service in the forefront of consumers’ minds – meaning they are constantly thinking it over. Enough thinking usually leads a consumer to purchase.
Purchase:
The “buy now” call to action is typically used in retail situations, and is generally portrayed as a limited offer or one time senario. “Hurry in this deal won’t last!” is a familiar one. In the right environment (like Black Friday), the purchase before thinking call to action can be quite effective. Think about late night infomercials where there is literally a clock counting down the minutes before the deal will expire.
You’ll want to be careful with the purchase first call to action, because if your product or service disappoints, you will probably never hear from consumers again, unless it is a nasty review left online. Additionally, the hard sell has a way of making businesses look untrustworthy or under confident in their product.
What Works Best?
In my experience as a service provider, I’ve found the “think about it” call to action to be most effective. The first touch point between my business and a consumer is always information focused. This protects us as well as our clients. If it’s not a good fit, then we will likely find out before a project has been started. Additionally, by already positioning myself as an expert, I’ve reassured the client that I can be trusted, and I’ve added value to our services.
Retail and product focused industries still get by on the “purchase now” call to action, for the time being. I’m a strong believer that this sort of call to action will diminish as more and more products flood the marketplace. If you’re in the retail/product field, you’re probably finding out that you need to give consumers a unique selling point before you can convince them to buy.
Thoughts or questions? Leave them in the comments.