PMI Online Business

So you just wrote a fantastic article, designed an eye-grabbing flyer, or sent out your weekly newsletter but for some reason, you’re not seeing any response. You don’t seem to be getting more visitors to your website or more subscribers to your e-mail list. The reason might be because you failed to tell your potential customers what to do with the information you just gave them.

Everything you send out should have a call to action. It can be something as simple as “Call Now” or “Visit [website] to Sign Up Today” to motivate the reader, or something specific like using the coupon code included on the flyer or in the e-mail. Regardless of the medium you’re using, here are some things to consider when writing a call to action:

• Use Good Verbs A good active word – like call, sign up, buy, subscribe, visit – can make a big difference. This makes it very clear what they need to do in order to follow through.
• Make It Prominent Whether in an e-mail, on a webpage, or in a flyer you should make the call to action stand out in some way. This may be through using bold text, a different color, making it bigger, or giving it a border. There shouldn’t be any question what the call to action is.
• Always, Always Use One You should have a call to action on every single page of your website, in every e-mail you send, and on all your marketing. Otherwise, people may just think you’re giving them some nice information they can simply store away for a later date.
• Tell Them How Even if you say “Call Today,” it doesn’t do any good if you don’t include a phone number. You don’t have to have the call to action right next to the website, e-mail address, or phone number, but they should both be easily found. When writing some think of your call to action (e.g. “Call Today”) and then ask “How?” (e.g. “by dialing 800-555-5555).

It can be an easy mistake to make; you might be surprised – if you take the time to look through your junk mail – how many ads don’t include phone numbers or websites, let alone a specific call to action. But there’s no reason you should ever make that mistake now. Make your websites, newsletters, e-mails, and advertising more effective by implementing these call-to-action tips!

All companies know how expensive it is to market themselves to new customers.  TV spots, print ads, web space, and radio ads are some of the most popular, effective, and expensive ways to get the word out about a new company.  Retaining customers once they are found, however, is an inexpensive and proven way to build business.  One of the best ways to market a business to existing customers is through email marketing.

Many companies that have email lists use a voluntary double opt-in system that allows customers to sign up for email newsletters.  This way, companies can be sure that they aren’t pestering customers when they send email messages.  Also, by making email newsletters an opt-in feature, companies develop a list of engaged and interested customers that will be receptive to email marketing and could potentially become their most valued and loyal patrons.

With a focused list of interested customers, email newsletters are a great reminder in a personal venue (their inbox) to valued customers that the company is still there, still offering great products.  Newsletters are great places to announce sales and provide links to new products or special offers.  Companies that reach out to their customers build trust and brand loyalty. 

Email marketing is extremely cheap and very easy to gather information from.  There are programs that companies can download for free or for a small fee that allow marketers to track how many of their delivered emails were opened, which links were clicked, and ultimately how many sales were made from the email.  With this kind of information, sales campaigns can be focused and strategized with ease.

If you aren’t taking advantage of the inexpensive and focused marketing opportunity that is email, you are doing your company a disservice.  Start designing, sending, and tracking marketing emails now and reap the benefits of building relationships with your valued customers.

As an entrepreneur, you need to call people to action. You may indeed have the best products or the most exceptional services, but you still have to spur people to action. In your email campaigns and on your website, get people to act NOW by giving them a reason to. This may include limiting the number of products in a promotion, limiting your client spots or limiting the time of an offer. Make it worth the customer’s time. Make it too good to pass up. If you can inject some urgency into your marketing, people will generally react. Just make sure that you provide the value to back it up. They should be glad they followed your prompt and properly rewarded.

The business gurus at PMI Education also recommend that you always honor the promotion deadlines and limits that you have set. This may seem obvious, but it is actually a difficult rule to follow. For instance, let’s say that you are offering a 50% sale on all the birdhouses on your website from May 4 to midnight on May 11. The promotion is a success and you are ecstatic to see your sales rise. Because most people tend to wait until the last days of a promotion to act, you see a real spike in sales on May 11. Several people contact you after midnight on May 11, begging you to still give them the discount. Likewise, you get emails on May 12 requesting the same thing. You definitely want their business, so it would be tempting to say yes. But if you are flexible with the deadline, people won’t believe you the next time you offer a “limited time offer”. If you are consistent in your promotions and reward your customers for taking action, you will be amazed with the results.