Tug at Your Audience's Heartstrings with a Passionately Effective CTA

Harnessing the power of social media is more than just enticing readers to look at your viral content. It may have elicited a few chuckles and got shared over a thousand times, but without concrete action on the part of your audience, you might as well close shop and live life as a street musician with your hat on the ground.

A CTA or a "Call to Action" is an actionable opportunity that you have to present to your audience to convert them from a passive viewer to a raving and desperate customer who just can't stop thinking about you.

Crafting a powerful CTA is more of an art than a science. It's like a guitar player singing somebody else's life with every pluck of the guitar string. You can start with:

1. "KISS" your customer. Once you have the rapt attention of your audience, you must play the guitar and pluck at their heartstrings with the pristine simplicity of your message. Like a man wooing his heart's desire, one must "Keep it Simple, Silly". Now that you have their attention, what is it exactly you want them to do? If it's for them to leave you their perfumed and nicely scented email address, then by all means make it easy for them with one simple message, "Please leave your email address here". Remember, direct simplicity is powerful.

2. Feed the desire. They want something and you have that something. But they're unsure about you or have heard of a better offer. The answer is to give them something valuable right then and there. Consider it a gift, a prelude to more things that you can offer. By doing so, you evoke trust and spread some good vibes all around.

3. Make them feel like the end of the world is near. Life is short and opportunity flies away like a bird frightened by the clumsy hunter. Make your offer urgent and in limited supply. In truth, everybody only has a limited supply of something and that's just life. Scarcity breeds urgency. Make every second seem their last. Make your offer as perishable as apples.

4. Don't divert to other matters. Like the mind of a writer, we can sometimes wander all too frequently and stray from the path. Focus on the action. Focus on the limited opportunity. Focus on your most important message.

5. Make it easy for them to take action. You're enticing them to leave their email addresses without putting a form where they could type it. Go figure.

6. When all else fails, keep swimming. You have to think like a lawyer who's in front of a jury. Now, some members of that jury won't believe that lawyer unless you present other more compelling evidence. Imagine if your client is about to face the death penalty and you only have a limited time to present. You must carefully study each approach and method to ensure maximum effect. If one approach fails, study the inadequate method and see what you can do to improve it. Ask for third party experience and expert opinions to assess your approach. Doing so, may save your business and possibly make more sales.

A powerful CTA is about good salesmanship. It's about knowing how people think. It's about knowing yourself, your product and your customer.