The key to successful marketing comes down to this: your call to action. This is also where so many companies fail.

When you overwhelm people with things to do, they choose to do nothing.

And your sales suffer. 

This is why it’s imperative to have a strong, clear, concise call to action. 

When your marketing is cluttered with information about what your offering is, and all the ways to get it, it’s human nature to just tune it out.

I saw a prime example of this the other day while I was walking through town and saw a marketing sign in the window of a local business. I have to say, I was overwhelmed with the options they were giving me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t curious about their offering because I didn’t want to take the time to read through and extract what it was. (But I did want to help them with their messaging. Get Different book drop off!)

If you confuse, you lose. 

Whether you want to get sales or sign ups, your directive needs to be doable at the moment. You must be extremely obvious and extremely clear. If you get cute or overwhelm your prospects with choice, you simply confuse them. As my friend Don Miller says, “If you confuse, you lose.”

Marketing is every step you take to get the customer to the buying decision. The sale is the financial action in their decision to buy. So your concise, singular, directive should easily get them to the first step. After that first step, you can build the next steps from there.

Creating the best call to action sequence starts with the first step.

Make sure your first ask, that first call to action, is a reasonable, safe step for them to do to increase your conversion rate opportunity.

Step 1 – Perhaps step one is to get an email address to begin communicating your offering. You’ll want to offer them something useful for them that can solve a small problem now. Say a demo or FAQ.

Step 2 – Your second email can include an offering for a demo, to learn more, or perhaps a coupon for a product. Watch your deals here, don’t dilute the value of your offering in an effort to get new business. Remember, you want those big Pumpkin Plan clients.

Step 3 – Now you can begin promoting your larger offerings.

Now you’re giving direction to your prospects or clients and not overwhelming them. By leading them through a tangible, actionable sequence in bite size steps that people will actually feel inclined to take, you’ll be able to convert prospects into clients much easier. 

One last note – when selling, remember that you’re serving. It’s not just about the sale. It’s about getting your offering into the hands of the people who need it, who’s lives and businesses it will improve. Always sell with as much integrity as you can.

You’ve got this!

-Mike