There are many ways to market your business but one of the most beneficial ways (that’s often overlooked) is growing your email list with blogging. When done correctly, blogging combined with SEO (search engine optimization – where the search engines, think Google, crawl all over your site… trust me it’s a good thing) will help grow your audience like bodies stacking up during the bubonic plague, in this case it’s a good thing.
Even though most people overlook the importance of blog posts they can “bring all the boys to the yard” and set you up as an authority figure or aka “expert” in your field or niche. Because if you have nothing to say then why would anyone follow you, or buy your product, or use your service? Leaders and experts and people of authority have something to say… so why not put it in a blog?
But there’s a caveat here to think about as well… actually two caveats.
Let’s walk through a few examples of CTA sign-offs and some tips for writing them.
I’ll use the good-better-best approach to writing a CTA.
Good call-to-action:
“Thanks for reading. If you found this informative, be sure to sign up for our email list, here: [with a link to your email list sign up]. That way, you can stay up to date with more great blogs, like this one.”
Really basic but lets your reader know you have an email list and some people will sign up.
Better call-to-action:
“Thanks for reading. Be sure to sign up for our email list, right here: [with a link to your email list sign up] – and snag our 37 Ways ToWrite A Better Call-To-Action”.
A better option than the first one. This is giving your reader something in exchange for their email address. Definitely a better approach.
Best call-to-action:
“If writing amazing CTA’s were easy, everyone would be doing it… but it’s never too late to learn how. Grab my 37 Ways ToWrite A Better CTA right here: [insert link to sign up and receive your pdf] and start writing better CTA’s today!
This CTA will get a more specific reader to sign up to your email list… a reader that wants to write better CTA’s. And if you deliver good on your pdf you’ve just put your name and content on their radar for future consumption and possible purchasing of your products. Not to mention they’ll share your list with friends and colleagues if it delivers the goods on writing better CTA’s.
Don’t just say, “buy our product.” You need to put in a little more work than that. Think of your reader as if they’re your significant other and you’re meeting them for the first time. You wouldn’t just go straight for the “give me your number I’m a really great catch” line. No. You’d lead into that.
Do the same thing with your reader. Lead into the call-to-action. Don’t just say “buy my stuff”. Make them witty, memorable and easy to read.
Let’s start with a witty CTA.
A witty CTA makes your reader smile, chuckle even, which makes a connection in their brain. A connection to you, your content and your products. Because people don’t buy products they buy you and more specifically they buy into the belief that what you’re offering will solve their problem. They’re putting their trust in you and that your product or service will deliver the solution to their issue.
But a word of caution on the witty CTA… don’t make it so funny that you lose the connection to their pain point. You have to walk a fine line with this one. You can make them laugh but you also need to keep it pertinent to their problem. If you get them sidetracked you will lose them.
Next up is the memorable CTA
Or aka unique. There are a lot of “copycat” CTA’s floating around the interwebs… you’ve seen them, I’ve seen them, everyone has seen them. They’re not pretty or memorable. In most cases your reader – without knowing it – bypasses these CTA’s like they’re not even there.
Your readers are smart and they make smart decisions.
If your CTA is the same as everyone else’s out there then you can rest assured no one wants it. But if you spice it up a bit and make it memorable (aka unique) then they will see you as different than the cookie-cutter marketing squad fumbling through marketing land… they will see you as a leader that doesn’t just copy the rest but actually cares about them and their problems.
And last but definitely not least is the “make it easy to read” CTA
If you pack your call-to-action with technical jargon or business lingo your reader will not understand what you’re talking about or become bored and stop reading. This goes for your whole blog post… not just your call-to-action.
People skim read and wherever they get stuck is where they leave. They don’t have time to decipher what you’re talking about. They’ll find someone that can talk to them in layman’s terms and if you pack your CTA with jargon well… your reader will just leave.
So if you really want to grow your email list by blogging, include a call-to-action at the end. Lots of businesses underestimate the importance of blogging and the “expert” status, it also gives your reader a reason to sign up for your emails!
If you’re ready to start blogging but aren’t sure where to begin BHirst Media has lots of experience with it. We’d love to help you get your blog up and build your email list. Send us an email at [email protected] to start the conversation.
