Smart marketing with Ryan Caligiuri

Happy Friday everyone! Hopefully everyone had a chance to read today's column! I'm looking forward to yet another great discussion on calls to action today!

by RyanCaligiuri 9/21/2012 4:57:09 PM
Hi Ryan, thanks for joining us. We have a few questions already in the queue, so let's get started!

by Katherine Scarrow 9/21/2012 4:57:43 PM
Sounds great Katherine! Let's get into it!

by RyanCaligiuri 9/21/2012 4:58:07 PM
I really enjoyed your article today on the call to action. It’s something I don’t use enough in all of my marketing communications. But I’m wondering about the development of a CTA. What are some main components that make up a good CTA?

by Ilona Fabrokowski 9/21/2012 4:58:16 PM
HI Ilona, thank you for your question today! I'm happy to hear you'll be using more CTAs in your marketing. It will definitely help you in your lead gen efforts...

by RyanCaligiuri 9/21/2012 4:59:19 PM
There are few things to keep in mind when creating your CTA...

by RyanCaligiuri 9/21/2012 4:59:32 PM
First, it obviously has to be relevant to your audience. Talk benefits that they will be interested in and offer them something they will want...

by RyanCaligiuri 9/21/2012 5:00:14 PM
Next it has to have value. Don't offer something that you know is just a "freebie" and give it away for the sake of giving it away. Make sure the marketplace will get something out of it...

by RyanCaligiuri 9/21/2012 5:01:10 PM
Next ensure that it is time bound. I see too many CTAs made that aren't time bound. What I mean, is that this offer can't last forever. IT has to have an end date...

by RyanCaligiuri 9/21/2012 5:02:14 PM
If you can incorporate those three elements into a call to action you'll be able to create a stronger statement that the market will take interest in.

by RyanCaligiuri 9/21/2012 5:02:59 PM
OK, so make the calls to action relevant, valuable and timely. Thanks Ryan. Here's our next question, from Athena...

by Katherine Scarrow 9/21/2012 5:03:54 PM
Are we always trying to drive someone to action? Can we not just inform them and leave it at that? I’m not questioning the importance of a call to action I just don’t think we always need to drive someone to take action.

by Athena 9/21/2012 5:03:57 PM
Hi Athena, thanks for your question! For myself and my clients, anything that we put out has a CTA attached to it...

by RyanCaligiuri 9/21/2012 5:05:16 PM
Why? Because our sole purpose is to continue filling our pipeline with opportunities so we can continue to grow our business...

by RyanCaligiuri 9/21/2012 5:06:07 PM
In our news releases we include CTAs, in our sales sheets we have CTAs, website pages, postcards, even business cards. We're trying to get the market to engage us so we can start building a relationship with them...

by RyanCaligiuri 9/21/2012 5:07:11 PM
That was speaking from a B2B perspective, but also from the B2C angle, our ads will never be display ads without a CTA...

by RyanCaligiuri 9/21/2012 5:07:47 PM
I work with many B2C clients who take out ads and don't try to get people who view the ad to take action. To me this is such a waste of money...

by RyanCaligiuri 9/21/2012 5:08:40 PM
Brand awareness is a game for the large corporations with money to burn. Not for us SMEs who need to continue investing and reinvesting in our companies...

by RyanCaligiuri 9/21/2012 5:09:16 PM
If you're in business to grow and ensure you have a nice profit and can keep the lights on then we do everything in our power to grow our company and sustain growth. If that's our objective, CTAs absolutely will not hurt you. They will help you a great deal.

by RyanCaligiuri 9/21/2012 5:10:32 PM
A Call to action to me is something that only old school marketers who are trying to fleece their customers do. Why are we always trying to push push push? When does it end? A CTA as you call it, should be something that is briefly seen and should only be presented to those late in the funnel not at the beginning. I just don’t understand your reasoning for blanketing CTAs throughout all of you marketing.

by Zanzibar 9/21/2012 5:11:10 PM

Smart marketing with Ryan Caligiuri

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