CTA: Rules for an effective call to action in SMS.

Any marketer knows that the best product packaging is worthless if you don’t push the customer to buy. And such a “push” is just a call to action – CTA. Its use is especially relevant in SMS mailings, because with a short text you need to sell more.

Let’s find out what CTA is, where to use it and how to compose it.

What is CTA?

CTA or call to action is a concise expression or image that encourages your potential client to take the action you need. This is the basis of sales in marketing. In SMS mailings, the call plays an important role. This happens because the client, receiving SMS, is already “warmed up”, he is loyal to you (if you are sent to your base, and not purchased) and he just needs to be prompted. Suggest what to do to get what you want.
Such hints, in our case, calls to action, can be different: buy a product, get a free demo, register on a resource, subscribe to a newsletter, get a consultation, sign up for a lesson, etc. That is, they are both direct – a call to purchase, and indirect – the collection of leads.

Why use CTA?

The Delhi School of Internet Marketing writes that using a personalized call to action converts users into leads by 42% more. From this it is clear that CTA is the main engine of business and sales.
Let’s explore this with an example. You receive an SMS on your phone with the following text: “Oleg, only today when you buy a folding knife (company name) we give 2 covers as a gift!”. Good deal, do you agree? But what to do with it? What do they want from Oleg?
And now let’s add a call there: “Oleg, buy a folding knife (company name), and we will give 2 covers for free! Follow the link and order (link)”.
It became clear, right? Oleg received a profitable offer and immediately followed the link to buy. This is the magic power of CTA. A win-win instruction for action.

How to write CTA correctly?

In fact, there is nothing complicated here, because even one word can be an appeal, the main thing is to choose it correctly. This can be done by following some rules for writing effective SMS.

1. Clearly define what you want to sell to the client. You should decide on the product or service that you will promote in this SMS campaign. Without this, it will be difficult to write a successful call to action.
2. Set the goal of the SMS campaign. If you have a new product, then you should familiarize the client with it. If you want to sell off the leftovers, then you should encourage him to buy quickly. The goal defines the action, in our case a call to action.
3. Write a CTA. Based on the first 2 points, you can already determine what kind of call to action you need to write. A CTA can lead to encouraging a purchase, stimulating interest in a product/service, subscribing to resources, attending events, and so on.

Here are two simple examples of writing text for SMS according to the 3rd rules above.

1. Product: face cream
Purpose: introduction to the new line
CTA: Product page visit

“Mary, we have prepared an improved care for your face. Find out more about the new Mirage cream on the website (link).”

2. Service: back massage
Purpose: Sale of a gift certificate
STA: purchasing a certificate

“Don’t know what to give your soulmate on March 8th? Buy a gift certificate for 2 hours of professional back massage with a -8% discount.”

SMS, which has a call to action, should be as concise as possible. The CTA needs to be written in such a way that the customer has the feeling that he can get a real benefit from your product or service. Write simply so that even a child can understand your sentence, avoid terminology.

IMPORTANT! Always personalize SMS campaigns. The client is pleased to know that you remember his name, especially when you want to get some action from him.

CTA or call to action is not always just “buy!”. Experiment with verbs, change the structure of SMS, test campaigns. All this will help you find your way to your target audience and make SMS an effective sales channel. Also it can be used in manual and automated messages.