Improving Your Call-to-Action
Persuading mailing-list members, sphere contacts, and geographical farm residents to interact with you - unless you are standing right there - often comes down to how compelling your call-to-action is. Learn how to craft a better one with these insights and examples.
There's a skill to marketing and today I want to talk about calls-to-action. A call-to-action (or CTA) is when you prompt your reader to do something. So, if you are sending out a market update mailer, your call-to-action might be something like, "Call me if you want to learn more about the market or get quarterly updates on how your property is performing."
Clients who are using our Club Zebra mailer content or who are part of our LeadMagnet service don't have to worry about this - we take care of crafting a solid call-to-action for them. However, if you are creating a marketing piece on your own for the mail, for social media, for an advertisement, or anywhere else, you need to think about what your call-to-action will be. What is it you want your readers to do?
When creating a real estate marketing piece, it is important to think first about the action you want the reader to take and work backwards from there to create your content. It is easy to think about marketing this way when you have a specific action you want the reader to take. For example, if you are having a client appreciation party and want your clients to RSVP after reading an invitation, that is pretty straightforward.
What about when you are mailing each month to stay in touch and your message has gotten stale? If you are saying something like the following message after message:
- "Contact me with your questions!"
- "Email me to get an updated home value!"
- "Send me your referrals!"
Then it is definitely time to get creative!
Are They Ready?
Remember, if someone isn't ready to buy or sell, no call-to-action - except an offer of an unexpected bucket of money - will likely inspire them to pick-up the phone to buy or sell. Therefore, calls-to-action from your regular client or farm communication shouldn't be based on the expectation that someone is ready to buy or sell. Instead, they should be about providing something of value, being of service, and building the relationship. Keep this in mind when forming your prompt.
You may also want to think about what would make you take action if someone was marketing to you. For example, let's say you want someone to reach out and have a conversation to build the relationship, how about something like this:
"I am currently scheduling Equity Reviews with my clients. Click here (with a link to a scheduling app or QR code) to schedule your Equity Review."
If you want to provide something of value to a farm area, consider something like this:
"I have created a "Farm Area" multi-page quarterly report that I would love to get into your hands. Email agent@agent.com or call 555-555-5555 and I will drop it by your house!"
(you can also mail it as you prefer)
Literally, you can create a quarterly report using data from your MLS in mere minutes. In fact, we just did a video tutorial this week on how to create snazzy graphs in Excel using MLS market data AND provided an Excel template for Club Zebra Members. (Click here to check it out!
What Can You Offer?
What else do you have of value? Go through your listing and buyer materials and see what you have that would be helpful to someone and would be a stand-alone piece that you could send along to someone. For example (we have added links to our Club Zebra resources for our members, but you may have versions of these supplied by your brokerage):
Or maybe even resources on your webpage such as:
- Mortgage Calculator
- Dream Home Finder Form
- A customized home search of their neighborhood to let them know when something comes on the market
Another idea? Offer a customized open house tour package for past clients who, you know, "aren't really looking but could use something fun to do on a weekend." You would be surprised at how many clients who "aren't really looking" turn into, "okay we're ready to sell" clients. You can also offer themed open house tour packages throughout the month - condos, historic homes, mid-century modern, homes with income potential, etcetera.
When you think about it, there is a wealth of items that you can offer your clients or a farm area! Get creative, think about the types of items your audience may want, and revamp your call-to-action!
By Denise Lones CSP, M.I.R.M., CDEI - The founding partner of The Lones Group, Denise Lones, brings nearly three decades of experience in the real estate industry. With agent/broker coaching, expertise in branding, lead generation, strategic marketing, business analysis, new home project planning, product development, Denise is nationally recognized as the source for all things real estate. With a passion for improvement, Denise has helped thousands of real estate agents, brokers, and managers build their business to unprecedented levels of success, while helping them maintain balance and quality of life.