The three-point checklist for your call to action
- Wed, August 03 2011
- Filed under: Marketing essentials
I believe most social good campaigns go wrong for one of two reasons.
The first reason is they weren’t matched to the values and perspective of the audience.
The second reason is they had a weak or confusing call to action.
Before you launch that social good campaign, stop and check your call to action. Here are three critical questions to ask yourself:
1. Do you have one simple call to action? Really, one. No more than one. The more choices you present, the less likely people are to act.
2. Is the action a clear, credible way to make a difference? Carefully match the call to action to the need or impact you have outlined. People must believe their action will accomplish something real.
3. Is the call to action as easy as it could possibly be? Preferably, one-click easy. Remove obstacles like many steps or a seemingly huge commitments. Like I always say, it’s easy to say no to something hard. It’s hard to say no to something easy!
Running down this checklist can make a huge difference in the number of people that will take action - and the collective impact they will have.
Comments
Katya, Thank you for the post.
Once an organization develops what they think is a compelling call to action, what have you found is the best way to test that message? Is there a best practices rubric, or is it simply going out and asking your population to share what they think?
Thanks,
Doug
Hi Doug,
Great question. Rather than asking your audience members what they think, I’d see what they do. There’s often a difference between how people think they’ll react theoretically and what happens in real life. Send your message out to a small sample and see what happens. Did they donate/sign the petition/agree to take action? Another great testing method is to watch a few people receiving your message and observing them trying to take action. Sit down next to them at the computer or watch them enter your event and see whether everything goes smoothly. This can ensure your action is as easy to undertake as you hope it to be. Good luck!