How to get people to respond to your calls to action

As solopreneurs, we are often asking people to take action in some way.  The most obvious way is to make a purchase, but there are other things we want people

to do such as enter an email, download a report, answer a question or take a survey.   How do you get people to respond to a non-sales call to action?

First, make it obvious what you want them to do and why they should do it.  I cringe when I see someone I’ve never heard of saying “Like my Facebook page.”  They got the first part right – it’s very clear what they want.  But why would I do that?  If I’ve never heard of the person why would I waste even a few seconds checking their page out without more information?  A better choice might be something like “Like my Facebook page for daily tips on training your rescue dog.”  Now I know what they offer on the page and can make a quick decision as to whether it’s for me.  The only exception to this would be celebrities, sports figures, politicians, etc who are innately interesting to their fans.

Second, make it easy.  People don’t have the time or attention span to read complex instructions on your calls to action.   What you are asking them to do should be easy – click a button, enter an email, fill out a survey, etc.   The most difficult request I’ve seen was someone asking for 5 questions to be submitted via Twitter direct message.  The person was gathering information, so other than helping him or her there was no incentive to the reader.  They didn’t ask for only 1 question, they wanted 5. Twitter direct messages are one of the more inconvenient way to submit questions as well.  If you’re asking for help or feedback, make it really easy for people to jump in and do it.

Third, offer a thank you for their help.   Don’t make it too enticing or you may get people doing what you ask just for the reward.  If you are trying to survey your market, this might skew the results or you might get people just slopping their way through whatever you ask for just to get the reward.  For ideas, you could offer a free downloadable product or one of my favorites, offer to mention them in a tweet.  I was thrilled to complete a survey for someone who offered to thank you in a tweet to her tens of thousands of Twitter followers.

Don’t be afraid to ask people to help you or to do something. Just make it obvious, easy and rewarding for them to do so.

Have you ever had a successful call to action? What made it a success?