Crafting a clear call to action

Every good mail piece has a clear call to action - it tells the prospect what to do next and creates the sense of urgency to act NOW. This can be pick up the phone, fill out a response card, go to a website, etc. While the call to action is often overlooked, it is critical because the only objective to your marketing is to get someone to respond, period.

We've all received pieces of mail that want us to do something. And they're typically covered with act now, supplies are limited, this is a limited time offer, this offer expires soon, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and so on. Why do people still do this? Everyone knows that the limited time offer is probably twenty years. The answer is because it works. Infomercials are masters of this principle. Call now and receive a discount. Call in the next 10 minutes and receive a free gift. But wait, call right this second and you get another product, a 59 dollar value, absolutely free.

Use Action Words. Hurry, you must act now. And so on. These words are good motivators and get people moving. Troubled homeowners need to know the consequences of doing nothing. You would think that it is self evident that if you default on mortgage payments, the bank will foreclose. It is not. Distressed homeowners need to be reminded that they will lose their home if they do not work with you. A staggering number of homeowners in pre foreclosure are in denial. They think that their problems will dispear, or a large sum of money will somehow be deposited in their bank account. I once read a statistic from Freddie Mac that up to 75% of homeowners do not even make contact with their lender. It is critical that you outline the series of events leading up to the Sheriff coming to their door.

While the most common call to action would be to get a troubled homeowner to pick up the phone and call for a consultation, there are other possibilities.

I believe that there may be people that want to pick up the phone to call but they are just not quite ready yet - they need to be nurtured a little bit before they are ready to make that next step. To "warm" them a little bit, consider offering more than one call to action. Of course you want them to get hooked and pick up the phone. But for those people that aren't quite ready to trust you, how about:

"Call or write for a free report on your credit reporting rights" or
"Call or write for a checklist of steps you can do when you receive a certified letter from your lender."
"Email me a free report on new legislation..." etc.

By using these types of calls to actions, you will establish credibility as an expert in your field, which in turn builds trust. You will also be providing valuable information to homeowners who may need the information but aren't ready to call you - yet.

Of course, you can drive them to a website. I'm somewhat nervous about this because simply inviting a distressed homeowner to a website doesn't mean anything will be accomplished. "Visit my site" is a weak call to action because it does not give a reason to go there. It's possible that you can pique the homeowners curiosity and they will visit the website. But then what? They've done what you asked them to do, but what does it result in? They can go to your site and say, "that's a pretty site with some good information". Unfortunately, that does not lead to more money for you.

A better call to action would be "visit my website to register for a free seminar" or "visit my website to download a white paper", etc. The point is to spell out specifically what the homeowner should do next. If you are volunteering something of value, I believe that there should be a reciprocation, a give and take. Before they have access to your free report or checklist or whatever snippet of information you are providing, prompt them for their contact information in a web-based form. Once they fill out the form, they can move onto what they came for. This way, you can measure your direct marketing results and more importantly, have the homeowners email address to correspond to. You might consider making a questionnaire, but caution should be exercised because by asking for too much information, you can lose the web visitor.