How and where should you put a call to action in your content marketing?

1. A – Z of
CONTENT
MARKETING
C is for
Calling to
Action
mcm2, Nantwich, Cheshire - www.mcm2.co.uk
Confidential mcm2

2. The trouble with a lot of content marketing is that
people tend to forget the real purpose of it.
So, why are you spending all this time creating
content, developing video’s, podcasts, training and
development material?
Is it because you have a burning desire to change the
world?
Is it because you have always fancied yourself as an
author or radio show presenter? (Listen to some
podcasts and you can hear how much some people want
to be famous, how they think they are dj’s).
Or is it because you want your targets to do something?
Confidential mcm2

3. So, what exactly is it that you want to achieve?
What do you want your audience to do?
If you don’t want them to do something then what is the
point in you creating the content?
It does not have to be a physical action, it can be that they
feel something, that they have an emotional connection
to your company.
But you are trying to prompt a response, you are trying to
do get them to do something.
And, as with all forms of marketing, you need to ask. If
you don’t ask them to do something, then they won’t.
Confidential mcm2

4. Attention
Interest
Desire
Action
Let’s go back to basic marketing
theory, which I know is very old fashioned
but in the end it is all about;
• Getting their attention
• Making them interested
• Building their desire
• Making them act.
Confidential mcm2

5. You need to start thinking about each part
of the customer journey and what you
want them to do at each point.
Attention So then, take your content plan and – as
far as you can – work out which part of the
journey it fits into. Now, this is not exact,
but without doing this we are just throwing
content out willy nilly.
Interest So, start with a list of all the things you are
doing and or want to do.
So for example have a look at the next
slide.
Desire
Action
Confidential mcm2

6. Training Video
Weekly Podcast
Newsletter
Attention Blog News Content
Slide share Presentation 1
Blog Ideas Content
Micro Video
Blog Case Studies Content
Interest
Twitter feed
Desire
This is only an example of what it could
be, you need to list out all the content you
do and you want to do. Action
Do it by style. Our content tends to fall into
categories, for example a blog might be
made up of news items, cases studies and
ideas, sharing ideas with people, each can
operate in a different area of the journey
Confidential mcm2

7. By doing this process you can start to work
out what you want each piece to do
Attention My slideshare presentation is there to do a number of things. it
is hopefully meaty enough for the reader to move on to being
interested.
Blog News Content What I want them to do is visit my website, where there is loads
more content. So I end it with a gentle push, an invite to the site.
Slide share Presentation 1
Interest
Newsletter
Weekly Podcast
Blog Ideas Content
Desire
Twitter feed
Training Video
Slide share Presentation 1
Action
Blog Case Studies Content
Micro Video
So, my micro video is a short punchy video explaining a single point of
content, I really want people to pick up to actually buy from me, so it
ends with a harder message, a more direct sell.
Confidential mcm2

8. Each piece of content is
assessed by what I want the
reader or viewer to do as a
result of that content.
Attention So, visit my website, view
another presentation, give
Blog News Content me a review, whatever it is.
Slide share Presentation 1
The key is that it is
Interest measurable, I will usually
know if someone has taken
Newsletter that action.
Weekly Podcast
Blog Ideas Content
Desire
Twitter feed
Training Video
Slide share Presentation 1
Action
Blog Case Studies Content
Micro Video
Confidential mcm2

9. The real trick is to ask and then incentivise.
So ask them to do something and give
them a reason to do it.
Remember that if you don’t ask them, then
they probably won’t do it.
If you don’t give them a reason to act, then
they probably won’t act.
If they have read and or enjoyed your
content then they are in the perfect
position to accept you asking for
something in return.
So at some point in every piece of content
put in a call to action, ask them to do what
you want them to do
Confidential mcm2

10. So, in that vein, we have lots of
information on our website, including a
quick test to see how good your
content strategy is -
http://www.mcm2.co.uk/test
Have a look and let us know what you
think.
Illustrations courtesy of Tom Joyce -
http://tomjoyceillustration.blogspot.co.uk/
Confidential mcm2