If you want a customer to take action, just ask. What a concept.
Yes, this suggestion means exactly what it says. If you want someone to do something, ask them nicely. You can say, “Buy now.” Or “Act immediately.” Or “Subscribe today.”
As marketing expert Marcia Yudkin puts it, asking someone to do something makes the implicit explicit. Your request is likely implicit in your spoken or written word, yet by making it explicit, you increase the chances that someone will actually do it.
She cites the example of the Salvation Army. In an experiment designed by a Harvard student, contributions increased 75 percent when holiday season bell-ringers greeted shoppers and asked them to contribute. I can cite my own example in collecting for San Mateo City Parks & Rec during its summer concert series. Audience members came up to our booth in droves for their free raffle tickets. And they also dug into their wallets when I went out into the crowd and asked for a contribution—even if they already had their freebie tickets.
If you’re using your website as a sales vehicle, Ms. Yudkin suggests that you include a call to action on every page. Make sure brochures, postcards, and promotional emails also include a call to action. And if you’re standing in front of someone, remember that it never hurts to ask.
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