CTAs for Business Growth? 3 Ways to Use Calls to Action in Your Online Business

Sarah Brumley

Sarah Brumley

As a mama, you know how hard it is to get people to take action – after all, you have kids with minds of their own. But…when it comes to growing a successful online business action is critical. So…how do we get potential clients and customers to take the next step with us? By using CTAs for Business Growth – and that’s exactly what we’re chatting about on today’s episode of Mama Business. Let’s get started!

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CTA for Business Growth? 3 Ways to Use Calls to Action in Your Online Business

Well hey there and welcome back to another episode of Mama Business. If you’re new here, I just want to say welcome! And if you’ve been around for awhile, welcome back! I like to think of us as mama friends, navigating life and business together no matter how messy or complicated it might get at times. And as your mama friend, I have to say that I think today’s topic may be one of the most critical parts of building a successful business without losing your mind in the process.

So, what are we talking about today? It’s this super tactical strategy of adding Calls to Action or CTAs to the content you create.

And I really want to chat about this topic this week because I’ve come across so many mamas on social media, in their emails, and even in person talking about this great thing they do and the awesome results they just got someone with their weight loss program or skin care regimen or business building tools. They’ve crafted a beautiful post with all of the information and curated a gorgeous image to go with it – but, then they don’t give the reader or listener a “what to do next” instruction.

That’s all well and good if all they want is likes and loves on a post, but if you are looking to grow a business – you need clients. And clients are busy like you are. They are inundated with post after post after post. And their kids interrupt them, too. So, they don’t want to have to dig around your profile to figure out where your website is or send a DM that might end up in message requests. They want to know HOW to get that thing you are providing.

You’ve probably been in the same place, right? You really want that amazing eye cream that takes away all of the wrinkles, but you have no idea where to get it? Or you KNOW you want business growth, but you have no idea how to get on the waitlist for the amazing coaching program that was just discussed?

It’s so frustrating!

And that’s exactly what a CTA is. It’s the call to an action that you specifically want your people to take after they’ve engaged with something you’ve shared. You’ve already created the content. You’ve already sold them on the result! The call to action is for when they’ve reached the “Hell yes! What you are offering sounds amazing!” place in your relationship.

This could be content on social media. On your blog, podcast, or YouTube channel. Via email. Or…even just a discussion you have with someone in person. (Scary – I know…but true!)

…But in the meantime, I just want you to realize that you’ve already got content out there that people are interested in. So it’s time to call them to action. AND, if you haven’t started your business or created any content to-date – that’s okay. Use this as a great tutorial for how to get started the right way!

So, without further ado, let’s jump into chatting about a three ways you can use CTAs to grow your business – no matter what stage you’re in or what platform you are using!

Now, full disclaimer, I’m going to talk about methods you can use both in social media and on other platforms within your business. If you’ve been around for awhile, you probably know that I’m not a huge fan of social media. And I know that goes against what you’ll hear from a lot of online business people, but I haven’t found it to be as successful for my business as some of the other marketing methods. So, just know that I’m not saying to jump onto social media to use these strategies – you can use them elsewhere. But I do know that a lot of mamas start businesses and are sharing to social media platforms. If it’s working for you – that’s okay. All that to say that:

  1. If you are struggling to break away from social media or have given it up – DO NOT ALLOW THIS EPISODE TO STEER YOU BACK TO IT. and
  2. If you are already using social media for your business USE THESE STRATEGIES.

Strategy #1: Use CTAs to Get Subscribers to Your Email List

The first way I’m suggest you use CTAs is to direct people to a place they can subscribe to your email list. If you don’t have an email list, you’ll definitely want to check out EPISODE #___, but for the sake of this episode, we’ll pretend you do.

Your email list is the place that people come to learn more from you. They like what you have to say and they are willing to exchange their email address for something you offer. It could be a freebie that gets them an amazing result OR it could just be a weekly or biweekly update from you about something amazing that’s happening within your life or business and tips they can apply to their own life or business.

And…because we know it takes the average person 8-12 times to come in contact with you – you should always try to capture them as an email subscriber.

So, how do we do this? Well, it’s pretty straightforward:

On social media, go ahead and share that transformation story. Then, feel free to point people to a free resource on your website that allows them to get started with their own transformation.

In my case, I could say something along the lines of:

Denise increased her revenue by $18,000 within 60 days of working with me AND got three new clients from Google search.

All thanks to a one-time, full-site SEO optimization.

Want my FREE Checklist to help you get more clients this year? Grab it at sarahbrumley.com/checklist.

Then…when they register to get that checklist, they get added to your email subscriber list. Win win for everyone, right?

On a piece of long-form content (blog, podcast, YouTube), you can do the same. Have a resource that relates to that piece of content, just go ahead and tell people where they can find it to get the results they want.

Point #2: Use CTAs to Increase Engagement

No matter where you are sharing content – whether that’s on social media, a blog, podcast, or YouTube, engagement helps the platform (or in the case of your blog – Google), determine whether they should show your content to more people. So, sometimes it will benefit you to ask for your listener or follower to do something related to engaging with the content you’ve shared.

On social media, you might have them respond in the comments. In my case, I might share a picture of a mama with her head down on her desk over the top of her computer, and toys and a mess all around her. Then, I might say something like, “The washer broke and my computer is on the fritz. Tell me about your day – please, anything to get my mind off the chaos!” or… “What’s your biggest struggle been this week as a busy mama and business owner?”. “Leave a comment below!”

At that point, you have to remember that responding to their comments is yet another touchpoint (remember those 8-12 that you need to close a sale?). AND – Bonus, if they happen to mention something you’ve just talked about on a piece of long-form content. Because, then you can mention that you just recorded a podcast episode or wrote a blog post or have a free resource on that very topic.

As far as engagement CTAs for long-form content, you can ask for comments on blogs, reviews on podcasts or videos and even for your listener or reader to share it with someone they know that might need that same information. Speaking of which, if you haven’t left the Mama Business Podcast a review yet, take a moment and pause and do just that. It only takes a few seconds and your review helps other mamas like you find this podcast and reap the benefits, too! Plus, I read every single one of them and can’t wait to read yours!

Point #3: Use CTAs to Book More Calls or Purchase Directly

The final CTA strategy I want to bring up today is to use a call to action to book a consultation call or purchase a product directly.

Okay, okay – I can sense that you are already feeling like you’ll be salesy or too forward or…everyone on your social media platform will unfriend you. But stick with me here. Because YOU ARE RUNNING A BUSINESS. And in order to have a business – you have to make money. Or else, you just have a hobby.

And…I don’t think you would be listening to a podcast titled “Mama Business” if you only wanted a hobby.

So, set that thought aside and let’s talk about how to implement this type of CTA across all of your platforms.

In this case, let’s go back to the SEO transformation story I shared earlier. Remember that divorce financial analyst who’s decision to implement SEO had her swimming in more clients than she could handle? Yep. That one. When I shared that initially, I talked about moving people from that story to my email list and a freebie. But, maybe this month, I have three openings for SEO clients and I really want people to book a call with me so that I can fill those slots. In that case, I can simply change the CTA to: “Want these same results for your online business? Schedule a call with me today at ___.” And then make sure to include wherever that call might be able to be scheduled.

Or…if you want someone to be able to purchase a product or get that service right away, then link that instead.

Mama, I feel like I need to say it again: you run a business. You sell a product or offer a service that someone around you needs. So, don’t shy away from offering it because while some will say it’s not for them, others will be SO grateful that you had the willingness to share. It will change their lives if you share it. If you don’t, they’ll be stuck in their same situation without your solution. You don’t want that, right?

I didn’t think so.

Use CTAs for Business Growth

And that brings us to the action part of this episode. I’m a huge proponent of taking action, because action is where the dreams turn into the reality. And it’s why every Mama Business episode comes with action steps you can take immediately to up level your mama life and business.

Today’s action step is this: Take a look at all of the content you currently produce for your business. That could be your website, blog, social media – wherever. Are you using strong CTAs to motivate your potential client or customer? Or…are you leaving them hanging – unsure what to do next.

If they don’t know what to do, more often then not, they will walk away and you won’t engage with them again. I don’t know about you, but that’s a scarier thought than putting myself out there. Because, even if they walk away from my offer – there are others who won’t. I’d hate to miss out on the ability to serve them. Wouldn’t you?

I know from personal experience that I am more likely to accomplish what I set out to do if I am accountable to someone. So DM me on Instagram @sarahlbrumley and share the CTA you plan to use on your next piece of content so that I can cheer you on throughout the process. Because, mama, I am cheering you on.

Have an awesome day!

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