How to Write an Effective Conversational Marketing Text Call to Action (CTA)

Two team members in front of laptop working together to create a conversational marketing CTA for a text message

Texts are short, simple, and attention-grabbing. In fact, they have a 98% open rate. That’s why they’re the perfect tool for conversational marketing, one of the newest (and most popular) business text messaging strategies. 

Conversational marketing focuses on encouraging leads and inactive customers to initiate conversations with your brand. Once leads and customers reply to conversational marketing content, your team members can connect with them by answering queries, offering insider information, and even recommending products or services. 

Behind every successful conversational marketing text is an effective call to action (CTA). Read on to learn what CTAs are—and how to create one that will encourage customers to interact with your content. 

What Is a Conversational Marketing CTA? 

A call-to-action (CTA) is a statement that asks customers to complete a specific action. CTAs are a must-have for nearly all marketing content. On websites or in marketing emails, they’re accompanied by button images. That way, people can quickly tap on them and move to a relevant landing page

Traditional website CTA buttons may say something like:

  • Buy Now
  • Learn More
  • Start Your Free Trial

Business text messaging doesn’t have HTML capabilities, so you can’t place CTAs within button images. As we’ll explore below, conversational marketing text CTAs look a little different from traditional marketing CTAs.

Why Do My Conversational Marketing Texts Need CTAs? 

Conversational marketing encourages customers to initiate SMS conversations with brands. Including a CTA in these texts lets customers know that your team wants them to respond. It also shows them what appropriate responses might look like. 

Without a CTA, customers who receive a conversational marketing text may:

  • Be unsure whether a response will be addressed by your team
  • Not know what kind of response is expected
  • Feel discouraged from responding

In other words, CTAs are absolutely critical to your conversational marketing texts’ success. 

5 Best Practices for Writing An Effective Conversational Marketing Text CTA

Texts are incredibly short compared to most marketing content. So how do you write an effective CTA in such a unique form?

  1. Keep it short. CTAs should be shorter than the rest of your text, so the focus is on the main content. 
  2. Make it clear. CTAs should be clear, so customers can follow through easily. 
  3. Stay focused. CTAs should be directly related to your main text’s content. 
  4. Sound conversational. CTAs should sound conversational, so customers feel like they’re receiving a request from a human, not a bot. 
  5. Add some flavor. CTAs can include items like emojis and GIFs, so customers are energized and primed to take action. 

CTAs that check all of these boxes are more likely to attract customers’ attention and encourage them to respond. 

5 Examples of Effective Conversational Marketing Text CTAs

Even after reviewing best practices, it can be hard to create conversational marketing CTAs. Most of us learn best by looking at examples. Check out these 5 conversational marketing texts for inspiration, complete with effective CTAs.

Hello, Sam — Tammy from Local Bakery here. What springtime treat would you rather see in our stores: lavender or lemon cupcakes? Reply with your preference to have your vote counted! 🧁  Text STOP to stop receiving texts. 

Hey there Sandra! Coach Jay here. Great news — Swift Shoes is opening a new storefront in West Lakeland. Think you’ll join our new running club? Respond with YES, MAYBE, or NO so we can gauge local interest! Text STOP to unsubscribe. 

Hi Jane! Thanks for attending our Sleek Software Webinar last Friday. Do you have a follow-up question? Text it to us and our experts will reply! Text STOP to unsubscribe.

Hey there Joe, this is your student union rep here. I’m taking a survey: would you rather have pizza or burgers for our end of year celebration? Text back for us to count your vote! 😀  Text STOP to unsubscribe. 

Dear Pamela, Sunshine Creative is happy to announce our new client portal! Checked it out yet? Text back with a number 1-5 to let us know how you like it! 5 means you like it, 1 means it needs improvement. Text STOP to unsubscribe. 

As you can see, there’s a wide variety of conversational marketing CTAs. It’ll be hard to go wrong with one that adheres to CTA best practices and features your unique branding. 

 

Want to learn more about conversational marketing? Check out our blog

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