10 Characteristics of Killer Twitter CTAs You Can Use Today

A CTA, or call-to-action, tells your audience what action you want them to take. It lights the path to the next point of engagement with your brand, and is a cornerstone of marketing messages both on- and offline. When it comes to Twitter, the typical actions that most brands want to see are clicks, follows, retweets, replies, and (to a lesser extent) favorites. We've compiled 10 types of CTAs that are especially effective on Twitter, whether you are trying to generate awareness, launch a new product, or move customers down the sales funnel. 1. Make it urgent. If your CTA has a time limit, your audience will feel more compelled to take action now. "Buy before midnight!" has urgency, while "Buy now!" doesn't. 2. Be ultra-clear. Do you want your audience to visit your website? Tell them. Give them your address. Be explicit. Don't be subtle - after all, with hundreds or thousands of tweets coming through their screens every day, they don't have time to scrutinize your clever copy. 3. Make the benefit stand out. Why should your Twitter followers engage with your brand? What's in it for them? Your CTA should clearly outline what they'll get out of following you or clicking your link. 4. Instil confidence and reduce risk. A CTA that asks someone to sign up for a free trial, rather than signing on for a year's subscription, will almost always be more effective. Try to point your Twitter audience to a low-risk option before they are required to commit to your offer. 5. Keep it short. A tweet is just 140 characters. And if you're including a URL, username, image or other multimedia, your promotional tweet can quickly be cut down to fewer than 100 characters. So keep your CTA short - under 5 or 6 words if you can - to save space. 6. Use action language. Click here. Download now. Start your free trial. Retweet to win. Each of these CTAs has one thing in common: they start with a verb. Be direct and action-oriented in your CTA for the best results. 7. Make it personal. The more your know about your audience, the more you'll be able to tailor your Twitter CTAs to their interests and desires. 8. Be persistent. If you're running a 24-hour promotion, don't just tweet about it once in the morning and hope your audience takes action. Space out your tweets, and change the language, to really hammer your CTA home. 9. Build it from data, not your gut. Explore timing, audience and past engagement data to determine which types of CTAs will be most effective. And bonus points if you run some A/B testing - sending multiple CTAs with slight variations - to see which version resonates most with your audience. 10. Keep it going. The best Twitter CTAs don't begin and end with Twitter: they are part of a larger sales and marketing cycle. Whether you capture a lead on Twitter and nurture it via email or vice versa, remember that your customer's experience with your brand can potentially span across multiple devices, networks and locations. (Call to action image via Shutterstock)

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10 Characteristics of Killer Twitter CTAs You Can Use Today

Lauren Dugan

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Lauren Dugan