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Your Last Words Matter, The Call To Action

By Michael Stelzner

In 1960, a researcher named Howard Leventhal proved that the last thing you say in writing has a HUGE impact.

http://www.intervet.de/Binaries/61_34702.jpgThe story involves tetanus shots and Yale students.

The Yale students were given compelling written materials–some graphical. The goal was to convince them of the importance of getting a tetanus shot.

HOWEVER, only 3 percent acted and got the shot.

Perplexed, Leventhal decided to add the following to the end of his materials:

  • A map of the school
  • A circle around the facility providing the shot
  • The hours when shots were administered

The result - HUGE! A 900 percent improvement. A large 28 percent of students got the shot, up from only 3 percent.

Take home message: A clear call to action at the end of a white paper, or any persuasive document, WILL increase the likelihood readers will act.

Special thanks to colleague Ed Gandia for writing about this interesting story.

What are your thoughts about closing action steps? Do you have any examples of some successful strategies.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 4th, 2006 at 4:28 pm and is filed under Marketing, Writing White Papers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

  • I'm a internet marketer and i will sign up for your newsletter so i can learn more call to action techniques
  • Thanks Kate!
  • Kate Hinton-Burnette
    This is the first time I’ve received your newsletter, and I just want to thank you for the specific and very useful practical information you provided in it via your “Call to Action” segment. In a nutshell, you have given us the heart and soul of what white papers need to accomplish. I will look forward to the next gem I get from you!
  • Awesome, man
  • Oh, I just meant that I stuck a piece of paper with "Call To Action!" written on it above my computer screen, as a reminder. As I said, it applies to most all business writing scenarios!

    Terri
  • Terri - Glad to have you! Tell me about your call to action. - Mike
  • I was considering signing up for your January 11 teleclass, mentioned in the latest "Well-Fed E-Pub," so I thought I'd check out your site first. It was great to find an article right off the bat, freely available, that was so helpful! It prompted me to stick a "Call To Action!" tag on my computer, because the concept applies to most all business writing. Thanks for the tip, and I'll "see" you on January 11th!

    Terri Keller

    P. S. Your call to action on the sign-up page was very effective (i. e., "Space is limited" :-).
  • Hi Cynthia - Thanks for stopping by!

    John - Gotta love those Kriby folks!

    Mike
  • Similar thing happened with me also. A vacuum cleaner salesman came home and demonstrated his product. (He was having a bad cold and snifling throughout.) Every time he would finish one part of his demo he would ask, "Like it." I would nod, meaning "Yes." And then in the end he sat there and opened his order book and started writing the order. Imagine! I said "wait a minute," and he said, "But you liked the product, didn't you?"

    That's what asking for the order is about.

    John
    http://johnwriter.com
  • Thanks for the tips and pointers. I am newer to blogging and want to make my pieces informative and inspiring for those who drop by to reaad them. I will do my best to incorporate a call to action. With my line of work, that's what I really want prospective clients to do. Thanks again.
  • Hi Ed - Thanks for stopping in and inspiring this post. - Mike
  • Sandra
    Thanks! Now that you mention it I do actually incorporate similar things in most of the white papers I've written/edited in the past. I guess it just never occured to me that I was doing it - or that it was indeed a true call to action.

    Thanks again for making me refocus and rethink.
  • There are a number of next steps you could offer. Some ideas...

    * URL where they can download other related white papers

    * URL that allows them to download a case study

    * Offer some kind of appointment, value assessment, ROI calculator, etc.

    * Give them a phone number to call to get pricing, schedule an appointment or request any of the above items


    In most cases, the next step after reading a white paper is not a purchase. However, think about what a logical/desirable next step might be in their buying cycle...and offer to help them take that step.
  • Sandra
    Thanks for the reminder. As a marketer I do use a call to action in the vast majority of pieces; but not in white papers. Typically the white paper *is* my call to action - click here to download your FREE copy of. . . They click, they leave me their contact info and download commences. I get a lead.

    It never occured to me to include the call within the white paper itself. I think it's always scared me to do so. I have a fear that urging a paricular action moves the white paper from informational docuement they'll hopefully keep around to thinly disguised marketing piece. Am I alone in this? What type of call to action helps straddle this line 'safely'?
  • Mike,

    Thanks for writing about this. I wrote that article because, for a great number of marketers, the call to action seems to be an afterthought. Most writers won't even include a next step in a white paper. Maybe they think it's silly and it won't lead to anything. But this story (the tetanus shot experiment) proves that's not the case. In fact, as a marketer, if you're not moved by this story, something's wrong!

    To marketers who disagree, I challenge them to think about their own, personal experiences. I know I that I was in sales for 11 years...and a simple call to action still works on ME (even though I know what the other person is doing by asking)!

    Just the other day, my wife and I had a contractor give us a quote on some significant landscaping work. My intention was to get a quote and then discuss it with my wife privately before getting back to him. Well, the guy gave me the quote and asked me right there (in a tactful manner) if I wanted to move forward. Guess what? I told him "yes."

    Had he not asked, we would have thought about it for about 3 or 4 days. Who knows -- we may have even talked ourselves out of the thing (very likely).

    It's not a "technique." It's not about manipulation. It's about asking some folks who are on the fence to move one step forward. Some will, some won't. But if you don't ask, few will...if at all.

    Ask for the next step. It works!
  • Hi,

    Yes the sales letter must end by asking for the order. Mostly we do not ask for the order, and the reader justs throws the letter away. Thanks for the valuable inputs, as a content and technical writer I can appreciate.

    Do visit my website: http://johnwriter.com

    John
  • Wow ! That was worth more than the cost of admission. Thanks for that marketing/blogging/sales lesson.

    I'll be trying to use that on my blog posts, white papers and other marketing publications.
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