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The Call to Action is the Ad

By Michael Stelzner

Interestingly, I am seeing a trend in online advertising.

The call to action (also known as the action step) is becoming the entire ad.

Last week I talked about how Hoovers was using a white paper as the ad.

Now I see that American Express is also using a compelling call to action as the entire substance of the ad.

Take a look below (I had to scale this ad down to fit it on my blog).

Also notice that this call to action is both compelling (free ticket) AND gives a sense of urgency by stating, “Limited time offer” and “Get a decision in 60 seconds.”

Notice what is absent:

  • No mention of the product
  • No mention that you must apply

This is really a great ad that simply has a super compelling offer.

I am guessing it is performing well.

What are your thoughts?

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 28th, 2007 at 5:15 am and is filed under 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.

  • The more things change, the more they are the same.

    When direct marketers run small print advertisements in national magazines, the "rule" is to make every word count and make the whole ad the response device. We even put cut line borders around the whole ad that screamed, "Respond to me!!!"

    Online marketers would do well to study what works in other media, because there are distinct similarities and learnings from other media that work for online creative.
  • Brian Spare
    Short and sweet. If you want an amex card just click here. I guess it works. I for one do not have time to read lines and lines of copy. Keep it simple.
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