TA #65: 📞 The Best CTA (+ Why It Works); 40 Writing Tips

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Welcome to the 65th issue of Total Annarchy, a fortnightly newsletter by me, Ann Handley, with a focus on writing, content, marketing, life. A special hello to new subscribers. 📖 THANK YOU for being here. P.S. Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe right here.

Boston, Sunday, July 19, 2020

Hi, chickadee.

In my two decades of marketing experience, this is one truism I've learned: Some of the best marketing ideas are first proposed as a joke.

The crazy off-the-wall concept that someone works up the courage to share with the group. The punts that come in the final hour of a brainstorm. The flash of half-drunk inspiration.

That kind of thing.

Why is that? Because good marketing requires fearlessness.

You have to be willing to veer left toward the bumpy road of unknown when the rest of the world is veering to the worn-smooth right. And that's inherently risky. So it's safer to serve up an idea when it's couched with a ha-ha yeah-no I was just kidding.

Same is lame (to quote Super Mario and Jay Baer). Expected gets overlooked.

When I see great marketing, I try to imagine the person who shoved the idea into the spotlight.

That willingness—that gumption to push the crazy idea, fearless neck stuck out—is part of why I love marketing. It's the thrill of when a crazy idea hurls itself off a cliff and sticks the landing.

* * *

You see two calls to action when you get to North Carolina's Currituck County Economic Development home page. The button on the left is standard; the one on the right is extraordinary:

Let me restate that:

The "Call Larry" CTA would be extraordinary for almost any company. But this Larry button is extraordinarily extraordinary. Because this is a county government agency we're talking about. And "Larry" is Larry Lombardi, Currituck's economic development director.

"It's a sea of sameness in that category—nearly every municipality talks about 'quality of life,' their outstanding workforce, and state and local incentives to get companies to move to their location," says Douglas Burdett, who runs a marketing agency in Norfolk, Virginia, just 36 miles north of Currituck.

Doug worked with Currituck on its new-site launch, and the idea was suggested (you guessed it) as a joke. (Idea, meet cliff.)

I picked up the phone and I called Larry. He answered.

He told me he gets about 15 calls a month from people, most of whom aren't just randos like me. Larry's last call was from a woman asking about how to get a business license.

"I'm happy to chat," he said. "Even if it's not an actual opportunity, I might learn something."

* * *

Why should Larry matter to you and your business? Let's break it down.

The copywriting. Look, you can read every blessed blog post on the Internet about best practices in copywriting and call to action buttons. Not a single one is going to tell you to write "Call Larry" on your CTAs. Not. One.

👉 The most effective copywriting reflects who you are, not just what you sell.

The A in the CTA. It says "Call." Not "Contact." Not "Text." Not "Fax" (LOL). There is no robo-Larry chatbot that pops up.

No one calls anymore—it's old-school. Takes too much time. Too random. Too interruptive.

Right? Not true.

You know who wants you to interrupt him? Larry. In part because it builds trust and affinity. And precisely because it is folksy and old-school—not unlike Currituck itself.

👉 From Larry: "People know what you do. You have to sell them on who you are."

The CTA copy doesn't thrive in solitary confinement. That "Call Larry" button in isolation would come across as weird. It works because it's expressed implicitly and explicitly across all that the agency does.

The back of Larry's business card reads "Call Larry." The agency's collateral and display ads feature the same copy and approach. The newsletter is (you guessed it) a literal letter from Larry.

👉 No one thrives in isolation. ThinkCurrituck.com is one of the highest-traffic websites compared with its competitors, Doug said.

* * *

So, over to you:

What's a crazy idea you'd suggest as a joke?
What is your Call Larry opportunity?

* * *

Here are a few things worth sharing this week.

40 Writing Tips

Express your most important idea in the shortest sentence.
Always get the name of the dog.
Place the emphatic word in a sentence at the end.

I shared this item 2 years ago, when this list was about 4 times smaller and only 423 people clicked on it. So I'm sharing it again because this writing tip sheet is pure gold—if you want more lively, accurate, sharper writing.

I learned many of these tips in Journalism school, but I still think about some of them almost every day.

Instructions: Print out the tip sheet. Use a Sharpie to cross out "journalism" and sub in "content marketing." Tack it over your workspace. BOOM YOU ARE IN BUSINESS.

Click on the picture above for the full image. Get the PDF here.

The Easy, Three-Step Headline Formula

...is this "acronym": E-T-C.

E = End result your customer wants +
T = Time they can get it in +
C = Conquer the objections they will have

Try it on your next blog post. As in:

[How to Get More Sales] + [In 7 Days] + [Without Being an Extrovert]
[Get in Front of Big-Time CEOs] + [in 3 Business Days] + [Without Going Through Gatekeepers]
[10x Your Productivity With Remote Meetings] + [in Less Than 3 Months] + [Without Your Boss's Approval]

Copywriter Austin Kelly also suggests the exceptions to the rule... err, initialism.* Good stuff over at MarketingProfs.

* One-second grammar lesson: Isn't "ETC" an acronym? No, it's an initialism. An initialism is an abbreviation pronounced one letter at a time. An acronym is an abbreviation pronounced as a word (NASA, YOLO).

QUICKIES

👫 21 Nonobvious Ways to Network Remotely. How do you build relationships without in-person events and meetups...? The wonderful Goldie Chan polls 21 leaders (including me) for their best ideas.

💬 How Metaphors Make Your Writing Stronger. "We use them so much in everyday language that we often don't even notice them, but metaphors and similes help us think more deeply—and make sense of the world around us."

Love this: "A cliché is a brilliant metaphor that is a victim of its own success."

➕ The Most Essentials Skills for Aspiring Marketers. Behold the Yin and Yang of Marketing in 2020 in one glorious chart! Cast your gaze upon the balance of critical hard skills (measurement, analytics) and sweet, sweet soft skills (content, copywriting).... [via Rand Fishkin, SparkToro]

Related: The fourth item listed here is super interesting: Advocating for Marketing—teaching others about marketing's value—is a critical part of the work itself.

Also related: The Ultimate LinkedIn Cheat Sheet. Crazy useful.

SHELFIES

What I'm reading:

"Don't use jargon to describe people. It's both disrespectful and bad writing. I never called my parents alcoholics; I showed myself pouring vodka down the sink. Give information in the form you received it." —The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr

DEPARTMENT OF SHENANIGANS

The most relatable quarantine writing ever.

LOVE LETTERS

Will return next time

Thanks for reading this far. Thanks for your kindness and generosity.

Stay safe. Stay sane. Wear a mask.

I'll be back on August 2.

P.S. If you like this newsletter and want to support it, buy a book. Or forward this newsletter to a friend with an invitation to subscribe right here: www.annhandley.com/newsletter.

SELECT PUBLIC EVENTS
NOTE: Many dates have changed; some events are now online only. Here's what I've confirmed so far. More to come. Current update:

📅 July 22: Tiny House AMA [Ask Me Anything]. Join me in my tiny house for a writing AMA.

📅 July 28: Moneyball for Marketing: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. Meet Billy Beane + learn how his Moneyball strategy can apply to you and your work.

📅 🆕 July 29: Content Marketing in the Age of Uncertainty [SAS webinar, FREE]

📅 September 15-18: UBA Trends Day, Brussels, Belgium [online]

📅 November 3-6: MarketingProfs B2B Forum. Code ANNLIKESME saves you $.

📅 November 30-December 2: Digital Sales and Marketing World, Hartford, CT

📅 Your Date Here: Book me to speak

➡️ ➡️ ➡️ Not into this? No problem: Unsubscribe right here.

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Ann Handley is the author of Everybody Writes and other books.
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Ann Handley
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TA #65: 📞 The Best CTA (+ Why It Works); 40 Writing Tips

Older messages

TA #64: 🐿️ A Marketing Parable, the ROI of Empathy

TA #63: 🍋 How to Find a Job Right Now; Making Hard Lemonade Out of Lemons

TA #62: 🗣️ Brand Voice in a Time of Social Crisis; the One Brand That Schooled the Rest

TA #61: ✍️ A Masterclass in Empathy from an 11-Year-Old Writer; Social Media Pandemic Trends from 60+ Networks

TA #60: 👉 Market Like the NY Times, 17 Non-Obvious Copywriting Tips, Why Zoom Is Exhausting

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