Content Marketing: The CTA You Should Use in Your Content

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At First, Nobody Trusts You

In content marketing, your call to action (CTA) should never ask people to buy immediately because someone reading a blog post or watching a video is simply trying to figure out how to solve a problem and isn't ready to spend money yet (source: "How to Measure Marketing Effectiveness: 6 Key Strategies for Success," Harvard Business School).

If someone reads your article and sees a button that says "Buy Now" at the end, they'll probably ignore it because they don't know you well enough and haven't figured out whether your product is actually right for them.

They might even be familiar with the product but prefer to buy it on Amazon rather than from an unfamiliar person or company, since Amazon has an excellent track record and is trusted by practically every online shopper.

The problem is that if someone leaves your blog without giving you their contact information, you could lose them forever.

That's why, in content marketing, it's better to use a CTA that invites readers to subscribe to your newsletter in exchange for a free trial of your product rather than trying to make an immediate sale (source: "How to Create a Lead Generation Website: 9 Simple Optimizations," HubSpot).

Why a Newsletter With a Free Trial Works Better

Asking for an email address is a much smaller commitment than asking for a payment, especially when someone has just discovered your business and hasn't had a chance to develop any trust in you.

Offering a free trial makes subscribing even more appealing because it provides an immediate benefit: people don't have to take your word for it, since they can try the product and decide for themselves whether it's useful.

If they don't like it or find that it doesn't meet their needs, they can simply stop using it without losing a single dollar.

Of course, for this strategy to work, the free trial must allow people to achieve a small but meaningful result right away.

A Newsletter Lets You Keep Selling After Someone Leaves Your Website

The real advantage of this strategy is that once you have someone's email address, you can continue communicating with them through your newsletter and help them better understand how your product can solve their problem.

For example, you could send an email explaining how to achieve their first result with the free trial, then show them how to get more out of the product by sharing a video you've already published on YouTube or social media.

This way, the person gradually gets to know you and has a chance to see for themselves whether your product actually delivers what you promise.

That experience builds much more trust than simply reading an article about your business, because they've already used your product and know what to expect.

If they eventually decide to buy, they'll feel much more comfortable purchasing from you because you're no longer a stranger asking for their money.

How to Write a Persuasive CTA

In content marketing, you should never write "Subscribe to Our Newsletter" or "Start Your Free Trial" because these phrases don't explain what specific benefit someone will receive.

A good CTA must connect directly to the problem discussed in your content and show readers what they can achieve with the free trial.

For example, if you've written an article about how to organize work more effectively and you sell task management software, you could use a CTA like this:

Want to organize your work more effectively? Sign up and try the basic version of our software for free to create your first work plan

This CTA works particularly well because readers immediately understand what they'll be able to accomplish and see the free trial as a natural continuation of the article they've just read.