Why Your CTAs Don’t Convert (And How to Fix It)

Most creators don't have a content problem, they have a conversion problem. Your content doesn't convert because quite simply your call to actions suck, and it's not because your content is bad. And if you don't fix it, you're gonna keep wasting time making loads of videos that get possible attention but no action. Today I'm gonna show you 7 different call to actions that are totally appropriate based on what kind of videos you're making, and all of them are proven to work. I've done this for 7 years and we've used 7 different kinds of call to actions inside of numerous organic videos and inside of million-dollar monthly budgets on ad spends. And by the end of this video, for your next upload, you'll be able to implement what call to action is appropriate for the content that you just shot. And when it comes to call to actions, most people only ever just use one. So let's change that. The first call to action, which is the most overused and the most misunderstood one, which is the direct call to action. The direct call to action is what 90% of creators default to. Like, comment, subscribe, click the link below to join now. It's straightforward, clear, and confident. But if it's used too early, it actually reduces conversions. But why is that? Because it violates the principle of reciprocity. You're asking before you're giving anything valuable. In Cialdini's research, people were more likely to take action when they felt they received something first, whether that be a sample, an insight, or a favor. Think of it like this. You walk into a store and the clerk immediately says, hey, wanna buy this? No hello, no context, just demand. The direct call to action can work, but only after you've built trust and delivered value. Typically it's used at the end and only after you've given someone a real win. And the win would be some tangible knowledge that they could use in their next video, like what I just gave you now. The second call to action is the value-first call to action. Give, then guide. Here's a clear example of the value-first call to action. I put together a free resource that walks you through all of this. I'll drop it below. Or better yet, if you want the checklist to automate this, grab it in the description below. You're not selling, you're extending the value. It feels like a bonus, not a pitch. It leverages the principles of commit and consistency. If someone already learned from you, they're more likely to follow your next step. In the real world, this would be like having an amazing steak dinner and then the waiter comes out and says, here's a dessert on the house. They extended the value and now you're more likely to leave that person a tip. Let me give you a creator's example. Justin Walsh launched his ContentOS Notion system. He publicly shared it online and it surpassed $10 million in revenue with $1.3 million annual from his digital courses alone, all using value-first call to actions to deliver massive results. And he publicly shared this because people don't feel sold to, they feel supported. That's the major difference with the value-first call to action. Moving on to the third call to action strategy, and this is the scarcity angle. This urgency drives conversions. We don't act on what we want. We act on what we're afraid of missing. And this call to action exploits that feeling. The scarcity call to action taps into loss aversion. And this concept was proven by Kahneman and Tversky in their Nobel-winning research. People are psychologically twice as motivated to avoid loss than to pursue gain. And this is the prospect theory, which was very well studied back in 1979. To give you an example of how this sounds, it's something like this. We're only accepting 100 spots for this course. Or better yet, the offer ends this Friday. In fact, Booking.com does this all the time. It shows 1 room left or 12 people are viewing this. This tactic drives millions in increased conversions. But remember, fake scarcity can backfire and bad. If people catch on to you, you'll lose your credibility pretty much forever. And the weird thing about trust is it takes years to gain and it takes 1 mess up to lose it all. So use it sparingly. Moving on to number 4 of the call to actions, which is the social proof call to action. Or better yet, follow the herd, because when in doubt, people always follow the crowd. And that's the conformity bias. To give you an example, something like this would be exploiting that call to action. Over 10,000 creators are using these script templates, or it's what our clients use to generate an extra 6 figures in his business in 90 days. Reason being is 'cause social proof makes your call to actions way safer to say yes to. There was a conformity study that happened in the 1950s, and it found that 75% of people gave the wrong answer to basic questions just to go with the group answer. If others are already clicking, joining, and/or subscribing, say it. You're not selling, you're proving. Now, number 5 of the call to actions. This is activating the ego. I call it the ego call to action. This is probably pretty obvious because everyone has an ego, and even the people that don't say they have an ego, that's an ego in itself. You're identifying yourself with a group of people that don't identify themselves. Quite a conundrum. So this call to action works really well, and it's something along the lines as simple as this. Want more comments? Want more shares? Want community? Call out your audience and do something like, try this today and drop your results in the comments, or tag me when you complete this, I'll feature you in my next video. This taps into the public commitment bias. People are more likely to act if they publicly said they were going to do something, and that activates their ego, which is the desire to prove themselves right. Here's a real-world example. Duolingo, the app that teaches you different languages, added daily streak challenges, which caused the engagement to jump over 20%. If your call to action feels like a game or dare, it invites action, not pressure. Number 6, this is the curiosity loop call to action. Basically, unfinished business. The brain hates open loops. That's why curiosity works so well. For example, most people miss this step. I explain it fully in the next video. Or, I didn't even cover the part that saved me 10 hours. Lines like that leave open hooks and cause people to watch a little bit more. If you haven't watched my video on the Zeigarnik effect, it's up here. If you watch that video, it'll explain it far deeper than this video will. But put simply, the reason why it works is we remember and and fixate on unfinished tasks more than completed ones. In fact, Netflix built a billion-dollar empire off of this exact thing. Think about your last binge. Every episode ends with something unresolved, which basically forces you into the next one. Before you know it, it's 3:00 AM and you're like, shoot, I gotta get to sleep. So if you want to boost your session's time or drive viewers deeper into your content funnel, this call to action could be potentially your best bet. Now, number 7, this is the story-driven call to action. Basically, we're trying to invoke emotion and/or logic. So let me give you an example. I'm going to give you a story on a framework that I could use as a title. For instance, it would be, I built this framework after wasting 3 years doing it wrong. Now it's the reason I make multiple 6 figures a month. I break it down below. And what this does is it leverages the narrative transportation, a psychological state where people become so immersed in the story that they let their guard down. When you connect emotionally, your audience feels you. And not just hears you. Let me give you a real life example. In a charity that was a water campaign, 2 landing pages were tested, one with only stats and one with a single compelling story. The story-based landing page gave 55% more donations compared to the other one that just gave data. Data convinces, but stories convert, and that's what we all want. And now I'm going to give you probably the most useful piece of content that you could see in this video. So make sure that you pause it so you could screenshot it and plug it into your next content upload. Now let me disappear so you could screenshot this image once it's done. The first one is direct call to action. This is at the end of a high-value piece of content. Reason it works, which is the core principle, is reciprocity. Next is value-first call to action. This one works really well as a lead magnet and for opt-ins, and its core principle is the commitment and consistency. Third is the scarcity call to action. This one is super good for launches and limited promos, and the reason it works, which is the core principle, is loss aversion. After that, we have social proof call to action. This one is super good when it comes to selling products and building trust. This one works very well because of the core principle is community bias. After that, we have the challenge call to action, which shines the best for community building and comments. Its core principle is public commitment bias. Then you have the curiosity loop call to action. This one is to be used for playlist depth. Session time and retention. Basically, once you get someone to click, this will keep them around. And its core principle again is the Zeigarnik effect, which is creating open loops. And then the last is a story-driven call to action. This works really well for high ticket and deep buy-ins, especially for personal brands. Its core principle is the narrative transportation. Hopefully you grabbed your screenshot, and if not, maybe you could just bookmark it so you can revert back to it later. Call to actions are super important. It turns views into actions. Fans into clients and videos into revenue, which is ultimately the goal of anyone ever making content. No one ever made content just for content's sake. Now let's see if you could spot what call to action I'm gonna use right now. If you don't subscribe to this channel, you're gonna miss out on the next upload that could potentially revolutionize your content forever. If you know which call to action I just used, drop it in the comments below. I look forward to seeing you on the next one. Peace.