Posting a video without a CTA is like going on a first date with your dream soulmate and then never calling them again. It doesn’t make sense right?

One of the biggest problems I see with video marketing online is that… people take it too slowly. They think they have to post a few videos and put some feelers out there to get their audience hooked before they throw in the CTA in their video description.

I’m not saying you should cut to the chase, offer zero value, and link to your core offer. That is a strategy I’ll never recommend, but your videos should offer value from the start. Which means they should include a valuable call to action that you mention in the intro and outro of each and every video. 

If you create an amazing, educational or entertaining video and then leave your audience hanging without any place to go next it’s like that date I talked about with your soulmate never calling or setting up a second date. 

Too many entrepreneurs and online creators think they need to play hard to get when they really just need to be more open about their feelings.

If you just launched your YouTube channel, it might take a while to see those opt-ins come in. Since YouTube is a search engine rather than a social media platform, growing organically takes time. But that’s exactly why you want to plant those seeds early – so that every new viewer or old subscriber will eventually come across this video and be ushered into your value ladder as a result. You never know when someone will land back on that older video, and they will need somewhere to go! 

If you’re the one adding value to your audience with education and entertainment, why are you sacrificing your advertising space?

Maybe you’re afraid of including a CTA because it feels like it cheapens the value of the video. I’ll let you in on a secret – it doesn’t. If you gave your audience a valuable free product (like a video), they’ll want to investigate and potentially even invest in whatever else you have going on.

If you’re starting fresh with a whole new YouTube channel, how about creating a free resource to use as a CTA? That way, you’re offering even more free value and diverting your audience’s attention to your very own website instead of the very public platform of YouTube. From there, you can usher your audience into the next step of your value ladder and be very clear about how they can become more intimate for your content.

Don’t be shy! Your audience went on this date for a reason. They’re curious about you and they want to know more. Give them that opportunity by incorporating a CTA at the beginning and end of every video you post. It could be a free + shipping book, a free mastermind, or a paid course that you’ve recently launched. As you get to know your audience, you’ll have a better idea of the level of service they’re looking for and can adjust accordingly.

As your online presence begins to build, it’ll become clear that those CTAs you included at the beginning of your journey were really setting the tone for the level of value you’re capable of providing. When your new viewers see that you’ve had this intention from the very beginning, they can’t accuse you of “selling out” – they can only say that you’ve been giving value from the start. 

Thank you so much for reading the VIP Code! Be sure to subscribe to this podcast or blog, share it with your friends and on social media; we have a lot of really exciting VIP content coming your way. Until next time, I’m Marley Baird and this has been the VIP Code podcast.