While watching the NBA Finals, two companies delivered commercials that caught our attention. Apple showed its commercial demonstrating how its products change people’s lives. Samsung showed commercials demonstrating cool features of its smartphones. The video and its key messages are enough for someone such as ourselves to want to learn more about these products. It was not important for us for the commercials to end with “Buy this now” or “Visit our website now” or “Learn more now at …” We often associate phrases such as those with late-night infomercials. When video is compelling, emotional, interesting and complete with key messages, a call to action in the traditional sense is not always necessary.
The video itself, when thought out and produced properly, can serve as the call to action without necessarily ending with a one-liner. If viewers don’t know how to find you or if, for example, you need to direct people where they can donate funds, a call to action seems more necessary. We’re afraid some organizations take the call-to-action concept too literally or, better put, in only its conventional form. We also believe some marketers recommend a call to action without giving the overall project much thought.