What is CTA?

**What is CTA?**

Do you know what Call to Action (CTA) is? Surely, you've come across these segments, sometimes without even realizing it.

Creators, businesses, websites, and brands use this to guide audiences to perform an action. Some general common examples include:

"Subscribe to my channel"

"Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcast"

"Leave a comment and tell me what you think"

"Your support helps this channel create quality content"


Your CTA would be adjusted to fit your content and podcast attributes, theme, and other personal preferences. Here's another slightly more personalized sample:

"Hi everyone, Joe here and I would just like to take the time to thank you for listening to this show. If it's your first time here, welcome! Don't forget to subscribe and enable notifications to get the latest updates on the best blockbuster movies."

**Why do I need to place CTA?**

Perhaps you're using Firstory's comment link and voicemail tool, have a Patreon account, or wish your audiences would follow your social media accounts to keep updated.

If you don't take the initiative to tell your audience about it through CTA, your audience wouldn't know about it.

That's why we need CTA.

**But it's so awkward...**

Do you feel awkward telling your audience to do things or asking your listeners for support? Don't worry, it's perfectly normal for creators to insert CTA (but keep in moderation!).

Not having CTA may cause your show to lose some growth opportunities. Many times, the continuous content creation of a show, channel, or creator heavily rely on direct audience sponsorship and support. Other times, fans may even purchase merchandise to further support the show!

CTA is also perfect for delivering show information, such as an upcoming Live Podcast.

**How should I design my podcast CTA?**

The content generally depends on the goals you've set.

If you want to run a subscription-based program, you should encourage listeners to check out your paid-subscription service.

If you aim to increase audience interaction, you may want to direct audiences to the link to your social media group from the program description box.

Your Call to Action (CTA) should:

Communicate a clear message

Be unique (not generic)

Concise (not too lengthy)

Be limited. Don't include too many actions.


If you spend 5 minutes telling your listeners to follow 10 of your social media accounts, your listeners would be annoyed, while your CTA would be ineffective.

30 seconds, at maximum, should be enough for you to express and share all the necessary information for your podcast.

Be specific with your CTA, such as telling your listeners how they can join your fan discussion group or informing them of how they can leave reviews for your show (e.g. "Through the comment link in the description box below").

**How often should I include a CTA?**

Every episode, whether at the beginning or at the end.

Do you think saying the same things in every episode is a bit strange, tedious, or monotonous? Unfortunately, this process is necessary in the process for your show to grow. By doing this, listeners will be able to know you from any of the episodes.

Forgoing the CTA may cause you to miss out on the opportunity of turning listeners into loyal fans.

Many creators repeat their CTA in every episode, changing the style every time. In some cases, even editing this CTA into their episode recordings for every episode.

However, there is an easier way to do this:

By using Firstory's Dynamic Insertion tool, you can add in your pre-recorded CTA by removing the default audio block (click on "x" on the upper right corner) provided and uploading your own.



This will be uploaded and stored onto your Firstory Studio account. Every time you upload a new episode in the future, you can simply select "Add Audio Blocks" when using the Dynamic Insertion Tool.

Click and drag to move and rearrange the blocks.

You can also use the default CTA audio block we've provided for you

**What are the other uses of the Dynamic Insertion Tool?**

When inserting advertisements into your podcast, you can simply insert that and quickly remove them when the agreed period is up.

You no longer have to re-record, re-edit, or re-upload your original audio file every single time.

Updated on: 13/07/2022