Put Some Effort into Your CTAs

Call now! Make an appointment! Don’t miss out!

These are just some of the calls to action you will see on your everyday marketing materials. The problem is that your target audience is more knowledgeable than ever before, and these generic phrases will make little impact and are just plain annoying. Effective calls to action grab your visitor's attention with a brief explination of what you're offering via a title, description, image, and theme color. It will captivate your target audience, inform them, and increase your conversion rate. The challenge is to develop a sense of urgency versus being too aggressive, or too generic.

The Basics of Calls to Action

A call to action is a short phrase, usually no more than five words, that compels your target to click, call, email, or buy. It should be action-oriented, begin with a verb, and let the reader know exactly what will happen if they reach out.

A Call to Action Doesn’t Have to Be in Content Form

Calls to action can also come in graphics form. A button or link that you place on your website to drive prospective customers can be just as effective as having a catchy phrase. These links should be visually striking with copy that compels you to click the offer, and located in an easy-to-find spot that follows the flow of the webpage.

Depending on Your Context, Don’t Be Too Obvious

When people read a website or an advertisement, they expect a call to action at some point. But, if someone is coming to your site to read a blog or to be informed, then a call to action may actually turn them off. There is a time to be “salesy” and a time to chill out.

You Can Still Have Calls to Actions in Your “Informative” Content

Just because your blog readers might be turned off by a blatant sales pitch doesn’t mean you can’t have any call to action. It just needs to fit within the context and provide value to the reader. Mention your expert services and identify a problem your target needs to solve.

Calls to Actions are Measurable

Probably one the best thing about calls to actions is that they can be measurable. On your website, you can easily track your clickthrough rate (CTR), or what percentage of blog post visitors clicked each CTA. From there your conversion rate can be determined by identifying the percentage of the people who clicked and completed actions on the landing page. From this, you can figure out how many leads you received and decide if your call to action is compelling.

Your call to action copy is a crucial element of every campaign. You have to make sure that it’s relevant, valuable, and easy to understand. A little tweak in the copy can make a lot of difference.