Calls to Action That Get Action
Calls to action, (CTA’s) are critical to online marketing success.
In simple terms, the call to action is a link, button or even phrase that urges potential customers to take some type of action. For instance, if you send an e-mail newsletter to potential clients, you might add a link that says “Start a free trial, today.” When the potential customer clicks this link, they are directed to the signup form. CTA’s are one of the most common overlooked gaps on websites today.
Adding a call to action is important to most types of business communication, but it must be done correctly. Here are some of the best practices to get action from your call to actions:
The Best Call to Actions Should Be Short and Sweet
The first thing to come into play when creating an amazing call to action is to make sure it’s short, sweet and right to the point. A call to action should be no more than 5 words, and the ideal length is 2 to 3 words. Additionally, it should begin with an action verb. Examples of this include “Call Now,” “Contact Us Today,” and “Download For Access.”
The Best Call to Actions Should Stand Out
A customer shouldn’t have to search for the call to action on your website or in any communication they get from you. The odds of them actually reading to the end of your latest blog post or scrolling to the bottom of your web page aren’t high, so you want to make sure that people see the CTA at first glance. You can do this by making the call to action a different color or larger than the rest of the text on the page. Our tool,
Our tool, Waftio, can help with motion and action that gets the CTA in front of your audience. Keep in mind, however that the CTA should fit in with the scheme of a website. It shouldn’t look out of place, or be massively intrusive (such as auto-play video with sound!)
The Best Call to Actions Should Be Placed Where They Are Easily Seen
Choosing the location for the call to action is also important. On a website, for instance, visitors tend to read the content in an F-shape. In other words, they tend to start in the upper left, read across, then down the left side of the page, and finally, settle at the lower right. So you’ll need to place your CTA high on the web page or have it “pop-up” into the middle of the page. Though this isn’t a fool-proof plan, the conversion rates are usually high. Does this work for every CTA? No, but it’s worth testing if you are new to the world of
Though this isn’t a fool-proof plan, the conversion rates are usually high. Does this work for every CTA? No, but it’s worth testing if you are new to the world of call to actions. The bottom line is to find the place where the CTA will have the most impact, and then take it from there.
The Best Call to Actions Should Create Urgency or Give Something Away
Finally, a call to action that really gets results is one that creates a sense of urgency or gives something away. People love free things, even insignificant ones such as a download or sample of a product. When they believe they are running out of time to act, they also tend to move more quickly, so urgency can help, too. Combining these in a CTA is a good formula that can easily get results.
Having a call to action is imperative when creating communications of any type for your small business, and with these tips, you can ensure that you are using call to actions that get action.