How To Craft An Effective Call To Action

Consumers are bombarded with marketing tactics on a daily basis. This constant flow of information can lead to a tired and overwhelmed customer. One method that can greatly help push consumers closer to the purchasing process end goal is a call to action. If you do not have call to actions throughout your website’s pages, you are likely missing out on potential sales. Knowing how to create a successful call to action can positively impact a business in both leads and profit.

What is a CTA?

A call to action, or CTA, is a marketing technique that provokes consumers to respond immediately in a way that is desirable to the seller. This tactic easily guides the visitor to the next step of the purchasing process down the conversion funnel. The ultimate goal of a CTA is to convert a consumer into a lead, in hopes that it will later lead to them becoming a customer. In digital marketing, a CTA is commonly designed as a button, or a certain graphic, on a website meant to prompt a user to click it, and continue down a conversion funnel.

How to Make it Effective

There are multiple aspects to focus on when creating a CTA in order to make it as effective as possible. These include placement, design, and text.

Placement

The CTA should be easy for the user to find and readily available, not a scavenger hunt for information. It is important that the CTA is located in a place that will receive maximum attention on desktop and mobile. Popular locations to place a CTA are above and below the fold. Every page should have relevant CTAs, that provide the users an opportunity to convert. It is best practice to limit the CTAs based on the relevancy of the page. Too many CTAs can overwhelm a user.

Design

The CTA should properly stand out. It is important that it is designed to draw the consumers’ eyes. A common practice is to make the CTA a bright color that stands out on the page. However, the design should still be compatible with your website. For example, if the color scheme of your website is pastel, it is unnecessary to be adding neon-colored buttons. You can further define your CTA by adding a bit of negative space around it so that it does not get lost amongst the rest of the information that is on the page.

Text

The text refers to what the CTA says. This should be easy to read and straight forward. The user should know exactly where the CTA will lead if they decide to click it. It may be obvious, but the CTA should incorporate active verbs. A few strong action words that are effective are: order, buy, get, and learn. These words should be to the point to let the consumer know exactly why they are clicking on the CTA. Potentially, a single word can affect your conversion rate, which is another reason why text is so important. If there is a specific CTA that is not performing well, it could be beneficial to switch up the wording to see if that drives conversion up. This change can be compared using analytics.

Secondary CTAs

While it is true that websites are likely designed with the end goal of a purchase taking place, that is unrealistic, and a poor choice to set up a website with only that goal in mind. If you restrict your website to only one CTA it can be perceived as forceful, like telling the consumer to ‘buy now or leave.’ This is why adding secondary CTAs are beneficial. It can help those who are not quite ready to make a purchase yet stay on the site and further explore their options. The longer the visitor stays on the site, the more they learn about the product they are interested in. This allows them to become more comfortable with the idea of purchasing.

Marketing practices have undeniably transformed in the past couple years, but one element that has remained the same is the act of including CTAs. That is because these are essential to have on your website in order to drive your target market to take the desired action of a purchase. With that in mind, it is of the utmost importance to know how to properly place, design, and write an effective CTA.

If you are looking for an advertising agency to help improve your websites’ CTAs and overall conversion rate – we are here for you! Contact us today at (847) 297-1700 and see how our digital marketing services can benefit your business.

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