When it the last time you clicked on a link online? Even better, why did you click on the said link? You most likely found a great call-to-action (CTA) that spoke to you.
Call-to-action is a marketing term for any design to prompt an immediate response or encourage a quick sale. We are big fans of buyer psychology (so much so that we teach it in our marketing fundamentals course!)
If you are creating great consistent value in the marketplace via your marketing, you are educating your potential buyers on why and how you can help them when they are ready to go deeper. You are offering them that as a solution.
Your ideal clients will be SO GLAD you offered them your solution when they have the results. They’ll be doing the happy dance. Think about the aftermath (the happy dance); it makes selling easy!
However, it all starts with you asking your audience for something. How can you get started with the idea of asking your audience to take action by, well, adding CTAs to your content efficiently?
There are two primary purposes of a call to action:
- tell someone what they should do
- give them the motivation to do so
Many people remember to tell people what they should do, but they forget the why part of that equation. Without that, you won’t see the types of conversion rates that you should. While sometimes your content before the CTA will answer this question, sometimes it doesn’t. This is where the call to action comes in.
An invitation for your audience
This is an invitation for a user to take some desired action. You often see call-to-action examples in persuasive writing.
Your call to action is the part of your content where you will ask the reader to do something.
Just to help you out, the action might be to:
- Sign up for my newsletter
- Buy a product
- Join an event
- Support a cause
CTAs are the bread and butter of an effective marketing strategy. Because it encourages a new behaviour for your audience to follow. Cause and effect, if you’d like.
Mindset first
Truthfully, the first thing you’ll need to work on to create better calls to action is your confidence.
Objectively, the big elephant in the room is your confidence.
If you want to create a compelling call-to-action, it should come from a place of knowing your offer is valuable, useful, and helpful to your audience. If you can’t honestly say that, work on improving your content first.
The idea is to take your audience on a journey with each piece of content they consume. At the end of the journey, you ask your reader to take the next step.
What would be your audience’s next best step after consuming (this) content?
A few best practices
You can do a few things to ensure your CTA stands out.
A clear CTA uses the right words and combines them with a graphic treatment that makes the call-to-action stand out visually, so your reader stops and pays attention to it.
Focus on benefits
Regarding the copy, the rule is simple: emphasise benefits, not features. So many people focus on what you are getting from taking action (ebooks, videos, etc.) instead of the benefits of taking action.
What you’re offering your audience is a better version of themselves in one of these five categories:
- Improved health
- More wealth
- Closer relationships
- Greater success
- More peace of mind and serenity
Find the category your CTA fits into, and make sure that your headline and copy highlight that.
Get specific
Let your audience know what you want them to do, and don’t get fluffy about it. Start the CTA with the desired action. Hubspot analysed 330,000+ calls to action to determine that personalised CTAs perform 202% better than non-personalised CTAs.
Promoting a newsletter or ebook, for example?
Use language that entices the reader to click. “Sign Up For Weekly Tools” sounds much more intriguing than “sign up for my newsletter.” Who doesn’t want weekly tool recommendations?
Frequently asked call-to-action questions
How many CTAs should I have?
I believe it’s important to start simple and streamline your efforts at first by consistently offering one CTA across your content and landing pages. Progressively refine your CTAs depending on where you are creating content. I personally vary my initial prompts slightly depending on my content category for maximum conversions.
How long should my CTA be?
Shorter is better. A few key sentences will do the trick. The brevity and directness of a well-written call to action will focus on what’s important and remove any distractions.
A CTA is an excellent way of leading people to become loyal readers, and one day maybe something more.
15 examples of a great call-to-action
The info in the bracket can be tailored depending on your brand. Each prompt includes an initial copy AND button copy.
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- Enter to win (some swag) – I feel lucky
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- Get started with our community – Get a free month on us
Encourage your audience to take action
If you only do one thing today, ensure you align your actions with the end goal. Growing your database should be as crucial as building brand awareness.
Ensure that your CTA is as irresistible as you are, and it will reward you by working day and night, drawing readers in at every click.
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