A great digital marketing strategy can bring more people to your website. But you still need to convert them once they get there. One way to do that more consistently is to start focusing on your call to action (CTA).
These are prompts asking users to take specific actions, such as “Buy Now” or “Sign up for a free trial.” The better your CTAs, the likelier you are to convert website visitors and improve revenue.
But crafting a great CTA is often easier said than done. This guide aims to fix that by offering actionable steps you can take to fix your CTA problem if you run a small business.
What Makes an Effective CTA?
The first thing you need to know is what effective CTAs have in common. These are the traits you’ll want to feature when crafting your own CTAs.
First, great CTAs use clear, concise language. They prompt the reader to take a specific action without belaboring the point. Be direct. You want it to be very obvious to the website visitor what you’d like them to do next.
Effective CTAs also leverage the power of psychological triggers. They take advantage of natural human emotions to compel website visitors to act on your offer.
For example, you might use the phrase “while supplies last” in a CTA to create a sense of urgency in your potential buyer. This could encourage them to buy your product now instead of waiting to think about it a little longer and maybe never following through.
Visual elements are also often present in high-performing CTAs. These include images, motion graphics, visual cues, and color schemes, among others. Visual elements help to draw the reader’s attention to your CTA, which can boost conversion rates on its own.
How To Craft CTAs That Convert
Now you know that effective CTAs use clear, concise language, include psychological triggers, and often feature visual elements. The next step is taking that information and using it to improve your company’s CTAs.
Instead of trying to write the perfect CTA instantly, think of this as a process of trial and error. You want to improve your CTAs gradually over time, using data to make it happen.
The best way to do that is through A/B testing. This means creating two identical CTAs with one key difference. For example, you might use the same CTA with a different color scheme or action verb.
Let those two nearly identical CTAs run for a month or so to see which performs better. Then adopt the winning CTA and A/B test another element of it.
For example, if you changed the color scheme the first time, try changing your action verb this time. See which version performs better, adopt that as your model CTA, and A/B test again.
As you do this over time, you gradually get to a version of your CTA that data shows converts the highest percentage of customers. Keep in mind that your CTA may need to change for different types of marketing. For instance, a CTA on your Instagram page may need to be more visually engaging than the one you place at the end of blogs.
Avoid Making These CTA Mistakes
It’s also important to know what not to do when crafting a CTA. If you can simply avoid the following common CTA mistakes, you’ll already be well on your way to improving your conversion rate.
Poor CTA Placement
You don’t just want to think about what your CTA says and how it looks, you also need to consider where it’s placed on the page. If customers don’t see your CTA, it can’t have any positive impact on your conversions.
Using Too Many CTAs
You also can’t overload your readers with excessive CTAs. This makes the content you share feel like a sales message, which isn’t what you want. You want readers to find value in the content you share, whether they buy from you or not. This improves your brand image and can boost traffic by encouraging organic sharing.
Ignoring Your Sales Funnel
It’s also important to use CTAs that reflect your sales funnel. For example, you might create a blog post for people who are just starting to think about using the types of products you sell.
Your CTA at the end of that post should direct the reader to the next stage of your sales funnel — not the final conversion point. That might mean sending them to another blog post for product comparisons instead of telling them to buy now.
It’s much easier to get a website visitor to take the next step in your sales funnel instead of trying to rush them to the end right away. If you’re too aggressive with CTAs on high-level content, it can turn potential future buyers away.
Neglecting Mobile Users
Finally, make sure your CTAs work well on mobile devices. Research shows 60.67% of web traffic now comes from mobile devices. If you include a button or form on your CTA that doesn’t work for mobile users, you’re missing out on a major source of potential revenue.
Examples of Great CTAs
Let’s finish up by looking at a few real-world examples of effective CTAs from a HubSpot post. You can use these as starting points for your own CTA efforts.
Dropbox
This Dropbox CTA is clean, concise, and simple. It shows the value being offered by sharing the service helps people access their files from anywhere. It also includes a simple CTA form with the phrase “Sign up for free.” This gives users confidence that they’ll be able to sign up without inputting any payment information.
Officevibe
Officevibe’s CTA is also simple, but effective. It uses an attractive color scheme that emphasizes the main offer of helping users become better managers. There’s nothing here except what’s necessary, which keeps users’ eyes locked on the offer.
Your Next Digital Marketing Step
Optimizing your CTAs is just one way to start converting more customers online. You may also want to invest in a broader digital marketing strategy to help with lead generation and inbound marketing.
Pyromaniac Digital makes all of this much easier to do. Our digital marketing strategists can help you to get more web traffic and convert visitors at a higher rate, which ultimately increases the number of inbound leads for your business.
Get in touch for a free consultation to learn more about how we can help.
