If you’ve ever bought, signed up for or downloaded something, you will have engaged with a call to action in one way or another. Call to actions are an integral part of every businesses online presence, yet many brands get this key aspect wrong every single day. But firstly…
What is a call to action?
You may have already heard the term “call-to-action” or CTA in the world of marketing. But what exactly is a call to action?
A Call to action is the sentence or button that prompts your visitors, leads, and customers to take action. It closes the deal and gets you a sale or enquiry. The action you want people to take could be anything: download an ebook, sign up for a service, get a coupon, attend an event, etc. A CTA can be placed anywhere in your marketing — on your website, on social media, in an email, or even at the end of a blog post.
How do I write an effective Call to Action?
Call to actions rely quite heavily on psychology and the way our brains work. Whether you are trying to get someone to sign up for something, make a purchase or share your content, the goal is to influence an action. To get customers to follow through, you need use words that convince and persuade them within the right context.
Here is where most people make mistakes. When creating their call to action, they focus on their own product or service, instead of the benefit the customer will get from taking that action.
For example:
Join today to get free access for 30 days! vs. Sign up for XYZ Service
The first call to action is more powerful and effective than the second one because you can see the value and benefit you get right away. Remember, your call to action will already have context surrounding it. Whether it’s the content of your sales page, a blog post or the text within your social media post. Your CTA is all about driving the reader to engage and take action, not to tell them about what you’re offering.
Using the right Call to Action Phrases to Persuade
In most instances, you are going to be trying to persuade your customers to purchase your product. This may be in the form of an offer, a guarantee of results or simply by personalising the CTA to make them feel invested in the product.
Call to action phrases such as You, Free and Results are among the most persuasive words in the English language and can really boost engagement and conversions.
You/Your/Me/My
You can instantly change the tone of CTAs (and your content in general) by adding the word you, your, me or my. These words make your content much more conversational and the reader feels like you’re speaking directly to them. This simple change could help you convert 42% more than a non-personalised CTA.
Example CTAs:
Get Your FREE Report
Download My PDF
See the results you could achieve
FREE
Everyone loves a freebie, and with price being one of the biggest barriers to getting customers to commit, giving something away for free helps them see the value in your offering. Letting your audience know right away that you’re giving something for free can give your CTA an instant boost. The trick is to actually use the word free, not just allude to the idea. For example:
Good Example:
Get Your Free White paper
Bad Example:
Get a White paper worth £50
Whilst the second call to action attributes a monetary value on your free item, the reader doesn’t specifically know that they are getting something for free.
Results/Guarantees
You may want to try and persuade customers by offering them an insight into the results they could see or by offering a level of guarantee. Let’s be honest, if you had a choice between two products, one of which promised results, which would you be more likely to purchase?
The words “results” and “guarantee” work in CTAs because they make it difficult for customers to make excuses not to purchase. Be careful not to make empty promises as this can instantly discredit your company.
Example CTAs:
See results in 30 days or less
Get Guaranteed Results
Now it’s your turn…
Get out there and start using these tips in your own marketing efforts. Strong and well-crafted call to actions will help to enhance both new and old campaigns, not just PPC and email newsletters, but social media posts, blog posts and your main company website can all benefit from great call to actions.
To get more advice and tips for converting visitors into customers, claim your free Grow Your Business session. (< beautiful call to action right there)
