CTA’s: Creating Compelling Calls to Action

The ABCs of CTAs: Create a Call to Action That Really Works

Call to Actions, or CTAs, are phrases that compel site visitors to act—when done correctly. They are essentially invitations for people to interact with your business and should be an integral part of your online marketing strategy.

Though a CTA itself is often just a simple phrase, such as “Contact Us,” “Start Your Free Trial,” “Buy Our Product,” “Join Our Newsletter,” etc., they can be so much more powerful than you might imagine. A call to action should tell your audience what to do, yes, but it should also inspire them; encourage them to actually take that last step from curious observer to participating consumer. In other words, CTAs are what make advertisements become actions.

Now all you need to do is write a CTA that will compel your potential customers to act, and we have some advice for that.

Good CTAs Give Users a Reason to Click

The concept of a call to action is simple enough: call your audience to take a specific action. “Buy Now” or “Start Your Free Trial” certainly gets the desired action across, but they aren’t particularly persuasive. Neither phrase has any appeal to move it from an obvious command to something a potential customer would want to click on.

An effective CTA is more than just telling someone what you hope they do; it’s just one more way to foster loyalty and trust in your brand from potential customers.

The first step in crafting the perfect call to action is to identify your audience,  home in on their desires, and build that desire into the CTA. The content leading up to your CTA needs to be so compelling that users don’t even need to think about clicking it, they just do. Ideally, it’s more than just appealing to audience, it’s crafting something that will resonate so deeply that your audience forgets they’re even being advertised to.

Building Curiosity into Your Call to Action

In crafting a perfect CTA, you should try to tap into human’s innate curiosity. Take, for instance, a bookseller’s site with just a big button on the homepage with a CTA that just says, “Buy my Books.” Yes, that phrase is technically calling folks to action, but are they going to take that call? Doubtful. The phrase does state the sellers wish: for you to buy their books. But why? Why should a consumer click?

A bold and basic CTA with nothing else to support it has no meaning behind it; it’s essentially just a giant button shouting at its audience. You need to give them a reason to want to listen first. The content preceding the CTA should provide the motivation for your audience to follow through. If, for instance, this CTA to buy books was given after a compelling teaser for the types of books they sell, users may be more inclined to click it.

Your goal is to pique the interest of your audience, so think about the unique value of your service or product.

A CTA Should Be Easy to Follow

Too many steps or requiring a ton of information collection right out of the gate can quickly dissuade your audience from following through. The easier the action you are asking them to take, the more likely that your audience will feel comfortable taking it.

If you have some complicated process in mind or find yourself needing a lot of information at once, try to split your goals into different tiers using various persuasive CTAs throughout your marketing funnel. Though a call to action is a critical element of your marketing toolkit, it only goes so far, so you still want to make things easy for people.

Exclusivity Makes CTAs More Appealing

People enjoy being rewarded—even more so when it feels like a singular prize. Exclusive offers can be an excellent persuasive tool to encourage your audience to move towards an actual purchase, consultation, etc. If you have a new product or service, adjust your CTA to take advantage of your position by offering that exclusive first opportunity to a select few.

It’s always nice for someone to feel special, and you can use exclusive offers and persuasive CTAs to do just that! This is a great way to lean on the more emotional and psychological side of marketing to really supercharge your call to actions.

CTAs Can Offer Valuable Resources to Users

People are online. It is a vast potential consumer base, and they are always looking for things that they might find valuable. Providing resources—without the expectation of a sale—is an excellent opportunity to prove your business’s value. Plus, it helps to show that your business is about more than just collecting your audience’s money. You’re there to help! If you’re really looking to generate some leads, offering a resource in exchange for some information (usually an email address) can be a powerful way to use CTAs.

One of the pillars of successful marketing strategies is to position yourself as a leader in your industry, and that effects CTAs, too. Directing readers to helpful guides and offering valuable resources on your site is a great way to qualify your leads and give credence to your industry savvy. These resources are also another source of intentional call to action messages as well as links to products or services within the actual resources you offer. HubSpot does a particularly nice job of both offering resources and gathering consumer info in one fell swoop.

Catering to Connection with Your Call to Action

Everyone likes to feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves. As a species we gather; we group. Being able to identify with others is a fundamental part of the human experience and is a driving reason why social platforms have become such an integral piece of daily interaction for so many people.

When considering your call-to-action messaging, consider using language that taps into this connection we are all looking for. A CTA can be a way to let potential customers know that they are becoming a member of a new, wonderful community. Your community!