In Content Marketing

In marketing, you only get a few opportunities to motivate your audience to take pivotal steps toward becoming a customer. Driving people to your blogs, growing your social media audiences, and developing worthwhile content are only half the battle. Once you capture their attention, what’s next? A call to action, or CTA, is an essential tactic to ensure your digital marketing efforts are converting your traffic into warm leads–or even hot prospects. Let’s explore the importance of a call to action, how they can benefit your business, and review key examples.

What is a call to action

A call to action is a tactic to persuade users to take further action once they’ve found and consumed your digital content. A CTA can be anything from reading another blog post or downloading a piece of content to filling out a form or purchasing a product. Without smart CTAs, users will likely be confused about what next steps they should take, and it’s much more likely they will leave your website without taking action. 

CTAs capitalize on the fact that a user is already curious about your business and what you offer. Whether they found you through search engines or an ad, there was enough interest for them to click through to your website. A good CTA will help hold that interest. While there’s room for creativity in what your call-to-action text looks like, what’s most important is that your CTA is relevant to the content that initially grabbed your reader’s attention.

 

How can a call to action help your business? 

Beyond keeping users on your website longer, CTAs gain more insight into the needs of your audience while boosting your brand awareness and overall engagement.

There are several ways CTAs help you reach your specific business goals.  

Increase conversion rates 

Conversion rates are essential for any thriving business, and well-executed CTAs are a great way to convert visitors into valuable leads. A CTA that collects contact information, such as name, phone number, and email, not only generates warm leads but also provides information to infer the user’s needs based on where on your website they converted.

For example, if a user visits a blog post on your website about search engine optimization and then fills out a contact form, you not only have their contact information but can now infer they are interested in optimizing their website content and improving their Google ranking. 

Motivate social engagement 

A simple CTA button encouraging readers to follow you on your social media accounts is an easy, passive way to boost your social media following while gaining insights into what your audience wants to learn more about.

For example, if you can see that your social following grew due to a call to action you added to an educational blog post, then you know a healthy portion of your audience would appreciate seeing more educational content.

Grow email subscribers

Effective email marketing can be a game changer in generating and nurturing leads, strengthening relationships with current customers, and helping you maintain brand awareness. By encouraging users to sign up for your email list through strategically placed call-to-action phrases and buttons, you can expand your email database and create more opportunities to drive business.

 

Call-to-action examples

There is a lot of flexibility in how you design a call to action. The following examples show how you can adapt the wording and placement of CTAs to fit your overall business goals.

Product purchases 

Once someone has found you online and likes your business enough to stay on your website, you naturally want to encourage them to take the leap and make a purchase. Conversion CTAs can be tricky to get right, but there are a few different ways you can address them.

  • Contact Us: Tied in with creating quality leads for your sales team to follow up on, a “Contact Us” CTA is ideal for big-ticket products or services that require a more in-depth conversation. 
  • Shop Now: This CTA can encourage readers to browse your online store without directly asking for money or assuming the user is ready to purchase. 
  • Take X% Off/Free Shipping: It should be no surprise that consumers love a chance to save money. Offering a deal based on the user’s history on your website can be a great way to hook them on a purchase. For example, a promo code for free shipping with a minimum purchase encourages them to buy more than they were initially planning.

Encourage to learn 

Educating your audience is a great way to build brand trust while empowering potential consumers to make educated purchasing decisions. Oftentimes when users visit your website for educational content, like a blog post or detailed guide, they’re interested in learning.

  • Discover/Explore: Use a solid verb to entice readers to expand their knowledge on a topic you already know they are interested in. For example, at the bottom of a blog post about “How SEO can help you rank in search engines,” you can include a CTA button like “Explore Keyword Research” and a link to a new blog post. This allows them to dive deeper into the topic and remain on your website longer.
  • Learn More: This CTA is similar to the example above but is ideal to use when information is being withheld from the user. Entice the user with a taste of the information you can offer them and encourage them to click “Learn More.”

 

Grow leads and conversions with an effective call to action

CTAs are an essential tool in digital marketing. If you’re struggling to keep your website’s bounce rate down or gain quality contact information for leads, a fresh CTA strategy may be what you need.

Developing and implementing CTAs for your website can be overwhelming, and failing to follow through on the insights you gain can leave your results lacking. Find help with a trusted marketing partner and keep your users on your website longer. Reach out today to schedule a no-cost, no-obligation exploratory call to learn more about how we can help.