Introduction
Making the most out of your website, emails, social media, and digital or printed marketing is essential to guide customers to your business. The evolution and the growth of the internet have made it easier to reach previously inaccessible markets. However, call to action, one of the oldest tools used to make conversions, is still one of the most successful practices.
Call to Action
With the rise of interactive websites came with it call to actions, or CTAs for short. In its most basic form, a CTA was the “Click Here” text on a website button that let the user know that a particular section of the page was interactive and exactly what action they should perform on that site. As websites become increasingly advanced, the CTA remains an excellent way to obtain engagement and direct users to complete various actions, such as purchasing products, signing up for newsletters and blogs, or chatting with a salesperson, all without leaving your page.
What is Call to Action?
According to US Small Business Administration, a call to action is a feature that instructs users to take
some kind of action on a marketing campaign. A text link, a button, or text with no link can represent a call to action on a page. Intended to keep users on your site, generate conversions, and translate into sales instead of users only reading information and then leaving your site. The image to the right from the Code & Color’s landing page, “Contact Us,” is a CTA that leads to additional CTAs with options for getting in contact. Some other examples of CTA are “Buy Now,” “Follow us on Social Media,” “Download Now,” or “Subscribe.” Call to action is also a great marketing tool to collect customer leads by having a CTA button to join an email list or blog subscription. For more examples, check out this excellent Hubspot article, “50 Call-to-Action Examples You Can’t Help But Click.”
Website Call to Action
During its inception, the internet consisted of websites that were simple pages you could visit and receive some information, but they weren’t particularly interactive for the user. As the internet grew, so did our platforms to use the World Wide Web and its capabilities. Suddenly we could experience the internet in new ways and utilize it for selling goods and services, offering support, and becoming an overall more interactive experience. Websites started selling goods and services, offering support, and becoming more interactive.
Call to Actions in Marketing
Digital applications are just one place for utilizing CTAs. Printed marketing materials, flyers, handouts, brochures, catalogs, and even billboards can use a call to action. Telling consumers what you want them to do with your information is the best way to get them to take the next step. A call to action can be both indirect or direct. For example, a call to action doesn’t have to lead to a sale directly at that time but can create a positive emotional connection and lead to brand loyalty and future purchases.
Call to Action Importance in Marketing
The need for CTAs might be obscure. However, they might be the most crucial marketing tool in your arsenal. Successful CTAs use action terms such as sign up, subscribe, shop, try, add to cart, and learn more. Action terms create a sense of urgency and push users to take the next step. As with any form of marketing, knowing your audience and their needs is essential. This way, your customer’s readiness to make a purchase can be anticipated, and a call to action can be used to guide their next action.
Marketing material can contain longer text that can lose focus on the critical information you are trying to convey. CTAs will usher users from viewing your material to making a conversion. Good CTAs use colors that contrast each other and are large enough to draw the eye – you don’t want users searching forever and becoming frustrated to take the next step. Without a CTA, users might not understand what they are supposed to do next and making it extremely difficult for them to perform the desired action you want.
Emotions play an important part in how people surf the internet. Tapping into emotions and feelings paired with a CTA button can motivate users to take the next step. GetUpLift’s article, “The Complete Guide For Using Emotional Marketing To Increase Conversion Rates,” found that tying emotion to marketing techniques like a call to action increased conversions by ten times and overall sales.
As simple as it is, the point of view used in CTAs matters and can result in more conversions. Unbounce did a study and found that changing their CTA from “Start your free trial” to “Start my free trial” increased the click-through rate by 90%.
Conclusion
CTAs are a great way to engage your customers and direct them to your goal. Whether purchasing a product or service, subscribing, or navigating to another page, a successful CTA can guide users there. Keep these tips in mind as you create and experiment with your upcoming campaigns. If you prefer to let the professionals at Code & Color build a website with CTAs, an app, design needs, or marketing, send us a message here.
Jimmy Cooper, Marketing Coordinator