CTAs are a crucial component of any copy. One of the most significant functions of a CTA is to guide your audience into taking a particular action.
In essence, a CTA guides your reader on the next course of action they should take. If they accept your plea, your success in digital marketing gets a boost. It's a win-win.
A CTA should provide as much information to the reader as possible. When you get this right, your audience will know precisely what they stand to gain by clicking on your ad. A clear and direct message can also dissuade the wrong audiences from clicking on the ad.
How do you craft CTAs that get results every single time? Here are some actionable tips.
1. Incentivize Your Audience Into Taking A Certain Action
What’s in it for our audience?
One secret to good CTAs is giving your audience a reason to click, share, like, type their email addresses, etc. Just as important as the wording, CTA placement and color of the CTA text is the underlying incentive to the reader.
Will it help them shed those extra pounds, save cash, and increase productivity?
You will also note that the answers to these questions relate very closely to your unique selling point (USP) or value proposition.
One of the most effective ways to get new leads is your USP. If you draft a great one and tie it in with an excellent CTA, the likeliest direction for your clicks to go is up.
Whether you craft it yourself or use a Call To Action generator, remember that the CTA shouldn't be too wordy. Instead, highlight the essential aspects and keep it brief.
Example:
‘’Contact us today for a free quote”.
This sentence begins with the action you would like readers to take, contacting you. It then follows with what they will get after doing so; getting a free quote.
2. Don’t Be Shy To Use A Direct Command
Most people use very soft language in their CTA to avoid sounding too pushy. While the concern is reasonable, you still need to be direct, clear, and concise on your CTA.
Again, it's essential to let your audience know what you want them to do with a limited number of words. So don't mince your words. Also, begin your CTA with the action you desire.
Examples:
If you run an online shop; ‘’order’’, ‘’buy’’, ‘’shop with us’’
Promoting a publication: ‘’subscribe’’ or ‘’download’’
Do you want your audience to want to know more about what you offer? ‘’Find out or rates…’’ or ‘’fill out this form…’’ (We will get back to you with a quote to schedule an appointment with our experts…)
Supposing you are a marketing agency trying to promote a white paper. Simply talking about its availability will not cut it.
A more direct CTA like ''download our white paper today'' or ''enter your email to receive our whitepaper now'' are way more informative and straightforward.
3. Use Words That Speak To Emotion or Enthusiasm
You want your CTA to provoke a strong response due to their enthusiasm. Your audience can catch on and project your mood. So if your CTA is enthusiastic, your audience will be as well.
Example:
‘’Order now and get 20% off!!’’
This gives them a benefit, plus a discount. Hard to resist.
For someone planning a vacation:’’ Book a memorable stay with us today and get one night off!!’’
The above is exciting and triggers the enthusiasm to click on your ad. Punctuation can also help. For example, the exclamation marks at the end add some oomph and help emphasize your enthusiasm.
Some strong emotions to target include fear, confidence, loyalty, anger, and curiosity.
4. Capitalize On FOMO
The Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) is a highly effective motivator. This premise is to give the idea that your prospect will lose out on something if they fail to act immediately.
Running a sale or promotion for a finite amount of time is one sure way to get people to act. Why? Because nobody wants to lose out on mouth-watering discounts if they can help it.
You probably see this all the time. Emails, text messages, and social media posts with statements emphasizing the need to take advantage of something that won't last forever.
Examples of these are CTAs with wording like;
- Download now/today
- While stocks last
- …for a limited time
- Save your spot
- Sale ends…(this Sunday, after Christmas, Tomorrow)
- Last chance
- You do not want to miss our….
Provoking the fear of missing out on something works just as well as creating enthusiasm and will increase the number of clicks on your CTA.
5. Be Phone-Centric With Your CTAs
Think about the devices that might be in use when crafting your CTA. Google lumps laptops and tablets under the same classification. People use them in the same way. One way is searching for information on TV.
User behavior on mobile phones is much different. For one, the search intent on a mobile phone is widely different from that on a laptop/tablet. So much so that you need to tailor your CTA Based on the device.
Users looking something up on a laptop/ tablet are not ready to purchase and are further up the sales funnel. At this point, these users are likely to be doing their research on something. Users on mobile devices are further down the sales funnel and are often looking for quick results. Mobile phone searches are likely to lead to action like contacting a company to complete the ‘’quick result’’. This is far beyond research.
For mobile users, you never go wrong with a mobile-centric CTA.
Examples of these include:
- Call us today to learn more
- Call us now for a free consultation
- Call us to get started
Technology gives you a hand with this.
The first is that Google allows you to set a mobile phone preference for your adverts. This will enable you to send out ads to searches completed via mobile phone only. This allows you to direct your audience toward calling you.
The second way to do this is through call extensions. Call extensions allow you to display your phone number somewhere on the ad. The number itself will not appear, but you get a ‘’call’’ button alongside the ad. Prospects call you directly by touching the advert. This is Google’s ‘’Click-To-Call’’ function.
6. Get Creative
Your CTAs should be crisp and fresh each time. As old-fashioned as they seem today, A/B tests are an excellent way to assess which CTAs will deliver the most clicks and which ones are not worth your time.
This article has provided some excellent CTA ideas. Still, you cannot be sure how they will land until you put them into action.
CTAs take a lot of trial and error, which can be frustrating, especially if you keep getting it wrong. A CTA might sound great when you write it down or discuss it with your team. However, you won’t really know it performs till you test it.
This is why trying out different CTAs is a safer bet. Be as creative as possible with them too. If your audience doesn’t respond too well despite your best efforts, try thinking outside the box and pushing the envelope.
7. Display The Numbers
Think like a potential buyer. Do you want to know that there is a sale, or would you rather know that there is a sale and what amount you get off? Most people will say the latter.
To get a good response from your CTA, cite the important numbers. These include pricing, discounts, incentives, promotions, and so on. This helps to think about a customer that might want something. They don't need it and can be very okay without it, but they don't mind it. This group of customers might find a significant discount just what they need to make the purchase anyway.
The same goes for prospects who really want something, though it’s not that essential. Getting a good deal on it might be all the nudge they need.
Now, if you have this information on your CTA, and a website user clicks on the CTA, this shows you that they are still interested in making a purchase. This customer is lower down your sales funnel, and you are that much closer to making a sale.
Examples:
For a Dental clinic: Book your next appointment today and get 10% off on your consultation
For an eCommerce site: Order your beauty products this weekend and get 50% off on shipping!!
Notice the sense of urgency (buy this weekend), combined with a figure on free shopping.
Work on It
CTAs are brief. This does not make them easy to do. In fact, just the reverse. Coming up with something informative, creative, and provoking at the same time is no mean feat.
Take your time, get creative and test different CTAs to see what your target audience responds best to.
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