Take Your CTAs from Clickable to Irresistible with These 3 Tips

Marketing is all about inspiring customers to take action, and sometimes all they need is some direction, a little bit of persuasion, and a clear payoff. It's important to gradually, and naturally, lead them through the information they need to know in order to make a decision, and then make it easy for them to follow through on that decision. Not to mention, that's key in an inbound strategy.

In this blog, I'll discuss how effective calls-to-action can help you attract and attain customer leads.

So let’s get down to it: What is a call-to-action?
The name essentially says it all. A call-to-action (CTA) is a piece of content intended to entice a viewer, reader, or listener to perform a specific act. A CTA is the missing link between the content that your user is interested in, and the more valuable information/offer that is relevant and interesting enough to persuade your visitor to take action.

CTAs can use different wording to attract attention, including:

• "Download the free guide"
• "Make an appointment today"
• "Start your free 30-day trial"
• "Schedule a consultation"

For example, if you’re a machine builder promoting your latest press release, you'll want to make sure your audience understands how to access the press release. If the CTA says “Our recent press release is available” you may not see a high click-through rate since some users may not know how to find the press release. Instead, use an actionable phrase like “View the press release now!” to direct the user of what to do and increase click-through rates.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when crafting effective calls-to-action:

1. The more informative, the better.
Users need to be guided in the right direction. They want to know what to expect next. Being direct with your CTAs will encourage them to explore your offer and create strong leads.

There are three basic types of CTA styles:
Do this (shop today!)
Do this by doing this (get 20% off when you shop today!)
Do this because of this (shop today and we will donate $20 to ASPCA)

For e-commerce companies, using words like “buy,” “shop,” and “order” are highly effective. “Download” and “subscribe” are great go-to actions for newsletters and sharing documents. If you would like users to request information, encourage them to “Find out” or “Fill out the form for…”

2. Give them a reason to take action.
Most users won’t act without expecting something in return. In order to pique their interests, highlight your unique selling point. Be sure to state exactly what the visitor will get if they click on the CTA.

For example, “Call today to schedule a free consultation” highlights your desired action (call today) and provided a reason to take action (free consultation). Now we need to add a little excitement.

3. Provoke emotion and excitement.
It’s simple. If you’re enthusiastic about your product or service, your audience will be too. Adding an exclamation point at the end of your CTA can do the trick. You can also take advantage of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Combining these together can create a great deal of urgency and excitement, and encourage click-through rates.

For example, “Buy Now and Get 50% Off!” provides context so the user knows what to do (buy), gives urgency (buy now), gives them a reason to act (get 50% off), and creates some excitement (exclamation point).

If you're still unsure if your CTA is strong enough, here are a few more examples:

Hopefully now, based on what you learned in this blog, you feel confident about taking your CTAs to the next level, maybe even testing a few different ones to see what works best!

Try these tips in a CTA today and get more results!
...See what I did there?