In an increasingly digital world, effective online marketing is an essential ingredient in the recipe for business success. However, it's not enough to simply make people aware of the brand. You also need to ensure that they respond in the intended manner, which is why CTAs are vital.
It is no exaggeration to state that your choice of CTA could be the difference between conversions and lost sales. Here's how to determine the right ones for your website and other marketing campaigns.
Understanding the Importance of CTAs
CTAs, short for call-to-action, are any text that is incorporated into your marketing endeavours to encourage the user to take an immediate response. Generally speaking, they are designed to nudge leads down the sales funnel - although not necessarily directly to a sale.
As eCommerce revenue grows to an anticipated US$4,454.00bn in 2024, the importance of CTAs has never been greater. When used effectively, they can;
- Direct leads to products or sales pages,
- Secure a user's details for future email marketing,
- Get users to schedule a demo or consultation,
- Point users to more info on a product,
- Speed up the path to conversion.
Ultimately, online consumers need a helping hand in taking the intended action after reading your content. The right CTAs will guide them to the desired outcome while simultaneously stopping them from diverting to a competitor.
5 Ways to Determine the Right CTAs
CTAs should appear on all web pages and online marketing campaigns. Otherwise, even an interested individual won't know what to do next. However, an effective call-to-action should be clear, concise, and matched to the purpose of any given content.
Excluding your home page, it's likely that you'll only need one CTA message on any page (although it may be displayed multiple times). Here's how to choose wisely.
#1. Seek Professional Help
Given the importance of CTAs, they are not something that can be left to chance. Hiring a digital marketing agency in London to select the best CTAs to match your brand messaging and intentions could be one of the smartest investments you ever make. Through a combination of experience and data-driven decisions, they will remove doubt from the equation.
In addition to selecting the right calls-to-action, digital marketers can provide services ranging from website building to PPC ads to ensure that CTAs are displayed prominently for maximum effect. When you leave this job to the experts, you can focus on your products and other key matters.
#2. Decide Your Intended Outcome
A call-to-action can only be successful if it actively encourages the user to make the move you want them to. Some examples include;
- Buy Now - when you want a hot lead to complete a purchase.
- Try Now - to encourage a trial that will hopefully lead to paid sales.
- Join Today - when wanting someone to join a newsletter or membership.
- Resume Your Order - aimed at customers who abandoned a cart.
- Learn More - when wanting the user to visit another webpage or service page.
All of the above are basic calls-to-action that can be modified in different ways but should show how different CTAs are used for contracting purposes and may appear in varying places.
#3. Find Urgency and Personalisation
It is shown that 60% of consumers admit to making purchases due to FOMO. Therefore, it can be very useful to introduce CTAs that add urgency. Examples include "Ending Soon", "Don't Miss Out", "Limited Time Offer", or "Last Few Places" can all influence the user's behaviour to gain the intended responses.
Similarly, personalisation can help build a stronger connection and lead the user to take action. Including first-person terms, for example, "I Want My Free eBook Now!" can boost click rates. More importantly, though, you must address the user's pain points and desires to secure the outcome you want.
#4. Embrace Action Words
CTAs may be intended for lead generation, form sign-ups, social sharing, product discoveries, closing sales, and other purposes. Whatever stage of the funnel you're at, though, action words tell the user exactly what they should do. Examples include;
- Download now.
- Add to cart.
- Redeem your offer.
- Unlock your promotion.
- Contact us.
Action words remove ambiguity. So, if the user is interested in taking the next steps on the path to conversion, they will.
#5. Run an A/B Test
Finally, a little trial and error should be expected in all aspects of digital marketing. The beauty of online campaigns is that they can be altered and evolved with immediate results. So, this gives you a chance to test out several ideas before investing too much time or money into one that's destined to fail.
A/B testing revolves around running two campaigns, ads, or pages that are identical apart from one feature. In this case, you'll run two CTAs, and then track the data to see which yields the best results. Once you have a definitive answer, you can select the permanent CTA with 100% confidence.
The Final Word
A call-to-action isn't the only key feature on a webpage or digital ad, but its impact on the user can be huge. Get it right, though, and your marketing strategy will look stronger than ever.
Visit: thegoodmarketer.co.uk