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Have you heard the term call-to-action before? Not sure what it means in regards to marketing?

Even if you don’t use the term, you see or even hear calls-to-action, or CTAs everyday. A CTA is a message is intended to get people to make a decision. It can be used in a television ad, an email, a banner ad, and even a social media post. The goal of a CTA is to get people to take an action, which may be to call you, email you, click on a button or download a guide. Sometimes though, CTAs feel more like people yelling at you than anything else.

Although it might seem like a small thing, asking people to take that next step is a critical step for your marketing messages. How you use them is as important as the actual words you use, so we wanted to offer a few tips and ideas on how to get the most impact with your CTAs,

Vary your CTAs

Use different types of CTAs and don’t be afraid to change things up. What works well this month my not work as well next month. Not only will changing CTAs refresh your site a bit, but it can give you metrics on what people are responding to.

Of course the CTA must match your business, the offer and the content around it, but here are some to try:

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Use urgency but be cautious

Urgency and FOMO are fine to use here and there, but don’t have fear as your base method of conversion. Not only does it get old, it provides diminishing returns over time and is overused in general. Words that push the idea of urgency can also get you in trouble, like caught in spam filters if you use them in your email marketing. So while saying “Act Now”  or  “Get it before it’s gone” is valid, make sure you rotate those out with more helpful and interesting CTAs.

You can also back into urgency by putting a date or time frame. For instance, saying “Offer ends May 4” is a way of creating that need to act without utilizing words that create FOMO.  If a deal is good for a week,  say “Offer good this week only.”  These types of CTAs create urgency, but may also be seen as more helpful and less alarmist, which is also of benefit.

 

Where to use CTAs

It is not hard to incorporate CTAs, but it is hard to not over-incorporate them. The knee-jerk method is to put a CTA of some kind on every screen someone will see. This may be every page on your website, including in images, in the header, in every blog…. just anywhere a potential customer may be looking. The same strategy is often used in newsletters and in social media. You’ll even see it in commercials, where a busy scroll with contact info and constant pleas to “call now” practically make up the entire ad!

It is completely understandable from a business standpoint, but you aren’t the audience. You know you’re great and that your deal is the best around. But people out there in the masses have thousands of companies doing the same thing – yelling at them for attention. By being strategic on your placement and use of CTAs, you can avoid having the problem of diminishing returns – where you see lots of clicks that taper or drop off quickly. You can also keep from alienating your audience.

The goal is to give them helpful info, keen insights, smart consumer info or a power statement and THEN hit them with the CTA. In a commercial you should make your power statement first then ask for the call. In your website, use an info-forward approach and sprinkle CTAs where it’s logical, not just where there is room for a button.

The only real exception is a targeted landing page. If you have digital ads, your landing page should essentially be one big call to action. It should match the ad that got the click in the first place, and make it super easy to click to call, get info, give you their info or take whatever other action you want them to take. Everywhere else though, be smart, strategic and use metrics to make adjustments.