A CTA – or ‘call-to-action’ – refers to messaging aimed at convincing a potential consumer to take a specific action, often pushing them ever closer to making a conversion. While that might sound simple enough, there is truly an art to crafting a CTA, especially if you want to ensure that it’s effective!
However, before you can even attempt to create one, it’s important to familiarise yourself with the different types of CTAs that you can use.
The different types of CTA
Lead generation CTAs are arguably the most common. These CTAs are aimed at turning website visitors into customers. The secret here is to clearly communicate the benefits that the visitor will experience if they opt to perform the action that you are trying to push.
Next, you have form-related CTAs. If you’ve already managed to convince your website visitor to fill in a form – congrats! But they still have to submit it. Here’s where a clever CTA in place of an uninspiring ‘submit’ button comes in. For example, if your business sells gym equipment, you could use something like ‘Get pumped now!’ instead.
Other popular types of CTAs include lead nurturing CTAs and CTAs designed to close a sale. The former should be focused on offering a potential lead something of value for free, such as a complimentary e-book or a free trial, that could edge them closer to making a purchase or contacting you for more info.
CTAs geared towards closing a sale should, once again, emphasise the benefits of doing so. For example, ‘Ready to get fit in your own home and say goodbye to expensive monthly gym fees? Click here to contact our team’.
How to craft a convincing CTA
Along with the guidelines provided above, there are a few other tips to keep in mind when crafting a convincing CTA:
- Use emotionally provoking vocabulary – such as ‘You deserve to feel great about your body – Order your treadmill and get fit, fast!’
- Make the CTA as enthusiastic as possible. Simply adding an exclamation mark can often achieve this.
- Always include a benefit and/or a USP (unique selling point) in your CTA – like ‘We are the only company selling imported [brand name] treadmills in South Africa – Order yours today!’
- Give off a sense of urgency to encourage quick action: ‘Order your XX treadmill today at 30% off. Sale ends Monday!’
- Don’t hesitate to use numbers. A CTA stating ‘Order your treadmill NOW, prices starting from as low as R4999’ is a lot more enticing than ‘Order your treadmill NOW – low prices for everyone!’.
Need a hand perfecting your CTAs? Or perhaps you are looking for a full-service marketing partner to assist you with visibility and lead generation? Get in touch with HashTag Marketing. We specialise in everything from SEO and content marketing to website design and social media.
Article by, Bianca Marie Golz (Content Writer) – HashTag Marketing
