The Calls to Action (CTAs) in your marketing copy go a long way towards determining what your conversion rates are. Your CTAs are vital tools for convincing consumers to help you achieve your campaign goals. That’s why they need to be as strong and compelling as possible.
If you’re looking to increase your marketing and branding effectiveness, improving your CTAs can get the job done. By implementing a few simple techniques, you can enhance your conversion rates significantly.
In this article, we’re going to show you how you can improve the CTAs on your website, and also introduce some tools that can help. Let’s dive right in!
1. Address the Consumer’s Needs Directly
There are few things as effective as a Call to Action (CTA) that speaks directly to a potential customer’s needs. Your CTAs will be most successful when they promise to give consumers exactly what they want.
The more value your CTA offers, the higher the probability is that it will attract and convince your target audience. Here’s an example of a CTA that does a good job in this area:
By using the phrase “teach me how” and including a specific number, this CTA addresses the desires of its target audience in a very direct and engaging manner. A site owner who’s looking to attract more visitors has a strong incentive to follow this CTA.
2. Get Straight to the Point
The message in your CTA should be simple and crystal clear. If you really want your CTA to stand out and convert more customers, you want them to understand exactly what you’re asking. Plus, it’s important for customers to have a clear picture upfront of where a CTA is sending them.
One very practical way of implementing this technique is by having a copy above your CTA that elaborates more on the offer. Most people prefer to be well informed about an offer before seeing a CTA, whereas placing a CTA above the marketing pitch instead can decrease conversions.
3. Use ‘Action’ Verbs
Action words are another important element that can improve the efficiency of your CTAs. For best results, try to use strong action verbs that are representative of the decisions you want your visitors to take.
Examples of these verbs include “Build”, “Drive”, “Grow”, “Protect”, “Learn”, and so on:
A strong ‘CTA-appropriate’ verb such as the one in the above example (“Explore”) can be powerful enough to create positive emotions in the reader’s mind. If you’re not sure where to start, BufferApp has a list of words that are proven to convert. According to their research, a single word can significantly impact the conversion rate of your CTA (or any marketing copy).
4. Pay Attention to Your CTA’s Location
When it comes to buttons, positioning is everything. As we mentioned earlier, it’s always important to place your CTA below your sales pitch. That way, your customer has all the necessary information they need to make an informed decision.
Even more importantly, you’ll want to place your CTA in a location where it’s easy for the visitor to find. There are many options you can consider, and each placement may affect your results in different ways. According to Grow and Convert, however, the most effective placements tend to be in welcome gates, feature boxes, and pop-ups.
5. Experiment With Colors and Shapes
Colors and shapes are two important factors to consider when creating your CTA. Of course, your choices here will depend partially on the overall design of your site. However, it’s vital to always use contrasting colors for the background and text elements.
There are a number of themes and plugins that can help with creating a CTA design that stands out. A good example is the Ultimate Blocks plugin, which integrates seamlessly with the WordPress Block Editor:
There isn’t one perfect CTA design for every situation. It is important to experiment and find what works best for your audience. Different companies like Performable and SAP have found that specific color choices were able to boost their conversion rates.
6. Place Your CTA in White Space
At times, the smartest way to make something stand out is to place lots of nothing around it. Therefore, surrounding your CTA with plenty of white space is another efficient way to get more from it.
This is an excellent strategy for attracting more attention to your offer:
By making smart use of white space, you keep your from CTA blending in with other page elements. This includes leaving plenty of room above and below the CTA, as well as to the sides.
7. Time Your CTA Popups Strategically
Pop-ups can have a bad reputation, especially those considered to be 'disruptive interstitials'. However, when integrated properly, they can be effective while not annoying your visitors.
If you’re going to use pop-ups to display your CTAs, you’ll want to carefully consider their timing. It’s best to wait for a user to scroll down a few times (demonstrating their interest) before serving them a popup.
You can even create ‘exit intent’ pop-ups, which appear just as a visitor is about to leave the site. This presents them with your CTA at a crucial point, giving you one last chance to grab their attention.
8. Project a Sense of Urgency
Consumer decisions are often highly dependent on emotions. Two feelings that can be your best friends as a marketer are the senses of urgency and scarcity.
You can use time-related words to project these emotions to your potential customers, motivating them to take action now. Incorporating words like “today”, “get started”, and “now” in your CTA copy is easy, and can significantly increase conversions.
Conclusion
The main goal of most marketing campaigns is to get the highest conversion rate possible. One of the best ways to achieve this is by paying close attention to your CTAs.
To create stronger CTAs for your website, you’ll want to:
-
Address the consumer’s needs directly.
-
Get straight to the point.
-
Use ‘action’ verbs.
-
Pay attention to your CTA’s location.
-
Experiment with colors and shapes.
-
Place your CTA in white space.
-
Time your CTA popups strategically.
-
Project a sense of urgency.
Image credit: sasint.
