Table of contents
The action we require you to take with our marketing efforts will certainly vary from company to company: it could be downloading our offer, signing up for our newsletter, providing your information, purchasing a product. But how is the user supposed to know what action to take? The answer is CTA – Call To Action. What it is
CTA button
and why is it an essential part of an advertising campaign?
What is a CTA?
Call-to-action in Polish can be translated as call to action. It is a kind of incentive included either on a website or in an advertising campaign that clearly signals to the user what action is required of them. Usually such a phrase has a commanding form. Examples of CTAs include:
- Register
- Buy Now
- Subscribe to our newsletter
- Click link
Typically, the call to action is in the form of a button with a hyperlink, which takes the user to a designated tab, such as a contact form or a purchase page. However, the CTA button can have many uses – it’s up to us.
Why is an effective CTA so important?
A call to action is a kind of direction blinker for a user who visits our site or sees our advertising campaign. Without such assistance, a potential customer may not understand what step we expect him to take. We advertise a language course, for example, but do we want him to purchase the first lesson right away? Maybe it’s just to sign up for a newsletter or leave your information for an offer?
A clear message like “Sign up now” will make the user immediately understand what we expect of them – whether they actually do so is, of course, a separate issue, influenced by many other factors. However, our task is to create a CTA that will encourage potential customers to perform the desired action.
What should a CTA contain – how to create an effective button?
Did you know that there are good practices for using CTAs? Yes, it is not enough just to write at the bottom of the page: buy our product. Creating a call to action is a more complicated matter that requires knowledge of sales, marketing, as well as psychology. Here’s a mini tutorial on his how to create an effective CTA.
Bet on dynamic verbs
We have already talked about the command mode: indeed, in the case of CTAs it works best. It’s also a good idea to use verbs that are designed to entice the user: buy, try, learn, discover, check, like, win. The verbs used should evoke emotion and literally: call to action.
Also use direct phrases: this is not the place to use the Mr./Ms. formula.
Take care of the CTA design
The CTA button must not only have the right content, but also the design. It must, of course, stand out on the page. We can achieve this effect in many ways:
- use a different background color
- use a different font type
- use rounded button corners
- apply 3D effect, shading, etc.
However, the CTA button must match the rest of our site at all times: if it is pale pink, we can’t suddenly make the button in neon colors, because it will be glaring. A good web designer should find a balance between what catches the eye and what fits with the rest of the site.
Where to apply call-to-action?
It is not only the call-to-action content that matters, but also its location. Typically, CTA buttons are used at the bottom of the page – the user should click on them once he or she is familiar with our offer. However, there are cases when the CTA is at the top of our page: it all depends on the nature of our business, site and purpose. However, the placement of the button must make sense: the user should understand why we require the action. And that brings us to the next point….
Lead the user to the CTA button
For our call-to-action to be successful, it must be a natural consequence of previous content on the site. We can’t put a “Buy Now” button under the section on company history or employee information. The user should understand why we are requiring a particular action from him at a particular time: he has just read our offer and now is the moment to make a decision: he can learn more about it, request a conversation with a consultant or go straight to purchase.
How to measure the effectiveness of a CTA button?
To assess whether our call-to-action is having the intended effect, it’s not enough to wait for increased sales or newsletter signups. We need to constantly watch the statistics of our CTA button so that if it performs poorly, we can make the necessary changes – a button that doesn’t do its job can cost us dearly.
Measuring the effectiveness of call-to-action will help you improve conversion results and increase lead generation. For this purpose, you should observe:
- Click-through rate: how many people among those who visit your site actually click on the CTA button?
- Clicks leading to form submission: how many people among those who click the button leading to the submission form actually fill it out and submit it?
- Clicks that lead to sales: what percentage of people who see a call to action actually convert into a customer?
By getting answers to these questions, you can change the content, design and position of your CTA button accordingly as well as consider getting help to manage it.
Have a professional create your CTA
Although it is one button, it is the CTA that can determine the success of our site or campaign. The right language, design, color, placement – there are many issues to plan. This is why it should be a task that we outsource to a professional web designer or marketing agency.
Even if you already have a site and want to add such a button to it, it is worth using the knowledge and experience of a specialist who understands what a call-to-action should look like. He will design the right button for us, as well as examine whether it brings the planned results.
