CTAs Explained

CTAs are an important way to convert customers into actual leads once you have grabbed their attention. Attracting and maintaining the interest of customers is the essential goal of all marketers. Ultimately, CTAs make up for a key part of that equation. Keep reading to learn what exactly CTAs are and how you can incorporate them into your own business strategies. A good grasp on CTA’s can help increase your chances of hooking in potential customers.

What does it stand for?

CTA is an acronym that stands for “call to action”. In digital marketing, a CTA is any content made with the goal of prompting your audience to take the next step in your sales process. It is a sequence of words meant to suggest to viewers that they should take action. The action that you want your audience to take could be anything from making a donation to subscribing to your weekly newsletter.

Effective CTAs are direct, clear, and usually follow up the end of your marketing message. Let’s look at one example of a marketing message that contains a CTA:

Consider an email that states you are having a limited time only sale on products on your website. Including a button that says something like “browse sale now” can act as a CTA and draw customers in. This informs your customers of the next move they should make and influences them to continue along with the sales funnel. 

Benefits of CTAs

You’re familiar with the term CTA but you’re wondering how exactly they can benefit your company. Below are some compiled statistics that are sure to convince you of the value of CTAs.

  • If a CTA is written within the content, your conversion rate will increase by over 120%.

  • Emails with a single call-to-action increased clicks 371% and sales 1617%. (WordStream)
  • Adding CTAs to your Facebook page can increase click-through rate by 285%.

(AdRoll)

It’s clear that CTAs are responsible for a powerful link between advertising and customer follow through. Now let’s discuss some of the tactics you can use to create your own successful CTAs.

Strong Wording

In order to make your CTAs stand out to your viewers, you’re going to want to use strong action verbs. This will make your goal obvious and clearly indicate to potential customers what they should do next. Below are examples of some persuasive and concise words that can be used to rouse your audience to action.

  • Buy, Shop, Order, Add to Cart, Save for Later, View
  • Try, Subscribe, Sign Up
  • Donate, Support, Volunteer, Give
  • Learn More, Check it Out, Click Here, Swipe Up, Find Out

Use of Emotion

One way to capture the attention of potential customers is to infuse your CTAs with a sense of urgency and enthusiasm. This will require using exclamation points and modifiers to give your CTAs a conversational, intimate feel that will resonate with viewers. Below are examples of CTAs meant to create an emotional response within readers. The goal with this technique is to drive viewers to continue to engage with your product or platform.

Examples:

  • “Join 50,000 community members in the fight to end cancer!”

The desire to be part of something is a powerful feeling. This CTA draws upon that feeling by using charged words like “join” and “community” to give viewers the sense that by taking action, they are becoming part of a special group

  • “Find your dream car today!”

This CTA uses the adjective “dream” to influence the way customers perceive the product and to give it a personal appeal.

  • “Book now and save 20% off!”

Numbers are very popular with people because they represent specificity and concrete results. When customers see the specific discount being offered to them, they are more likely to become interested and make a purchase.

  • “Find out what the hype is about and swipe up to learn more!”

Curiosity is a valuable tool in attracting customers by creating an atmosphere of intrigue that will make them eager to continue exploring what your business has to offer.

Get Creative

While it can be useful to refer to classic examples of popular CTAs when looking to construct your own, it is also important to add some flair that customizes your CTA to your specific service. This is where creativity comes in! Thinking up your own hooks makes your CTAs seem unique from the ocean of other marketing content that’s out there. 

Take a moment to think about what specialties your company can provide for its customers and use that to draw people in. Don’t be afraid to experiment with distinctive and attention grabbing phrases that dig to the heart of what your business is all about.

So, get out there and start working CTAs into your marketing efforts to increase your return on investment rate, your conversion rates, and the ability of your business to generate as many leads as possible.