- In simplest terms, a CTA tells your customer what the next step is with your brand.
- If your CTA is well-written, it can leave your readers and potential customers inspired to take the next step with your business.
- If you’re trying to get your customer to respond to a CTA, you need to know what they need.
- Other best practices include keeping the CTA simple, being descriptive, making the CTA visually attractive, and testing.
All good writing inspires a reader. Whether you’ve just read a self-improvement book that has inspired you to make some changes or a fictional tale of magical worlds, good writing can inspire us in a lot of ways. The same can be said about a well-written call to action or CTA. If your CTA is well-written, it can leave your readers and potential customers inspired to take the next step with your business.
What is a Call to Action?
In simplest terms, a CTA tells your customer what the next step is with your brand. They typically take your customers to a landing page where they will then fill out a form with their contact information in exchange for something. A CTA may tell your reader to “download this book,” “sign up for our newsletter,” or “try this free trial,” then prompt a customer to fill out the form with their contact info.
If a CTA is well written, it will (hopefully) inspire your customer to take those next steps. Now that you know what a CTA is, you might be wondering how to write one. While we’ve given a few examples, they’re rather basic and nonspecific.
If you’re not 100% sure where to start, here are a few tips for writing a better CTA.
Put Yourself in Your Customers’ Shoes
First things first: you have to know your customers. You’re trying to get your customers to respond to a call to action, so you need to know what they like or need. While your goal is to get them to complete an action, it should be clear to them that they will benefit from it, too.
Instead of saying “download this book,” you could say, “Read this book for the answers to your car engine problems!” Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and ask what they might be coming to your page for in the first place. Use that to your advantage.
Keep it Simple
We live in a fast-paced society, and everyone has a never-ending to-do list. The last thing you want to do is add another thing to someone’s list. Instead, keep the action simple. Instead of saying “sign up for our newsletter,” you could say, “click here for free yoga videos sent to your inbox daily.”
When you keep the action simple, like saying, “click here,” you won’t be making your customers’ already-busy lives even busier. If the action is simple and clear, they will be more likely to follow through. If your call to action is unnecessarily complicated or even unclear, your customer will also be unclear on how to take the next steps with your brand.
Be Descriptive
While you want a clear and simple call to action, you still want it to be descriptive. That goes back to good writing being inspiring! Would you be more likely to read a story about a man who is in love, or a man whose heart does the cha-cha every time the love of his life enters a room? Specifics make a difference.
So instead of writing “Try this free trial,” you could say “By completing our free 30-day yoga trial, you will be on your way to a more mindful lifestyle.” The specifics will help your customer understand what they will get out of the deal.
Don’t Forget the Visuals
There are a few things to consider when designing your CTA. Will it be a banner or a button? What size should it be? Where should it go? Ultimately when it comes down to the visual aspect of your CTA, it’s important that it stands out in some way, shape, or form. It doesn’t matter how well-written your CTA is if they don’t see it or skim right past it!
So, first things first, make sure the CTA is easily noticeable for your customer. It should be one of the first things they notice on the page. Don’t forget to make it mobile-friendly, too. Most of all web traffic comes from cell phones, so it would be a bummer if you have a great CTA and mobile users couldn’t access it.
Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment
When it comes to planning your CTA, remember you can always experiment with the different details and see what gets the most clicks. Maybe you think your CTA should be at the bottom of an article, but you notice it’s not getting a lot of clicks down there. If that’s the case, try putting the CTA in the middle or closer to the top and see if that helps get more clicks!
Anything from size, to specific wording, to location can be changed if a lot of people are clicking on your page but not completing the call to action. Sometimes inspiring people takes a little work!
When in Doubt, Call in the Experts.
When it comes to writing a good CTA, remember: make sure the action is clear and simple, it should be detailed and specific to your customers, and should stand out visually. If you still aren’t sure where to start, don’t worry! The pros at Redefine Marketing Group have all aspects of CTAs covered. All you have to do is reach out!
