‘Join Free’: get in on great calls to action.

By Amy Andrew, Writer.

Get your readers clicking. Find out how to put together a great call to action (CTA) and seriously increase your conversion rate.

A good CTA takes up a tiny amount of time, money and space, yet it punches well above its weight, improving conversion rates by up to 30 per cent.

It’s a quick, easy and cost-effective way to convince your audience to do something: whether that be clicking a link or downloading a file. By writing great CTAs, you can re-generate older content in minutes and make sure your new stuff is irresistible to readers. Here’s how:

Six steps to create a great CTA.

1. Make it actionable.
   Imperatives and the second-person are your friend. Get customers’ attention by using ‘you’. And make it clear what they should do with imperative verbs (the bossy ones) — think ‘download this’, ‘click that’, ‘get it?’.
   
2. Motivate me.
   Give your reader a reason to act. They’re asking ‘what’s in it for me?’, so it’s important you tell them, clearly. ‘Download something’ would be a less motivating CTA than, for example, ‘Downloading this will make your job easier’.
   
3. Consistency is key.
   Whatever your CTA refers to, give the offer/proposition a name and stick to it. If you call it a download on your landing page, call it a download in your blog, and in all CTAs. Otherwise people either:
   
   
   1. get confused
   2. don’t trust you.
      
      Either way, they’re not clicking on your link.
      
4. Add some urgency.
   We’re all busy, so you need to make the most of people’s desire to get things done quickly. The internet, after all, is hardly a place for thoughtful contemplation. The word ‘now’ is your friend.
   
5. Look at me.
   Websites that are consistent and well designed, encourage trust. But it’s important that CTA buttons also stand out. So make it pop (and look clickable). Buttons are stereotypically red for a reason.
   
6. Testing, testing 1, 2, 3…
   Not sure if your CTA has what it takes? Ask your audience. A/B test multiple CTAs to find the one with the best engagement. (This can also help you personalise CTAs based on different groups in your audience — but that’s a blog for another day.)
   
   As you can see, these steps are pretty simple. They’re also inexpensive and can be done straight away. So don’t be deceived by their size, CTAs are powerful little things.

Click now for even more conversion tips.

(See what we did there!?)

References:
Ginny Soskey (2013). The Complete Checklist for Creating Compelling Calls to Action. Available: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/call-to-action-optimization-ht#sm.001sng5wp11k7fqcw4q2g8zrtcrit

Heidi Cohen (2013). How to Improve your Social Media Calls to Action. Available: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-improve-your-social-media-calls-to-action/

Hubspot Academy (2016). How to create an A/B variation test for Calls-to-Action (CTA).
Available: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/cta-user-guide-v2/how-to-create-an-a-b-variation-test-for-calls-to-action