As the digital marketing field has grown, so has the importance of the call to action, or CTA. Today, most digital marketing efforts are designed to elicit some kind of action from the user, whether it’s signing up for an email newsletter, downloading a piece of content, or making a purchase.
To create a great CTA, you need to understand the psychology of your users and what encourages them to click. Here are nine tips to help you create great CTAs.
1. Use Action Words
If you want your audience to take action, you need to use action words in your CTA. Action words are verbs that prompt your audience to do something. For example, “download,” “get,” “shop,” and “subscribe” are all action words that can be used in your CTAs.
It’s important to be specific with your action words. Instead of using a generic action word like “click,” use a more specific action word that tells your audience what they will be doing when they click on your CTA.
2. Create a Sense of Urgency
In marketing, it’s never a good idea to pressure your leads to make a decision. However, creating a sense of urgency can help encourage them to take the next step.
This can be done by showing your leads that they will be able to accomplish their goals more quickly by clicking on your CTA.
For example, you could create a CTA that says “Click Here to Get Started” or “Get Your Free Quote Now” to show leads that they can take action and get what they need right away.
3. Make Your CTA Short and Sweet
Your CTA should be clear, but it should also be concise. If it’s too long, it won’t grab your visitors’ attention, and they might not even read it all the way through. Instead, keep your CTA to as few words as possible.
For example, “Get Started” is a great CTA for a homepage, while “Download Our Free Ebook to Learn More About [Topic]” is a better CTA for a blog post.
4. Use Words That Evoke Emotion
You want your CTA to be short and to the point. But, you also want it to be clear and direct. This can be a difficult balance to strike, which is why the words you use in your CTA are so important.
If you have a lot of information to convey in a small amount of space, you need to choose your words wisely. The right words can get your point across without taking up too much space.
For example, instead of saying, “find out more about our products,” you could say, “explore our products.” This CTA is shorter and more direct, but it still conveys the same message.
5. Make Your CTA Easy to Read
Your CTA should be easy to read at a glance. If it’s too long or too cluttered, your prospects might not read it at all. Make sure your CTAs are concise and that the font size is large enough to read. If your CTA is a button, make sure the button is big enough and that the text is large enough to read.
Font color and contrast are also key factors that affect how easy your CTA is to read. Use bright, bold colors for your CTA text, and make sure it stands out against the background.
6. Make Your CTA a Button
It’s a good idea to make your CTA a button, as opposed to a text link. Buttons are larger and more eye-catching than text links, making them more effective at drawing attention to the action you want your audience to take. Plus, buttons are easier to click on mobile devices, which is important since more and more people are using their smartphones and tablets to browse the web.
When creating your CTA button, be sure to choose a color that stands out from the rest of your design. You can use color psychology to help you decide on the best color for your button. For example, red is a high-energy color that can create a sense of urgency, making it a great choice for a CTA button. Blue, on the other hand, is a calming color that can create a sense of trust, making it a good choice for a CTA button that leads to a form or a sales page.
7. Use a Contrasting Color
Color is a huge part of CTAs. In fact, 85% of shoppers say that color is a primary reason why they buy a product.
When it comes to CTAs, you should use a color that contrasts with the rest of the page. The contrast will make the CTA stand out and draw attention to it.
If you use a color that blends in with the rest of the page, people might not even see the CTA, let alone click on it.
You can use a tool like Coolors to find contrasting colors to use in your CTAs.
8. Make Your CTA Stand Out
You want your CTA to be noticeable so that your site visitors will see it and take action. There are a few different ways you can make your CTAs stand out on your website.
First, you should make sure your CTAs are above the fold. This means that your CTAs should be visible without having to scroll down on your website. If your CTAs are above the fold, your site visitors will see them right away and be more likely to take action.
You can also make your CTAs stand out by using contrasting colors. If your website is mostly blue, try using a bright orange or red CTA button. This will make your CTA pop and draw your site visitors’ attention.
Finally, you can make your CTAs stand out by using white space. White space is the empty space around your CTA that helps draw attention to it. If your website is cluttered, your CTAs will get lost. Use white space to make your CTAs stand out and get noticed.
9. Test
As with any marketing strategy, you should test your CTAs. This will help you understand what works and what doesn’t for your unique audience, and it will also help you hone in on the best designs, copy, and more.
There are many elements of your CTAs you can test, including:
• Copy
• Color
• Placement
• Shape
• Size
• Offers
• Images
• And more
Testing your CTAs can help you identify which CTAs work best for your audience and which don’t. You can test your CTAs by creating multiple versions of the same CTA and then tracking which one gets the most clicks.
You can also test your CTAs by changing the placement of your CTAs on your website or in your marketing materials. By testing your CTAs, you can identify which CTAs work best and then use that information to improve your overall marketing strategy.
A/B testing is a great way to test your CTAs. With A/B testing, you create two versions of the same CTA and show them to different segments of your audience. Then, you can compare the results to see which version is more effective.
You can test different elements of your CTAs, such as the copy, color, or size. Over time, you’ll be able to see which elements work best for your audience, and you can use that information to create even more effective CTAs.
Conclusion
There are many ways to create a great CTA, and it’s important to think about how you can apply these tips to your business. We hope this article has helped you learn more about how to create a CTA and what it can do for your brand.
If you’re looking for more information on how to create great CTAs and other marketing strategies, we can help. Our team of virtual marketing assistants is dedicated to helping businesses grow through content marketing.
If you’d like to learn more, check out our blog. We have tons of articles on how to create content that converts, how to create a blog, how to create a social media strategy, and more.
