One of the most integral parts of a marketing campaign is an effective call to action (CTA) that can help turn leads into conversions and sales. However, creating and testing calls to action can be challenging, especially if you’re on a budget. You don’t need a multi-million dollar campaign in order to build calls to action that are effective, all you need is a little CTA savvy and a little time to create them.
A Dynamic HubSpot Home Page Call to Action, that is being tested to determine the most compelling language. This CTA changes each time the page is loaded.
Start with a Quality Product
There are millions of calls to action out there, all of them providing something … but how great is that “something” really? You’ve probably seen them before: calls to action that look ok on the surface but are trying to sell a piece of junk software or a questionable product. Ultimately the call to action is tied to the quality of it’s offer – so make sure your product is as good as you can make it, then tout it proudly!
Freshbooks does a nice job on it’s home page of repeating the call to action at top right and bottom left, as well as displaying a secondary “Take a Quick Tour” CTA.
Review Past Success and Test
Review your analytics and figure out what has worked well in the past. What offers and promotions do people typically want from your business? How can you tweak them to make them even better? Adapt by looking at what has been successful and making it even better. It’s best to always test at least two CTAs; if you’re not testing there is no way to improve your rate of conversion.
Mailchimp makes three compelling appeals to use their product; It’s Easy, 2.5 Million People use them, Sign Up is Free. Their main CTA is repeated at top left and bottom right.
Be Noticeable
Calls to action come in all shapes and sizes, and can be coupled with everything from extensive promotional pages to simple sign-up forms. Apply basic design techniques to make your CTAs stand out: big is noticeable, space around elements helps them stand out, bright colors work, and making a button look clickable will get you more clicks.
A strong headline and presumptive langauge work well for Basecamp.
Content and Presumptive Language
When building calls to action, content and context are important. When it comes to your copy, images, videos, and layout, capturing attention and appealing substance is important. Use presumptive language – instead of “See How We Can Help You”, try “We Will Help You” – create an image in the vistors mind of already being helped by you.
Apple repeats 3 variations of their appeal on their iPad mini landing page.
Repeat Your Appeal
A call to action works well when it fulfills the desire that your message suggests. If you are promising a free report, instead of “Register Here”, let the button say, “Yes! Send Me My FREE Report!” If you have built a promise of helping your customer create great marketing with your software, your call to action should not say, “Click Here to Learn More.” It could say, “See The Software”, or “Take a Feature Tour.” Changing the language so that the customer is issuing a command works well too; “Show Me How to Create Marketing People Love” is a powerful call.
The Takeaway
When it comes building calls to action, you don’t have to pull your hair out over what will work and what won’t. Look at previous data when available and incorporate these ideas or adjust where needed to make the CTA even more effective. If you already have a successful campaign at hand, testing a variation of the campaign is the path to success. Increase your conversion over time by always testing two variants of a theme, finding a statistically significant winner, and creating a new challenger. Happy Marketing!
