You’ve heard it before in sales, “You can’t expect to close a sale if you never ask for it”. The same concept applies to marketing. If you want your customers to take action, you have to ask them to take it. Writing the perfect call to action (CTA) can often make or break your marketing campaign. Luckily for you, we’re the experts on the subject. We are here to give you all of the insight you need to create effective and efficient calls to action that will drive your customers to make a purchase.
Where to Use Calls to Action
In 2022 Zenith estimates continued ad spending growth reaching $320.0 billion, an increase of 12.2%. When marketers spend money on ads, they spend quite a bit. With that being said, writing a strong CTA that will maximize your ROI is the key to a winning campaign. So, when should you use a call to action? The answer to that will depend on the action that you’re trying to get your customer to take. Some common place to include calls to action would be:
- Emails
- Your Website
- Social Media
- Google Ads
All of these platforms give your customer ample opportunity to take action or become engaged with your brand. They are also the platforms your customers will likely interact with you the most.
How to Use Calls to Action
Now that you know where to use your CTA’s, you should also know when/how to use them. Timing is everything. You want to use a call to action right after you’ve convinced your customer to do what it is you’re asking them to do. Here are several ways to use a CTA: .
- When someone enters your retail space
- Before you hang-up from a phone call
- In your email signature
- On your social media profile bio
- In your social media ads
- On your digital display ads
- In your Search Engine Marketing
- On your website home page
- In your email newsletter
- On your Facebook post about an upcoming event
- In your Tweet about your new product or service
- When transferring primary contact between staff
- Before someone leaves your brick and mortar location
- At checkout in-person
- Before checkout in-person
- Before checkout online
- After checkout online
- Before someone leaves your website
- In a print ad
- On your collateral
- On signage
- In event programs
- In your shipped items
- During a presentation
- Throughout a tour
- When an item is added to cart online
As you can see, there are many ways to use a CTA. The key is to remember the value building beforehand. Make sure that you’ve built up plenty of value for your customers so the call to action makes sense for them to take.
Tips For Writing an Effective Call to Action
Knowing when and how to use a call to action is only half the battle. If you want your customers to take action, you must know how to write strong copy. Here are several tips to keep in mind while writing your CTA:
1/ Use an Active Voice: Active voice means that a sentence has a subject that acts upon its verb. Passive voice means that a subject is a recipient of a verb’s action. You want to use an active voice in your CTAs in order to have a strong, direct, and clear tone for your customers. For example, on our website we use an active voice when we say, “ By developing a thoughtful brand identity you give your audience a lasting first impression and build from there.”
2/ Create Urgency: “Use this Coupon Before it Expires!” Some of the best calls to action are the ones that prompt consumers to make a decision, quickly. Many marketers choose to employ the concept of “FOMO” (fear of missing out) when creating effective campaign strategies. Check out our blog “Create Urgency: 4 Ways to Enhance Your Marketing Copy” to learn more about how to create urgency in your marketing copy.
3/ Employ a Zero-Pressure Approach: As important as it is to create urgency, it may also be effective to use a low pressure tactic when building out your CTAs. Some customers don’t like to feel rushed or pressured, so make sure that you understand your audience before creating a CTA. Set appropriate expectations of what will happen when they take the action. If it’s to learn more, don’t make your CTA sound like it’s a purchase—and especially vice versa!
4/ Make it Stand Out: How you phrase your CTA is important, but so is how you design it. Studies show that certain colors are more effective than others when displaying a call to action. For example, the colors red and orange create a sense of urgency, while the colors blue and purple establish trust. Know what it is that you’re wanting your audience to do, and then form the design and copy of your CTA accordingly.
TLDR: CTA stands for Call To Action. It is a fundamental element to marketing. Calls to action are used almost everywhere to motivate customers, users, viewers, givers, and others to take a specific action and move forward in a process or system. They can look and sound very different. Crafting a call to action with a high conversion rate can increase sales, results, and build a brand up.
If you like this post, be sure to share it on your social network and leave us a comment below. If you use it to support your own take on things, be sure to link back and send us a note at support@neatandnimble.com.
Subscribe to our email list to be the first to see new content like this.
Have an idea or a question similar to this? Email us at support@neatandnimble.com or reach out with a direct message on social media.
Want to work together? Initiate a conversation by submitting our contact form found here.