As a sales and marketing expert, you’re not distributing content just for the sake of distributing content. Each marketing material you put out has a purpose, be it an email, website page, blog post, or sales enablement asset. And more often than not, that purpose is to drive engagement and encourage potential buyers to become leads in your sales pipeline.
One of the best ways to effectively guide decision-makers through their sales journey is by using calls to action throughout your copy so readers know what they should do after they’re done. However, it’s important to remember that some call-to-action best practices are more influential than others, and we’re here to share them with you.
Keep reading to learn about the following:
What Is a Call To Action?
A call to action (CTA) is a short statement used in marketing campaigns that guides readers on what to do with the information you’ve presented. A CTA could lead a reader to a variety of different pages. The place you send them should help further their journey down the sales funnel.
Why Is a Call-To-Action Important?
Calls to action are essential to your content marketing strategy because they help readers understand what their next steps are in their user journey.
As mentioned before, CTAs can lead users through various avenues depending on the goal of the content. For example, if the content is a top-of-funnel piece, it may be worth writing a a CTA that directs readers to related mid-funnel pieces to learn more about your product, service, or industry.
If the content is more of a bottom-funnel piece, you need a CTA that creates a sense of urgency for the reader to take action. This could include encouraging them to submit their contact information, sign up for your company newsletter, download a complete guide, or schedule a demo of your services.
An effective CTA empowers your lead generation experts to configure a predictable sales and marketing strategy that yields the desired results. With powerful call-to-action phrases, you can grab the attention of potential buyers in your target audience and convert them from users into leads.
Call-To-Action Best Practices That Boost Conversion Rates
While calls to action are a seemingly simple addition to your marketing materials, there are some things to keep in mind to help you land the results you’re aiming for.
Here are some call-to-action best practices your sales and marketing experts should follow to boost conversion rates:
Make the CTA Easy To Identify
Users should be able to easily find calls to action so they know what their next steps should be. As you design CTA buttons, you should use contrasting colors to make them stand out from the rest of the content, like the Book a Demo button shown here:
Additionally, the button text size should be large enough to be seen by users, but not too large that it overpowers the rest of the page.
Make It Action Oriented
CTA phrases should be action oriented. Using strong verbs in your button text tells the user exactly what you want them to do with the information provided. Without action-oriented button text, you risk turning users away because they have little to no direction about where to go after looking at your marketing materials.
Experiment With Button Shapes
Many CTA button shapes are rectangular, but that doesn’t mean you can’t mix it up to see what email recipients and website visitors respond most to. A/B testing CTA button shapes allows you to see if one form gets more clicks than another. If you spot a noticeable difference in engagement, the button’s shape has a noticeable impact, and you can adjust your other buttons for future campaigns.
Keep It Short and to the Point
Copywriters need to make CTAs specific but use as few words as possible at the same time. Too many words on a CTA button can mess up the design and take away from its impact. However, too few words leave the reader unsure of what you want them to do. As a best practice, CTAs should stay between two to five words and make what you want the user to do perfectly clear.
Make Sure It’s Relevant to the Content
A CTA should have a purpose and not be there for its own sake. As you introduce calls to action in your content, you must make them relevant to the copy and align them with the product, service, or topic you’re discussing.
For example, a transactional intent page should have CTAs like Schedule a Demo or Contact Us Today because your goal is to convert them from a user into a lead. However, let’s say you’re a roofing company writing an informational blog about TPO vs. EPDM roofing systems. Since this is an educational piece, a proper CTA should encourage readers to learn more about these systems by checking out your blog.
Best Call-To-Action Phrases for Marketing Teams To Use
The best call-to-action phrases depend on the intent of the piece. If it’s informational or navigational, a CTA should direct visitors to stay on your site and learn more about the specific product, service, or topic they’re reading about. If it’s transactional, it should encourage them to contact your company.
Some good call-to-action phrases for informational and transactional pieces include:
- Learn More
- Read Our Blog
- Explore Our Testimonials
Some good call-to-action phrases for transactional pieces include:
- Schedule a Meeting
- Book a Demo
- Start a Free Trial
- Contact Us
How To Write a Call To Action for Various Marketing Platforms
Calls to action differ in design and direction depending on the platform they’re displayed on. When it comes down to it, there are four core platforms where marketers present readers with calls to action, each looking a little different from one other.
Email Marketing
Email marketing CTAs should encourage prospects to take further action past the email itself. Top-of-funnel leads should be directed to read blogs on your company website or download an exclusive guide. If they’re bottom-funnel leads, the CTA should encourage them to schedule a demo and respond with a date or time that works best for a meeting or phone call.
Company Website
CTAs on company websites vary depending on the web page. Transaction web pages, such as Solutions pages, should encourage users to contact your company to ask questions or schedule a sales meeting. Blog CTAs should direct users to other relevant blogs. Here’s a call-to-action example we use on our Bionic SDR web page:
Here’s a call-to-action example we used in one of our blog posts:
Landing Page
Landing pages are transactional and designed to target users who are actively looking for products or services to resolve their pain points. When writing CTAs for landing pages, you need to guide the user to the final stage of the business development cycle.
Here’s a call-to-action example we used on a PPC landing page:
Social Media
Since social media is a very awareness-focused communication platform, you need to write CTAs that drive readers to resources like thought leadership blogs, client testimonials, and your website to learn more about your company. Social media CTAs should not be conversion focused unless they’re for a paid search ad.
Here’s a call-to-action example we implemented in a LinkedIn social media post:
Key Takeaways
While calls to action are an important component of marketing materials, there are some best practices you must keep in mind. CTAs guide users further down the sales funnel, so it’s important to follow call-to-action best practices to ensure you’re getting the most out of your business growth efforts.
At Sapper Consulting, our lead generation experts follow the latest CTA best practices to move your prospects down each stage of the sales funnel. Contact our sales reps today to get an inside look into our approach!
