Lights! Camera! Action? Well, you’d certainly hope so. However, not all calls to action actually result in action – which can be hugely problematic when you’ve taken the trouble to set up the lights and camera. If a tree falls in the forest, does anyone actually hear it? If a call to action echoes out into the digital void with no follow-up, was it really a CTA at all? Let’s take a look at how to write the best calls to action that result in clicks, conversions and customers.
Why Calls To Action Are Important
Forget the existential leanings. CTAs should form an integral part of your SEO strategy. A quick rundown for those not in the know: in marketing terms, calls to action are any phrase designed to elicit an immediate reaction from the person reading it.
They are the point at which your readers will convert to customers. They represent the clinch point of your whole brand campaign. THAT is why they are so important. If you don’t stick the landing, all the good work you’ve done to this point will be for naught. (Yep, naught.) So how can you optimise your CTAs to ensure a strong click-through rate?
How To Write Calls To Action That Actually Work
Let’s take a look at how to write effective calls to action. As you read through these tips, please keep in mind that in order to properly nail CTAs, they will require a certain je ne sais quoi – so don’t be afraid to rewrite them as many times as necessary until they’re as close to perfect as possible!
Use Questions
Questions are a powerful currency in online conversions. If you set up the right question in your copy beforehand, you should be able to hear your potential customers shouting the answer back at you through the screen by the time they get to the CTA (if a customer shouts at a computer screen and no one’s around to hear it, does it really…well, you get the idea). So, are you ready to move to the next point?
Provide Solutions
Make your customers recognise that they have a problem or challenge to overcome…and then give them the solution in a CTA. A positive one. They’ll thank you later.
No, no, that’s a call to ADVENTURE. We’re talking about a call to action.
Short And Simple Is Best
Keep your CTAs sharp, short and sweet. A single sentence is best. Any longer and it’ll blend into the rest of your copy. And while you’re working on keeping it short…
Aim For Maximum Impact
Also work on keeping it impactful. Here’s how to write an amazing CTA: Think of it like a boxing match. You’ve been jabbing your opponent all the way through your preceding copy, setting them up for the perfect right hook. The CTA is your knockout punch.
Be Smart With Your Font And Layout
Don’t bury the lede, as they say. Your CTAs should be prominent, polished and positioned for maximum KO power, as above. Think of them in a visual sense as well as a psychological one and the referee will be raising your gloves in no time.
That’s how to write calls to action that convert. Keep all the above in mind and you’ll have the perfect foundations for a smouldering, stellar, stupefying call to action. You don’t even need the lights or the camera. Just the action, ma’am.
