Call to Action Tips

Updated November 15, 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Motivating Your Reader

This post was updated on 11/2/19.

Whether you place it at the end of your content and string it in lights or embed it more subtlety on your page, everything you do online should include a call to action. That means you strategically lead your visitors to do anything from continue reading to buy now. Follow these call to action tips to motivate your prospects to click-through or take other action while hanging out on your website.

Create Something People Want

This might sound obvious, but we often see gated content that isn’t worth an email. Remember it’s an exchange, the customer is giving you something valuable (their email, or other data) and for that, they want to get something valuable in turn. If your content isn’t worth it, they won’t submit your forms or click your CTAs.

Make Whatever’s Next Easy

You can incorporate marketing triggers and emotional copy on your site. Yet without instruction and capability, visitors can’t follow through with a call to action even if they want to. It’s certainly important to lead the reader or viewer to your conclusion, but don’t leave them standing at the end. Provide visitors with information about what you want them to do. Then, make the task as easy as possible. Try to ask as few questions of the visitor as possible. For example, if you’re asking for an email, do you need their first or last name? An email address will often be a mixture of the two.

• Want them to review a product? Put the information and image a click away.
• Want them to sign up for something? Only ask for the information you really need.
• Want them to read some information? Be careful about where you link them. PDF direct links, for example, can be annoying to some users. Plus they aren’t always friendly for mobile.

Understand Selection Psychology

Use selection psychology when designing buttons or other call-to-action mechanisms. For example, Acuity Scheduling used information from a user perception study. The study showed that, given three different options, users automatically discount the item that is most different. Understanding such psychology lets you lead users to desired outcomes by customizing call-to-action images to encourage certain user choices. A/B testing will also help determine what combination(s) get the most conversions.

Consistent Creativity When Using Call to Action

There’s a tendency to stick with what works, but you can’t ride coattails in marketing. Following the same call to action for every landing page, email, or social media profile can get stale for your intended audience. Eventually, users will become immune. Consistently use great content and tools for calls to action. Then change it up. See how variations in your brand, content, and calls to action might give you surprising (and repeatable) results.

photo credit top: Roman Harak
photo credit body: Karen Roe