The perfect call to action: How to identify, create & leverage CTA strategy

How do you turn a target audience of prospects into a target audience of qualified leads and customers? Enter the call to action.

A call to action, or CTA, is one of the most important parts of your entire marketing strategy. Whether on a landing page or in a colorful CTA button in your email marketing, calls to action encourage and convince people everywhere to act.

The importance of a good call to action

Who would have thought a single button could be so important to your entire bottom line? An effective call to action will get you more qualified leads and boost your sales. Getting a good CTA in front of your target audience, whether with a landing page, blog post or paid ad, will make your marketing campaigns more effective.

Not only is a quality CTA important for your business, it's important to website visitors - your future customers. As customers, we are constantly bombarded with digital marketing. Therefore, when you create a CTA that's simple, direct and engaging, a visitor is more likely to take the desired action.

When you instruct the customer exactly what to do with action phrases, while also appealing to their needs and pain points, you make it that much easier for them to do business with you. In return, your CTA buttons and landing pages can help you with your lead qualification process by collecting contact information.

What is a good call to action?

Your CTA needs to be concise and direct so people perform the action requested without hesitation or confusion. A few common CTA examples might be "Get your free guide" or "Follow us on Facebook." The perfect call to action will be different for every customer and for every business.

For example, some specific ways you might encourage potential customers to act immediately could be to:

• Minimize risk (“start your no-risk free trial,” "try it risk-free").
• Focus on the value ("sign up for hours of video content," "get your free 20-page e-book").
• Get personal ("tell us how we can help you," "find your dream home").

Not only are good call-to-action examples clear and direct, they're focused on a particular goal. Determine what exactly you want the visitor to do - what is your CTA's purpose? For an action example: you might want to prompt a follow (“Follow us for the latest videos”), obtain lead information ("Sign up for exclusive access") or direct someone to your website (“Visit our site for 10% off”).

How to write a call to action for social media

Social media calls to action follow the same basic guidelines as other CTA forms. However, it's a good idea to leverage platform-specific words and actions. Some social media call-to-action examples are:

• "Tell us what you think in the comments."
• "Subscribe for exclusive content."
• "Swipe up for more information."

Along with using action words, make sure your CTA includes a value proposition.

Wait, what?: A value proposition is that something "extra" that communicates why a potential customer should take action. Value propositions make a more compelling call to action because they provide a promise of value. Some examples might be:

• Visual content like an image or video clip.
• A short subtitle or description of your offering.
• A short bullet point list.

Adapting traditional techniques for digital formats

Many early digital advertising campaigns were emails almost identical to direct mail ads. Those on the receiving end of these campaigns likely deleted these emails or directed them right into the spam folder. Luckily, email marketing - and other marketing campaigns - have come a long way since then.

That said, the driving force of the CTA remains the same. Think of a sign outside a café reading "free cookie with coffee purchase," or a department store offering generous discounts to customers who sign up for store credit cards. These are also CTAs prompting a desired action from the customer, and are just as effective a strategy in a Facebook ad as printed signage. So, how do we leverage these tried-and-true marketing strategies in digital marketing? Include a simple call to action in your marketing materials, whether that be web pages, email newsletters or blog posts. Make sure every piece of your inbound marketing puzzle brings your potential customers to the preferred call to action.

If you’re ready to put your CTA knowledge to the test, or just get a little extra help with your digital marketing strategy, join us for Elm Street Technology’s Brunch and Learn! You’ll get a chance to engage with some of our finest educators and specialists, while learning the best tips and tricks to get your real estate marketing off the ground and pulling in leads!