9 Quick Fixes to Make Your Calls to Action Irresistible
Your calls to action (CTAs) are one of the most powerful components of your marketing content. Need to boost your marketing results? Give your content a CTA makeover! Here’s some quick tips you can do right now.
Top 9 Tips for a Powerful CTA
1) Make sure every piece of content has a call to action
Every web page, every email, every blog article, every social media post, every — well, you get the picture. They all need a call to action. If you don’t tell your audience what to do, they won’t do it.
Think of it this way: if you don’t ask for a second date, how will you ever get to the wedding altar?
2) Make your CTAs action-oriented
Use strong action words that are active, and not passive. Action-oriented CTAs have more energy, are more compelling, and feel more positive. They’re also bolder, which sparks confidence in the action you want your audience to take.
Some examples:
- Get your demo
- Claim your spot
- Get started today
- Discover more
3) DON’T use the word “please”
I’ve written about this before, but it’s worth repeating. In my opinion, “please” is one of the worst words you can use in your call to action. Here’s a few reasons why you should avoid saying “please”:
- It tells your visitor that this is an action that helps you, not your buyer. You’re being polite, but you’re asking for a favor. Your prospect came to your website to solve their problem, to help themselves — not to do you any favors.
- It implies a sacrifice, even if it’s a negligible one. Why say please, unless you’re asking them to do something they otherwise wouldn’t want to do?
- It makes your request sound weak — as if you really hate to bother them, but would they please mind taking just a quick moment to please do this one little thing?
Your CTA should be bold and exciting, not apologetic.
4) Make your CTAs stand out visually
Your calls to action should attract the eye. They should be bold, easy to see, and visually appealing. They should NOT be garish or obnoxious.
5) Don’t offer too many CTAs in one spot
Usually one CTA is plenty. Maybe two, depending on the context. More than that, and you confuse your audience. If the next step isn’t clear and obvious, it’s easier to do nothing. Your CTA should remove friction and doubt, not create them.
6) Keep ’em short & sweet
People just want to know what’s next. You don’t need to be wordy about it. Keep the text in your call to action as short as possible — otherwise, you risk losing your audience. Too many words risks boring or overwhelming your buyers.
7) Appeal to the emotions
A strong CTA is emotional — it compels your audience to take the next step. Create a sense of urgency (fear of missing out) and provoke emotion and enthusiasm. People decide based on emotion. The next step promises to bring joy or relieve tension.
8) Make them benefit- and value-oriented
People decide on emotion, but they justify with logic. The call to action should lead to something that provides real value and makes sense as a next step. Otherwise, your prospect will feel disappointed with their choice and may abandon your website for some other option.
9) Test and tweak
Pay attention to the results you get from your CTAs. Set up reports in Google Analytics or HubSpot and watch the results you get over time. Tweak your calls to action — only one change at a time per CTA — so you can monitor your results and gradually improve the effectiveness of your calls to action.