37. What are CTAs and why you should be using them
CTA stands for CALL-TO-ACTION
Call-to-action tells the person reading it what they are supposed to do if they want to continue interaction with you or your content.
Call-to-actions are important because they help guide people to a sales offer, to get more information, to create more engagement, to your website or anywhere where they would need to go to buy or learn more from you.
Calls-to-action can be used in Social Media, Email Marketing, your Website or Ads for example.
So, how can you use CTA’s in your business? Here are some ideas:
CTA to generate leads. If you have a free offer for example, you can use a CTA to offer it to people who join your email list.
You can use a CTA to generate sales. If you have an actual product or service you are selling, you can use a CTA to guide potential buyers to a sales page or a shop where they can purchase your product.
A CTA can be used to direct people who are not ready to buy to find out more information about your business, your product/service and about you.
You can use a CTA to guide your audience towards valuable content that you provide, in order to nurture them.
You can use CTAs on Social Media to promote more engagement by asking your community to participate in the conversation.
CTAs can be short or long:
1) Short: “Buy now”, “Learn more”, “Click here”
2) Long, by using a sentence: “Tired of the hamster wheel? Click here to join our Freedom program”, “If you want to learn more about how to grow your herbal garden, follow the link”.
They should tell people exactly what they need to do and how to do it AND they should motivate them to do it. Make sure that your CTA is concise, but gives enough motivation to take the action. Remember to include not only the WHAT TO DO, but also the WHY YOU NEED TO DO THIS.
A couple of tips to consider for your CTAs:
Use verbs. If we want people to take action, talk (or write) using action verbs (buy, download, click, sign-up, are some of the typical ones, but you can get creative too).
Use colors. If the buttons or links are too subtle, they won’t call the attention. Use colors that contrast with the rest, make them attractive.
Short and legible. The actual CTA on a button or a link shouldn’t be too long. And make sure it is clearly legible, choose a font that is easy to read.
Placement. Think about where to place your buttons in a way that are easily accessible. For example, on a webpage try to keep them visible within the first part of your page even if it is a scroll-down type of page.
Three last considerations for your CTA:
Make sure it has a no obligation character. By clicking the button/link they are not obligated to anything and they can click away. If you make it too difficult like a pop-up window in which you MUST enter your email to continue browsing your website for example, that is too limiting. So make it “low risk” to click.
Highlight what the benefit of clicking and following through on the CTA will be. Why should they do it? What will they get?.
Make it clear, clear is better than clever… there should be no doubt as to the two above.
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Hi! I’m Blanca!
I’m a Brand Photographer and Personal Branding Coach, helping female entrepreneurs to create a Personal Brand online that STANDS OUT.
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