10 Essential Call-To-Action Quick Fixes

Um, buy my stuff…please…NOW! – is a terrible call-to-action.

Getting prospects into your marketing funnel can be a lot of work. It’s a delicate dance of SEO, social media plus content and can take some time to get it right.

So where do you start when trying to improve your funnel? The first step is to look at how and where your prospects are coming in, the call-to-action. A call-to-action, or CTA, is nothing more than a piece of text or graphic that tells prospects what to do next. It’s a simple little thing, but small changes can cause huge improvements to your conversions.

Whether you’re making those final perfectionist adjustments, or just getting started with your marketing funnel, here are 10 call-to-action quick fixes all business owners should know about.

1 Create Urgency

Use language that makes prospects feel they need to stop what they’re doing and click. Nudge them towards making an immediate decision, but try to avoid using fear and scarcity tactics. These may sound like similar strategies, but they send two very different messages.

  • Limited time offer, download now! (Urgency) – This encourages visitors to act now to make sure they get their download.
  • Only available to the first 25 downloads! (Scarcity) – Would you want to go through the entire process, just to find out you’re the number 26 download and can’t get the offer?

2 Be Specific

After you create your call-to-action look at it from the perspective of your customer. Ask yourself:

  • What do they want me to do?
  • What’s the next step?

Is it obvious how to finish the process? Are you letting prospects know what they’ll be getting while also telling them to literally take their clicking device and click the button to start the process?

3 Location, Location, Location

Adding a CTA to the bottom of your page makes sense, especially for sales pages. But what happens if visitors don’t get to the bottom of the page? You can easily raise your click rate by bringing your CTA higher on the page so that visitors don’t have to scroll down to see it. The caveat–you have to give them enough information so that they can make a decision by the time they get to the CTA. If prospects don’t have enough information, your click-through rate will suffer.

4 Include Numbers

By adding numbers to your CTA, you’re giving prospects a better idea of what they’re going to be getting. This technique has become popular in the past few years because it actually works, and not only for CTA, but also blog posts, email subject lines and even press releases.

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5 Be Picky

The language you use is the number one factor for CTA success. So take the time to craft a concise, strategic message that grabs attention. Once you have your CTA down, pick it apart and figure out how you can make it even better.

6 Don’t Go Overboard

Having more than one CTA isn’t a crime. That is if they are strategically placed on the page and lead prospects to the next step. But if you end up with 5, 6, 7 calls-to-action–then there may be a problem. Before adding multiple calls-to-action, walk through your page to make sure each one has a specific purpose and need.

7 Create A Jargon Free Zone

The CTA is one of the last things that can convince prospects to make the jump to leads. Your CTA needs to be an effective, straight to point zinger. If your CTA is being weighed down with technical jargon, rewrite it. A good way to figure out if your CTA is too dense is to read it out loud. If it’s a tongue twister or you stumble through reading it, try simplifying it into more common language.

8 Make It Bold & Beautiful

Catch your prospect’s eye with a pop of color on a neutral-colored background. This will cause your CTA to rise from the page and encourage a click.

A Few Design Tips:

  • CTA buttons should be the largest buttons on the page.
  • Contrasting colors make smaller buttons stand out more.
  • Less distinct colors make oversized buttons fit in better.
  • CTA buttons need to grab attention without overwhelming eyeballs.
  • Don’t try to use every color or crazy combinations.

9 Don’t Be Mysterious

People are territorial when it comes to their names and email addresses. Getting prospects to give up their information can be hard enough. Don’t make life harder for yourself by requiring prospects to fill out a long form, or try to trick them into jumping through hoops. Be specific, be honest and be straightforward with prospects, they’ll appreciate it.

10 Get A Little Odd

Don’t be afraid to get unique with your CTA. Non-traditional shapes when combined with those pops of color will really steer your prospects towards your CTA.