Whether it’s a blog, an email campaign, a video blog, or a billboard on the highway, your main goal in marketing should be to inspire action. You have to structure your message in a way that leads to a logical conclusion where the consumer is compelled to act. This is where it gets tricky, because your landing page can be immaculate, intuitive, and mobile-friendly, but if the call-to-action at the end doesn’t work, then you aren’t going to see results. The call-to-action, or CTA, is a button, text, or link that you use to drive potential customers to a desired next step, such as filling out a lead form or downloading a resource.

You see CTAs on a multitude of pages across the web, so making yours stand out is a matter of crafting a complete message from start to finish that leads to a logical conclusion:

  • Start a free trial
  • Download now
  • Learn more
  • Get a free consultation
  • Share on Facebook

The list goes on and on, but that’s because a call-to-action can serve many purposes:

Promote an Event

You can ask customers to register for your event. If you’ve done the hard work of creating an exciting event and promoting it well, then getting people to sign up is just a matter of building a simple, clean button that asks people to sign up.

Generate Leads

You want to get visitors to act, and not just browse your content. If you put a CTA in a spot where a lot of new visitors come, like a landing page or a blog, then you may get a good amount of leads out of your content. Where you place the CTA can depend on a lot of factors, but the end of the post or a sidebar are two great spots.

Social Media Buzz

Did you know that all your social media share buttons count as CTAs? Well they do and where you place them matters if you want them to be utilized. These are great for engaging blog posts or videos that you create. Just make sure that the social share buttons aren’t near any forms where people are submitting personal information in order to avoid confusion about what they’re sharing.

Lead Nurturing

With all the options out there, it can be tough to get someone to commit right off the bat. You don’t want to scare them away, which is why sometimes it’s good to build a CTA that doesn’t force customers to fully commit. A product demo or free trial are both great ways to let potential customers get their feet wet–when the message is strategically placed on your website. Be sure to let them know that there’s no major commitment to put their mind at ease.

Close the Deal

Once you’ve nurtured your leads and demonstrated the value of your product or service, then you need to seal it with a call-to-action on a page that convinces them they need to act now.

Once you decide what you want your CTA to do, then you need to design it. It should stand out from the rest of the page, but it shouldn’t clash with the design of your site. Make sure it is action-oriented so that people know what they’re supposed to do, whether it’s “Download” or “Register Today.” And of course, keep it brief. You want to make it easy for them to act, so don’t make what you want them to do complicated.

Guess what? Here comes a call-to-action: if you’d like to learn more about generating leads or engaging customers, then reach out to PCG Companies.