How did you get someone to do you a favor? You can’t just sit around and wait for them to figure out that you need something. It also makes no sense waiting for them to come to you and ask if they can do you a favor. No, you have to ask them. This seems pretty logical, right? However, oftentimes we find in marketing that businesses aren’t asking their potential customers these crucial questions. They’ll blog hoping that it will lead to someone buying their products or services, but those intentions never come through in the article. That’s the value of a call to action (CTA).

A savvy marketer will tell you that having a basic CTA like “click here” or “buy now” won’t always cut it. The get your audience to take that next step, you’ve got to step up your CTAs. Here are six ways you can start improving your CTAs, and thus your engagements, today.

 

Make It Actionable

 

If you want your readers to take action, the CTA also needs to feel actionable. This means using active language that feels pressing and immediate. When they see it on your landing page or at the end of a blog, they should feel like they need to act right away.

 

Make It Emotional

 

Not only should they want to act right away, they should feel like they need to take that action. Your CTA should strike a chord with their own priorities and stresses. For example – If you want someone to use your cybersecurity services, you need to convey in your CTA something like “Protect your business today”. This captures the urgency but also has the emotional pull of leaving themselves unguarded.

 

Make It Unusual

 

As with advertisements in general on the internet, there’s always the threat that your CTA will be glossed over. Many users have trained their eyes to avoid anything that looks like a sales pitch. That’s partially why avoiding the overused “click here” CTAs is so important. Your copy needs to stick out. Which leads us to…

 

Make It Vibrant

 

CTAs are more than just text. A great CTA will clearly jump out off the page. Creating a custom button is a great way to get attention. Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean putting a gaudy orange button on your minimalist website. This can be done tastefully within your site’s color-scheme. The goal is to draw attention, not be a distraction.

 

Make It Relevant

 

Whatever your CTA is, it should connect with the content on the page. Having a CTA prompting users to take advantage of your cybersecurity services at the end of a post about “Neat Social Media Tricks” isn’t terribly applicable (or it’s at least a stretch). The CTA should always be a logical ask per the topic you’re addressing.

 

Make It Exciting

 

The common thread that runs through all of these is the idea of excitement. They shouldn’t just feel obligated to want to click through, they should be excited to  – to paraphrase an awful clickbait cliche  – find out what happens next. Human curiosity can go a long way. Tap into that and you’ll make progress to getting more leads in your pipeline.

Brainstorming CTAs making you go WTF? We can help. N2Q’s staff of marketing experts is more than equipped to help you make your content pop for your audience. Give us a call and we’ll get your CTAs booming – fast.