Words are powerful aren’t they? You better believe it! But a call to action, is now in a league of its own! What exactly is a call to action? It really is just what it sounds like but here is an example to drive the point across. Take a look at Red Bull’s Facebook Like image. It really speaks to you on so many different levels. While extremely simple, this call to action uses very few words to tell the user exactly what to do without being so bossy. Basically a call to action is a set of text and graphics placed on websites to elicit action from the end user or visitor.
Calls to Action and Lead Generation
Calls to action are used to generate leads by suggesting a user carry out a specific action, whether it’s filling out a subscription form, downloading free content, or liking a Facebook Fanpage.
The Psychology Behind a Call to Action
A call to action is often considered a response or psychological trigger. Studies teach marketing agencies and internet marketers alike to evaluate and embrace triggers that in effect promote and enhance click-through and lead generation rates. From a psychological perspective a call to action invokes curiosity, is aesthetically appealing to the target market, and makes an emotional impact (nostalgia, humor, empathy, fear, pride etc.) – which is what inevitably causes the user to perform the specified action.
Prime Call to Action Placement
A call to action must always be visible, preferably occupying a valuable piece of web-estate. What does that mean? It means a call to action should be placed above the browser fold, above – beneath – or inside a website a header, in a popup optin form, or a footer popup. The call to action should also be placed in locations average users expect to see subscription forms or advertisements which in the case of a blog is located in the sidebar. And of course you should be sure to place call to actions within your content and consistently within each web page.
Other Must Have Placement Locations
According to Hubspot.com, Twitter receives over 180 million unique visitors every month? And Facebook is no runner up coming in at 800 million active users. That’s amazing. But what’s even more amazing is that you can place calls to action on Social Networks like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for FREE! Yes, that’s right FREE…
Don’t forget emails, presentations or webinars, ebooks, and any other free tools/downloads you may have available. These options are excellent locations because you already know these prospects are interested in your specific product or service.
Innovative Call To Action Ideas
Whenever you design a call to action remember to be creative and almost always high impact. Oftentimes we get stuck in feeding standard user expectations that we forget to be creative. The fact is when considering calls to action website visitors are accustomed to solicitation. But it’s the point where we are willing to make bold (but appropriate) statements that helps us stand out of the pack and get noticed. The goal here is to really make people look twice to applaud your inventive approach. To really get them interested in what you have to say – especially when you’re not saying much at all. You’d be surprised to know that innovation has little to do with the newest technology and more to do with simple tweaks in color, animation, and imagery, and ad copy that surprise users. Some examples of innovative call to action ideas are clickable button links at the end of online videos, splash pages on mobile websites, animated buttons on subscription forms, and the simplest of all being personalized subscription button text.
Don’t Be Afraid To Be BOLD
Calls to action are in themselves BOLD statements so have no fear because more often than not people are willing to take direction. Remember you must exude confidence and represent a source of authority otherwise there is no incentive to act. So be BOLD and call your visitors to action!
Need Help?
If adding calls to action to your website is something that you are interested in but don’t know how to get started, contact us today to schedule your free marketing analysis.
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