How To Write a Successful Call To Action To Turn Leads Into Sales

The goal of your website is to attract visitors; the goal of a call to action (CTA) is to convert visitors to leads.

Have you ever visited a website only to leave with nothing and feeling empty? You surf and surf looking for more information and then eventually just give up and leave the website. Having a weak CTA or worse, no CTA at all, is one of the main reasons most websites are not converting.

By not telling your visitors what step to take next you run the risk of losing them completely. And they might not ever come back.... to come back. Instead of that bleak scenario, a great call to action offers something of value, a WIIFM golden nugget of truth that really helps the website visitor walk away from your website feeling somehow “more complete” or “more able”. And, more invested in a relationship with you, and your company because of this wonderful feeling you awarded them.The more value given, the more trust is built. That’s the true beginning of how a new customer relationship is built online.

Buy guiding customers through the buying process is a vital step that most company websites often overlook  (the lack of compelling CTAs, and a lack of website infrastructure to house and capture CTAs being two obvious culprits). These are very costly mistakes - and most people have no idea they are making them.

The good news is 1) we can help you identify whether you are making those mistakes (for free) 2) you can get yourself on a path to fix them now. Read on.

Here’s the short and long of online marketing: by identifying your target audience and your Unique Sales Proposition (USP), then applying the right strategy to your website, and implementing inbound marketing you will see your visitors convert to leads. And with targeted content, multiple channels, well-timed follow ups and a few other lead nurturing tactics you will convert those new leads to sales.

Data clearly shows that a strong call to action can increase your conversions by up to 300%… YES, three hundred percent!  To help get you started, here are 5 awesome ideas that should be obvious but most people in a marketing role miss.

5 Ridiculously Obvious  Tips for an Effective Call to Action That Most Marketers Miss

1. Action: First, because you have identified your target audience, decide what it is you want your visitors to do. What information do you want to collect on the form?   Download an ebook? Sign up for your blog? Book a free consultation? It has to be something: if it’s not obvious, they won’t realize they needed to do something.
2. Message: when writing the CTA keep it simple, clear and concise. Explain the value. Remove any objections. Use action words. Less words the better. Reference your favourite websites.   Make it compelling. Something that they can’t resist. (Think: What are the kinds of things that make you  click ‘Download Now’ - because everyone does this in the right situation).
3. Graphics: Use a graphic that is complementary to your branding. One that stands out, but doesn’t take away from the content. An image should be “bent” to your content: which means it should be a complement to the text, and neither replace the text, nor re-explain the text. Test the colours, shapes and location. Don’t be afraid to get creative. Make it obvious. It should look professional.
4. Test: test and test again. We can’t stress this step enough. Most people have no idea how they can test the efficacy of their CTAs. (We can tell you how). But a minor change could increase the conversion rates of your CTA. Small things matter. Colour from green to blue. ‘Learn more’ to ‘Click here’. Do not be afraid to split test your CTA’s. No audience is the same; and   CTA performance results could surprise you.
5. Buyer-Beware Content: the only reason marketers exist is to be the feeding hand to sales. (If that offends you, you should get out of marketing. Sarcasm aside, job-shadow finance or leadership and you’ll get the perspective you’re missing). Most marketers forget to create online content that handles objections. Expect them - answer them first.  Better guide them through your sales process. If you don’t know what your sales process is (in depth) spend a few days attending sales appointments or interviewing your sales team. Don’t leave them to wander and “make the right choice” because if your competitor better explains it - or makes a connection with them first - they’ll choose them, not you.

An effective CTA will clearly instruct your website visitors of the next step they should take. Too often businesses ignore this vital step. There is always something that you can offer to encourage visitors to connect with you now.  Creating a strong CTA is a lot less difficult than you think. Remember to clearly identify what you want your visitors to do, write a simple, clean message, split test your CTA’s And, WORK WITH YOUR SALES TEAM!

So now you understand the end game of turning visitors into leads - how do you get it off your plate as quickly as possible?    

Get More Leads Using Your Website: 30-Minute Website Sales Health Assessment 

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• Learn 3 ways to increase traffic to your specific website.
• Understand how to attract and capture more qualified leads.
• Discover software that will help you track your messages to prospects and customers so you can improve.

References:

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/7-effective-lead-nurturing-tactics

https://smallbiztrends.com/2017/10/importance-of-a-call-to-action.html