You have demonstrated value to your customers, providing useful information and updates about important trends in your field. They have read your blog posts or attended your webinars. Now what do you want them to do?
Of course, you want conversions, sales and new and returning customers. However, making a direct sales pitch in the middle of an informational piece is a no-no and may actually achieve the opposite effect and turn customers off. That’s where your oh-so-subtle call to action (CTA) can help.
Purpose of the CTA
There are literally billions of web pages out there, and even more ways to search for them. As a result, you have almost no control over how a potential customer finds you.
For example, someone searching “how to stand up to your boss without being fired” could easily come across your blog article titled “How to get your boss fired up about standing desks for all employees” because they have many of the same words. The person may otherwise never have visited your website, where you detail the many ways in which your product will change the world, and you pull out all the stops to advocate for his business.
Getting potential customers to any page of your website, reading your content, is no small task. You don’t want to waste the opportunity and let visitors get away without trying to reel them in further, so you offer a link to your homepage for more information or bait them with even more proof of your value. A CTA allows you to do this without applying pressure.
Different types of CTAs
A CTA does not have to be the closing lines of your blog posts or a well-worded sales pitch. There are myriad formats and methods you can use to entice readers to take another step in your direction and get closer to buying your product:
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Offer a subscription to future blog posts.
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Ask for feedback on the blog post.
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Animate the CTA so that it glides in from the lower right-hand corner of the web page as the reader gets to the end of the article.
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Include a link within the article using phrases such as “to get more information on this topic, click here” or “read last week’s blog here,” which can take the reader to additional information or another blog post.
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Use the sidebar area for an unrelated CTA, such as a graphic announcing your company’s upcoming webinar.
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Don’t forget about social media. Since a majority of your customers may connect with your company on social media platforms, accessed through apps and smart devices, it’s important to customize your CTA for this audience, as well. For instance, you may want to use your CTA to direct customers to your new wall of positive consumer reviews and encourage them to add to it, or invite them to share your content with their own networks.
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Craft a unique CTA for each set of contacts – your Facebook page should not ask users to retweet. Most social media channels make this easy with buttons you can build in to your links.
At Axia, we use a variety of tools and techniques to increase conversion rates and help with lead generation. Register for our 60-Second Impact program to find out what we can do for you.
Lisa Goldsberry is a writer for Axia Public Relations with more than 15 years of public relations experience. She specializes in business, higher education and technology PR. Connect with Axia Public Relations on Twitter at @axiapr.
Topics: public relations, inbound marketing
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