A call-to-action (or CTA) is a very common tool in a marketer’s toolbox. It is a statement designed to provoke a quick and instantaneous response from the consumer. Used widely in sales, it can help your business move potential leads and prospects to the next step.

If you find that people hesitate to move to the next step with your business, you might be facing a poor call-to-action or even the complete lack of one. Understanding and implementing the right kind of call-to-action can be a boon to your business, can drive sales up, and lead to a much better client base.

What is a Call-to-Action?

Call to action is a part of marketing strategies used by businesses and organizations. Commonly abbreviated as CTA, it is a great way to appeal to your target audience and persuade them into responding to your marketing message through action. It can be used at the end or in the middle of a sales pitch. In addition to being a great marketing tool, it also gives customers clarity on what to do if they like your product or service.

While many people might think that it’s obvious to let customers know “What’s Next,” many new businesses usually fail to include these, either because they are concerned it will turn off the customer or because of the assumption that the customer probably already knows what to do.

However good your intentions are, not adding a call-to-action can lead to a poor result for your marketing campaigns. It might lead to losing business opportunities because people think it's too much hassle to find out how to move forward.

Why is a Call-to-Action Important?

For any business looking to turn leads into customers and long-term clients, a CTA is essential. Assuming that a lead or prospect will follow through is a poor strategy. The best bet is to have a readymade path for the potential customer to follow. This takes them right through the sales funnel and offers an interesting and hassle-free user experience. It is a direct way to let your customers know how to go forward, telling them what you want them to do.

Main advantages of CTAs include:

●     Avoiding major decision fatigue and making directive statements that tell clients exactly how to move forward. This alleviates any confusion and lets customers know exactly what to do.

●     Increasing your audience base and sales. Whether it is blog posts, following on social media, or a viral video, CTAs encourage word-of-mouth regarding a business to spread. It is a great way to gain recognition within the local community and abroad, across all age groups and other demographics. Ultimately, this leads to more potential customers.

●     Directing potential customers toward the exact actions that help complete their transaction. A relevant call-to-action makes the sales journey clear to consumers, leaving no room for clicking on the wrong button because of an unclear statement or direction. This allows visitors to become invested in the topic and turn into a potential customer.

Thus, a meaningful collection of CTAs can offer many benefits to your business. It makes everything clear for both you and your customer, allowing both parties involved to move forward without any confusion and achieve their needs in the most efficient way possible.

Best Implementation of Call-to-Action

The process of implementing an effective call-to-action can be challenging, but these tips can be a helpful guideline:

1. Stick to specific directives as should be the focal point of any call-to-action. Do not include multiple actions and stick to single tasks. Try to avoid using too many calls on a single page, while identifying hotspots on the page, where you can place your call-to-action, to ensure maximum visibility.
2. A good call-to-action has clear, strong, and persuasive text. This can be done by using terms that signify exclusivity, compelling content, and an air of elegance without confusion.
3. Creating a form based on a limited opportunity is a great way to ensure a call-to-action brings tangible results to your campaign. This is the reason why there are so many limited-time offers and sales. It prompts people to take quick action, be it buying immediately, ordering a free copy, or subscribing to a newsletter. When the customer knows that there is no option to come back later, it creates a mental countdown that prompts them to get the freebie or read that article right away. However, don’t get caught in the trap of creating a false urgency. If it’s a 24-hour CTA, make sure it's not around 24 hours later.
4. Personalization is a good practice when it comes to CTAs. Another great technique is avoiding certain frictional words that imply that the customer has to do work, such as invest, sign up, submit, etc. If you can use alternative terminology such as Join or Learn More, for them at any point, make sure you do.

Anyword and Call-to-Action

Understanding and implementing the right CTAs that really appeal to customers can be a long and arduous process. With minimal experience, it is difficult to come up with truly effective CTAs, but with some help from artificial intelligence, you can produce calls to action just like a professional marketing writer.

Anyword’s AI assistant can help create the best calls-to-action, which can increase the chances of you turning a lead into a customer. The catchy and persuasive calls to action are made possible by adding Anyword's AI copywriter to your marketing toolbox and making it a part of your content creation process. It also ensures that persuasive writing, a sense of urgency, together with great design, combine to create the perfect CTA that moves your customers to the next phase of the sales cycle.