What is a call to action?

A call to action (CTA) is a phrase or sentence that tells users what to do next and how to do it, as well as what's in it for them. Chances are if you have spent any time online or on social media you would have seen calls to action like “Buy now” or “Like and subscribe”. 

Calls to action are important for your content marketing, website forms, social media and so much more. Here, I’m going to show you some of the best examples I’ve seen online and offer some tips on how you can use calls to action for your business.

What makes a good call to action?

Lots of businesses will throw in a “BUY NOW!” or “SIGN UP!” at the end of an ad or form and hope it’ll do. However, in today’s digital-first landscape, more and more people favour a direct approach which means this approach is unlikely to generate leads for your website.

A great call to action is one that will get your audience to follow an instruction AND give them the motivation to do so. However, as with getting the recipe right to make a delicious cake, a call to action needs the right ingredients. These five things are must-haves in every good call to action:

1) Creativity - in this age of “peak-content”, it’s important that you stand out from the crowd. 

2) A clear message which communicates what’s in it for your audience.

3) Urgency which capitalises on your audience’s  fear of missing out.

4) Strong, persuasive language.

5) The ability to deliver an emotional response

Can you spot which boxes our examples tick off?

Some of our favourite calls to action:

1) Animoto

Why we love it? This post from Animoto gets straight to the point giving us the “what” and “why” before our attention flicks to the next post. Your audience will have a short attention span making it hard to land the hook. By summing up the call to action and giving a worthwhile incentive, readers will be more likely to engage with the post.

Use this for your brand by using a similar word structure. The phrase:“Take this action and get this benefit”, can apply to a wide range of ideas your business may have. From promoting webinars and blogs to getting customers to write reviews, this is a quick-fire way to generate more leads from social media.

2) Whistle

Why we love it? Whistle uses two different calls to action in one email here, one to learn more about their product, and the second to chase that lead. Whistle gives its customers options by providing a useful call to action that will help nurture a lead and educate them.

Use this for your brand by conveying the benefits of your service before pushing prospects to make a purchase. When your brand is useful, it implies you’re not all about the sell and instead are committed to offering customers more information about your product ahead of a conversion.

3) Mint

Why we love it? This call to action from Mint uses only two lines of text to overcome the obstacle of reader ennui. Their call to action offers a low risk/high reward offer, and includes the phrase “in seconds” because Mint knows that its prospects value their time. 

Mint build trust by offering more details about their security provision, and reinforce the low-risk aspect of their offering by including the word “free”. 

Use this for your brand by identifying obstacles you may face when communicating with customers. Is it time? Trust? Cost? Offer a solution to these before pushing for the conversion.

4) Netflix  

Why we love it? Wouldn’t you find a low-risk offer particularly appealing? So phrases like “cancel anytime” show prospects that Netflix isn’t trying to trap them into a contract or commitment. 

Use this for your brand by showing the versatility of your product, explaining when/where it will be useful. Words like “anytime” and “anywhere” are good for describing benefits to an audience if your call to action space is limited. 

5) Vanguard

Why we love it? Rather than trying to sell their services right away, Vanguard – a personal investment firm – realises that their product requires trust. To tackle this obstacle they use “you” and “your” language to make their service more about its user. 

Use this for your brand by using “you” in your call to action language. This will show your prospects that you actually care about them.

6) Care.com

Why we love it? Care.com uses calls to action that don't demand their audience make a commitment right away. By including the word “free”, Care.com are reassuring prospects that   they don’t have to make any commitment to use their  service. 

Use this for your brand when you are offering a free service. Make the word "free" one of the principal features in your call to action. Have you got an ebook guide which your prospect will find useful? Make sure your audience knows that it's free before they download it.

7) Williams Sonoma

Why we love it? This Instagram post does a great job of showing off why you would want to follow the call to action in the bio, in a very visual way. The post tells the audience exactly what they can expect from following the link..

Use this for your brand on social media posts which include an image. It doesn’t even have to generate leads or take a user off the platform. You can also direct users to follow your page to get more followers on your social media pages.

Are you looking to increase the leads from your marketing? FINALLY is here to help. From emails and social media to content writing, get in touch with us today to discuss what we can do for you.