What is a Call to Action?
A call to
action is meant to provoke a reaction from the target audience. It is a
non-demanding request made by a marketer. The most effective marketing
strategies combine several CTAs creating a behavioral pattern that is easy for
the audience to follow. CTAs are essential parts of permission marketing as
well as inbound marketing and are often used in websites. The aim of
incorporating them is to turn visitors to the website to clients.
An effective
call to action should reduce or completely eradicate the risk to the audience.
In some cases this is by giving the potential client a chance to sample the
product for free for a specified period before they can start purchasing. CTA should also direct the audience on what
they are to do. It could be to click a specific button or choose a color.
Effective CTAs should also encourage an immediate reaction instead of giving
the people to sit back and think about it as they might find alternative
products and services.
The call to
action should be preceded by properly laid groundwork that involves helping the
customer recognize their need for your product. It should offer something extra
in order to entice the customer to respond to it. An effective CTA communicates
urgency as is indicated by expiry dates for offers or rewards for immediate
action. A CTA should use a different color from the general theme color so as
to ensure it stands out and captures attention.
Having a
call to action on a website is essential and this is not limited to ecommerce
sites .It helps the audience focus the attention to the site and also provides
you as the owner of the website, a way to measure the effectiveness of your
site. But also of importance, a call to action gives the customers directions
helping them get the most from you while giving you their contacts so you can
reach them in the future especially in mail marketing. A call of action, such
as asking the customers to sign up for the newsletter also ensures the
customers will always be updated on the new products and services, giving you
an avenue to interest them even more and hopefully, change them into paying
customers.