To maximize user interaction with your site, it is essential, among many things, to include the famous call-to-action, which is a small phrase or even a single word at a time that is intended to direct the user to take a certain action.
Let’s try to understand how to succeed in optimizing and better writing a CTA. Before we start, it should be said that the goal of the call, must be to entice those who browse the site, to continue their journey or maybe get a conversion. Moreover, we must always keep in mind that most Internet users are passive users, very unlikely to carry out an action if they are not invited to do it, that is why it is normally advisable to use the verb in its imperative form, the classics being “call us,” “contact us,” or the obvious “click here.” The use of temporal adverbs (now, today, etc. etc.) can also be a good solution, the important thing is that the sentence is clear, direct and easy to remember. E.g., “subscribe now to the news letter, you will be constantly updated on all the news…” Never forget to be clear, if what you are asking for turns out to be too complicated or difficult to do, you will have missed a great opportunity.
Call to action can use very strong levers, let’s find out about them
From the strategic point of view, different types of actions can be followed:
- You may choose the path of immediacy, what could be more stimulating for a user than to be “immediately” gratified or perhaps you could use the urgency effect, such as “…only until tomorrow…”or even “...contact us right away to…”
- An alternative choice could be emotions; triggering feelings could be a very strong lever that could convince someone to take an action.
- You could make your users identify with a certain context, for example, “How often do your packages not arrive on time? Turn to our express courier service… “
- An effective solution could also be to make a given situation even more serious, e.g., “Tired of that cold feeling in your teeth? Before the problem becomes more serious, turn here… ” Useful to use in an e-mail marketing effort.
- People have always liked to feel part of a collective, this is a very strong lever to exploit, e.g., “Already 5 million people have signed up to our site, what are you waiting for?“
- Saving money is always a trump card; differentiate yourself by offering a real economic benefit to your customers.
- Take advantage of the imagination, reproducing a mental image in a consumer’s head can be a very strong lever. This state can easily be stimulated by using words such as, “imagine….,”“try to think of this…”etc. etc.
Granted that call-to-action is now an integral part of a persuasive copywriting, it therefore serves to remove the last doubts from a user’s head by pushing him to an action, always remembering, however, to respect him. Whoever lands on your site should never be deceived nor forced, so avoid making him believe that he is before theoffer of the century just to make him “click,” if then it is not so to all intents and purposes.
