Marketing without clear options for further steps (ideally into a sales funnel) is “brand recognition” at best and wasted time at worst. But, if that next step is straight to a “buy now” button, you’ll see some customers bounce off, not ready to take that big of a jump yet. Visualizing your ideal client, you must provide options and use language that makes them want to click—even if that isn’t directly to your store page. Like enVisioning Success co-hosts Laura and Julia explain in the episode, Let’s Have a Chat: Speaking Your Avatar’s Language, you have to understand their drives and craft acquisitional marketing around it. We’re talking about the Call to Action.
What Is a Call to Action?
A call to action (CTA) is a customized pitch to lead potential customers into taking a particular sales or marketing action. It’s customized to both who you are targeting (specific types of customers via Avatar or Ideal Client Profiles) and the content the CTA is attached to. The action depends on the type of product or services you sell and can be anything from a link to your website (or a specific landing page) to the Contact Us page, phone number, or right to the product page. But having just “buy my stuff,” or some variation of that, as your CTA fails for two reasons: you need your content to support your CTA message and your CTA to be compelling marketing, not sales.
The Setup Before the CTA
A call to action can’t be made in a vacuum; it needs to work with the content it’s attached to—and that content needs to be at least partially built for that reason. That way, when you transition to the CTA (or multiple CTAs, depending on the content), you don’t have that abrupt stall as a customer who was interested in your product just wasn’t ready to make that jump. This means content, especially content around high-cost service-based industries that are less prone to impulse buys, needs to be built in such a way to transition into CTAs.
Calls to Action for Every Situation
Okay, so we’ve talked a bit about CTAs. Let’s see them in action. Below are some common avenues of digital marketing, the goals of that marketing, and the call to action that could be associated with them.
- Blogs: Blogs are a great place to answer questions with your products and expertise. Your CTAs should be the same, providing links for additional information (like your services/products page) and contacting your business.
- Email Marketing: Sending emails to potential or current customers places your marketing in their inbox. Your CTAs need to be about getting them out of email to other platforms—your website, social media, or wherever you think you’ll have the most success.
- Podcasts: Since podcasts are very passive—most people are just listening—your CTAs need to be strongest on the podcast distribution platforms. Make sure not only to be on all the major ones but be consistent in your branding and links.
- Social Media: CTAs on social media can vary wildly—platforms like Instagram don’t allow direct links in posts, and Twitter (X) works better with text. Strong bios and apps like Linktree will enable you to give options to connect with you when your post aligns with their interests.
- Websites: Every page (especially industry-specific pages) on your website should have options for customers to take action: not only ones customized for the page but also universal ones in the footer/header/menu. There’s a reason you should have a Contact Us page in prominence.
As you can see, a general trend is that the content is designed to provoke interest, and the CTAs are designed to give users outlets for that interest, from exploring your services to buying your products.
About the enVisioning Success Podcast
This article is based on topics discussed in enVisioning Success, our weekly podcast hosted by Vision CEO Laura DiBenedetto and COO Julia Becker Collins. In it, they discuss all things business and marketing, from lead generation to leadership. Find us on PodBean to download from your platform of choice, or subscribe to our mailing list to get new episodes and other news delivered directly to your inbox.
Calls to action are a vital part of your marketing, as they are the lynchpin between great content and your sales funnel. But come on too hard or too soft, and you’ll fail to meet customer expectations and interest. CTAs, like all marketing, are a balancing act, one that you might not have the resources to do yourself. Vision can help, from working to locate your ideal clients to tailoring your marketing to meet them on their platforms or get them to come to yours. Contact us today to get started with a consultation on encouraging customers to contact you.
