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do's and don'ts of calls to action

Call-to-actions (CTAs) are one of the most important inbound marketing tools as they get people into, and down, the sales funnel.

However, not all CTAs are created equal.

Listed below are some do’s and don’ts for compelling call-to-actions.

The do’s for compelling call-to-action:

  • Use strong verbs that urge the reader to perform the desired action, for example, “click here”, “get the free gift now” or “register now”.
  • Create a sense of urgency by providing a time bound deadline to motivate your customer to respond. Some phrases that are effective include: “call today and receive 10% off”, or “contact customer care now.”
  • Use an eye-catching design to draw attention to the CTAs – contrasting colours stand out and demand attention. Also ensure there is enough white space around the CTA to set the button apart from the rest of page. You may wish to add bevels, shadows, and hover effects to the buttons.
  • Match the CTA to the content of the page your visitor is on. Someone reading a blog post about Facebook tips should not be seeing a CTA about auto parts.
  •  Test the effectiveness of your CTAs via A/B testing. As with anything related to inbound marketing, you should then analyze the click-throughs to see which one is the most effective.
  • Ensure that once the readers perform the call-to-action, their experience is easy and effortless. Your landing page should have information that adds value to the action that your target audience has performed.

The don’ts for compelling call-to-action:

  • Don’t use ‘submit’ on your form buttons. Instead use valuable and actionable copy such as download now, buy now, or register for newsletter etc. Remember users don’t like to submit to anything – they want to know the value they are going to receive by performing the call-to-action.
  • Don’t place CTAs where no one can see them. The bottom of a blog post and in the sidebar of your blog are good real estate.
  • Don’t make the CTA button the same colour as the background of the page – unless you want no one to click it!

Good luck.







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