How to create effective calls to action (CTAs) in your content

I have a confession to make. Even as a marketing “expert,” there are elements of the field that I don’t love. 

And although we can talk about automating or outsourcing tasks so you aren’t the one doing them, intentionally choosing not to do certain marketing tasks, or specializing your business offerings to focus on your zone of genius and set you apart from your competition, there are always going to be some elements of the work you do that you don’t love. 

Beyond that, even if you enjoy certain tasks, there might be parts of the process that you don’t love but feel you have to comply with or try to work around (the ever-changing Instagram algorithm comes to mind here). 

Back to my confession, one of my least favourite parts of content creation is the call to action (CTA). 

And while I’d maybe love to omit it or not have to deal with it, the CTA is actually a really important component of any piece of marketing content. 

Your call to action directs your audience as to what you want them to do in each piece of content. 

I’ve even written before about how every piece of content you share should have some sort of action associated with it based on the goals you have for your business, because you don’t want to be spending time on marketing that doesn't lead to sales. 

For example, at the end of a social media post talking about a blog you’ve written, you might include a call to action in the form of a link for people to read more if they’re interested. 

Or, at the bottom of a sales page, you might feature a call to action in the form of a button encouraging visitors to book a consultation call with you if they feel the program is a good fit. 

Calls to action provide your audience with clear next steps and direction, which can reduce friction for customers, prevent decision fatigue or overwhelm, and generate more conversions. 

Unfortunately, these calls to action are also often misunderstood, which can make them frustrating.

Here are some examples of the common issues I see with CTAs and how to fix them. 

Every action counts

Years ago, I was writing content for a postcard we were going to send to clients and prospects to encourage them to see us at an event. 

In discussing the content, I was given three different actions we wanted to encourage recipients to do. As I recall, we wanted them to attend an information session, visit our booth, and enter to win a contest.

My question was: which of these items was the most important one? Which one should be the CTA on the postcard? 

Even the very experienced, super smart marketers in the room couldn't narrow it down. 

And there was a good reason for the confusion! We needed all of it. 

In the end, we decided we would include them all but encourage readers to visit the booth last because that offered the most potential for connection and sales for the business. 

For a postcard, the copy was loooong. And when you have three CTAs, it doesn't work super well. 

It always makes me think of Lily Tomlin as Edith Ann telling us about her sandwich.

See what I mean? And then you can.... And then you should....

When you mash all of these calls to action together, you get quite the combination, and it requires your audience to think a little too hard about whether they want to take a bite.

Remember the intention of reducing friction for the consumer? Multiple CTAs do the opposite. 

And if customers are confused about what action they should take, chances are they won’t do anything. 

The medium matters

Another time, in my life as a corporate marketer, a co-worker was planning a webinar for clients only. 

They planned to promote the webinar with a postcard, but waited until about 3 weeks prior to the (unconfirmed) date of the webinar to make arrangements for creative and printing.

Did I mention the clients were global?

The link to register for the webinar was printed on the postcard, and instead of using a link shortener (due to the security risks), we created a custom URL with a redirect to the webinar registration.

This probably would have worked sort of okay, except the webinar date hadn’t been confirmed with the main speakers before the postcards were printed and mailed. 

This resulted in a vague piece of marketing material that required busy people to type out a URL to get details on the date and time to see if they could even attend, let alone register. 

Plus, by the time the postcard arrived for many, it’s possible that the CTA should have been to “watch the replay” instead. 

In hindsight, we could have easily gotten far more participation by promoting the webinar via email. It would have made the customer journey a lot easier for clients, it would have offered more clarity, and it would have been cheaper.

The most effective call to action depends on the medium you’re disseminating information on. Your CTA needs to be as clear as possible, and as easy as possible to follow through with. 

For example, including links in an Instagram caption where they aren’t clickable, is likely going to result in far less link clicks than if you add the link to your bio and direct people in your caption to click there (it’s not an ideal system, but again you have to work within the platform restrictions and capabilities). On Facebook or LinkedIn however, directly including a relevant link is a great CTA. 

If you’re building a sales page, bold buttons to separate content can be incredibly effective. 

Sending a postcard or printing posters? Use a QR code, or, where applicable, simply include the required details and contact information so there’s no need to visit a website at all. 

When it comes to deciding on a medium, and the appropriate call to action for that medium, consider the goals you have for the piece of content, your audience, and how to present information in a way that will make it as easy as possible for potential clients or customers to follow through on your desired action. 

Make your CTAs clear, concise, and optimized for the platform they’re on, and you’ll likely see a lot more conversions. 

Your language or design choices are wrong

In addition to ensuring your CTA is aligned with the medium it’s being presented on, you also need to craft your calls to action in a way that appeals to your audience. 

We’ve spoken before about the importance of creating content that speaks to your ideal client, and the same practices apply with your CTA. 

Your messaging needs to be clear, concise, and speak to your ideal client’s pain points with an understanding of how you can support them. And, design elements should also speak to that particular audience and what might be most likely to get them to click (you can use elements of sales colour theory here as well).  

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to marketing, but there are design and language choices that can help you convert better among your audience. 

While you may not know exactly what those are at the beginning, that’s the benefit of data collection and analysis, and A/B testing to optimize and tweak your content over time.

Using white space and headings to break up content, abiding by accessibility guidelines for items like font size and contrast between text and background colours, and making sure your font choices are readable, are also important factors to keep in mind. 

What does an effective CTA look like in marketing content?

Now that you know what to avoid, let’s talk about what a good CTA should look like. 

1) It needs to be relevant to what's around it

On my services pages, I have CTAs to book a consultation with me because that is the offer that makes sense based on that page. 

Blog posts on the other hand may have CTAs to join my Free Marketing Resources Hub where I add new resources several times a year. I can highlight specific resources or make it more general depending on what I have that fits the topic.

Your calls to action need to be relevant to what you’re talking about in your content, or they’re going to result in minimal conversion and maximum confusion from visitors. 

2) It needs to be strong and confident

Begin your CTA with an action verb relevant to what you want your audience to do. Avoid the temptation to water down your CTA by introducing a dependent clause that starts with "if" or by asking a question.

If you start a CTA with a dependent clause, it's easy for people to disregard it. Strong verbs evoke the kind of confidence you should have in the actions your people should take.

For example, which one sounds better?

Sign up to get your free copy!

OR

If you'd like a free copy, sign up here.

The first is much more direct and concise, leaving little room for people to question if they’d actually like the free copy you’re offering. 

3) Make sure it's easy for your people to act

Remember the postcard? It would have worked a lot better if it had been an email. The webinar was only meant for clients, and emails to clients usually get strong open rates for most businesses.

The postcard idea isn't terrible if the action was something else, though. We're inundated with information online these days, so snail mail communications can be a refreshing and somewhat more personal change. 

Assess the audience, the content, and the CTA, and make decisions based on what makes the most sense for these elements when evaluated together. 

If you are going to encourage someone to interact with you online from a printed piece of content though, use a QR code to avoid time-consuming URLs. If you go this route, it’s very important for the landing page to be optimized for mobile to prevent frustration.

Take into account the entire customer journey, and reduce friction wherever possible to encourage more conversion. 

4) Tell people why they should take the action

Even if there's no price tag, you're selling something. Maybe it's a free resource or an appeal to let you email them.

Whatever your CTA, make it clear how your people will benefit from taking the action you're encouraging.

If they don’t know or understand the value of your offer, what’s the incentive for them to click or sign-up? 

Again, ensure you’re using language that speaks to your ideal audience and their pain points, or you’ll still miss the target.  

5) Make your people feel something about this action

This one goes hand in hand with #4. 

The why can come with some emotion. Whether you want to evoke excitement or that superhero feeling you get when you've found the answer you've been Googling for hours, support it with your words and punctuation.

Avoid using generic wording, or using 2nd or 3rd person in CTA copy. Make your people feel that this CTA applies directly to them, and that there’s a sense of urgency for them to take whatever action you’re promoting. 

Just don't go overboard with the exclamation marks. 😉

When done with intention, CTAs can be a key factor in increasing conversions within your content 

TLDR? Make your CTA relevant and as easy as possible to follow to reduce friction between where your audience is and the action you want them to take. 

Be clear, concise, and keep your target audience in mind with your language, design choices, and the format you’re presenting your calls to action in. 

Need one more example of a CTA? 

Book a consult call with me here for more clarity and guidance on your marketing strategy.