If you want to become an expert in digital marketing, you must know what calls to action (CTA) are about and know how to use them. Below we invite you to delve deeper into this concept and discover its importance in inbound marketing.
What is a call to action?
A call to action, It is a word, phrase, image or button that invites visitors to your website or social network to take a specific action. For example: login, download a document, register, request a product demonstration, quote a service, among others.
According to Hubspot‘s definition, a call to action is a button that promotes an offer and links to a landing page, that is, it plays an important role in the monetization of content displayed on a website.
When we talk about monetization, we are referring to the process in which companies can generate sales and make profits by converting an asset into money. Thus, Monetizing content consists of converting certain information (guide, ebook, infographic, podcast) into an asset that can start a sales funnel.
Calls to action help this process start: They show the user where they have to click to obtain the information or take the desired action that will allow the company to initiate a sales process. For this reason, they are positioned in the conversion stage of the first approximation of the inbound marketing methodology. We show you:
What are calls to action for in inbound marketing?
In the inbound marketing methodology, there are key elements that allow the transition from one stage to another. The calls to action represent one of them,
along with the landing and thank you pages, and as we have already observed, they are in the second stage of the methodology.
A call to action within inbound marketing mainly serves to convert a reader or visitor into a sales opportunity. Sales opportunities or leads are contacts that are already part of a company’s database. Contact data (name, phone number and email) are used to continue sharing content of interest to the user and thus increase sales.
Therefore, calls to action play a key role in the inbound marketing methodology, since they allow you to increase your chances of sales and get closer to your potential buyers.
Stages of the conversion process
The conversion process usually starts with a call to action. When a visitor clicks on a call to action they are directed to a landing page where they must fill out a form with their contact information.
Then, this visitor must write in the blank spaces their first name, last name, email and make a simple selection of any question you set. This question should serve as additional information to better characterize your buyer profile or buyer persona.
Upon finishing sharing their contact information, the visitor becomes a sales opportunity and is directed to a thank you page, where they receive the content or downloadable material offered or information related to its delivery since also the Content can be sent to your email.
How are calls to action used in inbound marketing?
You can use a call to action both on the pages of your website, as well as in your blog and email messages. To start a successful conversion process, your calls to action must meet some requirements or practices. These are:
Incorporate a verb and a keyword in your CTA
Like any call to action, this one must incorporate a verb at the beginning of the phrase. For example: “Download our ebook on inbound marketing here” “Request more information here” or “Watch this video”.
At the same time, to be consistent with your content calls to action must be related to your list of keywords. Therefore, they are made up of a verb that guides the action and a keyword that is consistent with your content offer.
Use the same keywords and phrases throughout the conversion process so your visitors know specifically what they will get when they click the button. Look at the following example:
Differentiate it with a color that stands out
Call-to-action buttons need to stand out from the rest of the content and should not exceed 30 characters. Use a color that stands out from the rest of the color palette of the website, so that it is coherent with the general design of the corporate image of your brand or business.
Consider the tastes of your buyers when choosing the colors and design of your CTA; Your potential customers may prefer big, shiny buttons or minimalist, simple buttons.
Position it well within the web design of your content
Your calls to action should be located in an easy-to-find place, that is, be very visible and strategically located. When entering the web page, the call to action should look as if it naturally belongs to that page.
There is no right or wrong place to place them, everything will depend on your web design and how you structure your content.
Remember that button-shaped icons should be easily noticed, capture your visitors’ attention, and fit logically with the rest of the page. To do this, calls to action should be large enough to be noticeable from afar, but not so large as to distract from the main content of your blog posts.
In short, calls to action are very important tools within the inbound marketing methodology: they start the conversion process, and allow you to obtain a database of your potential customers. Therefore, they form a vital component in the transition of your visitors to sales opportunities.
