Getting your 'clickable' call to action right is about a lot more than simply saying "click here". In this presentation we offer a few hints and tips that will help to ensure you get the best results from your next campaign...

1. Effective Copywriting
Part II – Getting your calls to action right…

2. Getting your ‘clickable’ call to
action right*
* A collection useful hints and tips – some that we’ve learnt
from experience and some that we’ve stolen from others...

3. 1. Don’t use ‘submit’ on your
form buttons (or in your email copy)

4. It scares people. After all, ‘submit’ is a term full of commitment.
Rather than remind people that they’re about to hand over their
personal details, remind them why they’re doing it…
… use valuable action text such as ‘download whitepaper’.

5. 2. Don’t hide your CTAs

6. Hiding a CAT can be fun (if you’re that way inclined). Hiding a CTA is silly.
Make sure your CTA is above the fold and ideally keep them in
the readers ‘eyepath’. If you need lots of content on your
landing page (and we recommend you don’t), have two calls to
action – one at the top of the page and another at the bottom.

7. 3. Don’t make your CTA the
same colour as the page
background…

8. It makes it hard to pick out
Use a contrasting colour instead
If the CTA can’t be easily seen or read you will lose at least
some of your prospects.

9. 4. Make your CTA clear and
concise

10. That’s right, clear and concise…
Don’t use lots and lots of words as that would be daft. Using too much
unnecessary text would be a waste of space, not to mention that too
many words would make readers very bored and lose attention. Yawn.
What was I saying, oh yes, don’t go using too many words when just the
one word will do. If you repeat yourself or just ramble on too much
when you don’t need to, you will completely fail to engage the reader
and more than likely they will give up. Even if you include one strong call
to action somewhere along the way, they probably won’t actually notice
it. A vague call to action among lots of text won’t perform like a clear call
to action will do amongst more concise text, etc, etc (you get the idea…)
Use compelling and actionable copy that tells the reader exactly
what to do

11. 5. Don’t link your CTA to your
homepage

12. Linking from an advert in an email bulletin to a dedicated (or at
least relevant) landing page will provide a far less confusing user
journey than linking to your homepage.
Don’t expect people to go to your homepage and search around
for relevant content. They won’t.

13. 6. Don’t ask for too much...
Or you may get nothing!

14. You know what happens to kids that ask for too much…
The more CTAs you include the less
response you’ll get.
As tempting as it can be, don’t ask
the reader to visit your webpage,
email you, follow you on Twitter,
and/or phone you - experience
proves they won’t do either.
Instead provide a single strong call to
action.

15. 7. Experiment with your CTAs

16. Try some A/B testing.
It takes planning, but not a huge resource. Testing could be
especially valuable if you’re able to target specific groups, where
some CTAs may be more effective for certain groups than others

17. 8. Optimise CTAs for mobile
devices

18. • Keep copy concise
• Don’t use flash or
complicated animations
• Give careful consideration
to the user journey

19. 9. Multichannel your CTAs

20. Don’t miss opportunities to
support campaign results by
promoting CTAs across all
marketing channels
Messaging should be
consistent, but copy style,
length, and tone should be
channel appropriate.

21. 10. Ask for help…

22. If advertising through a publisher such as Sift Media,you have
nothing to lose and lots to gain by asking for help or advice.
Our campaigns team have years of experience when it comes
to knowing what works and what doesn’t when engaging
different audiences, job roles or industry sectors. A quick chat
could have a big impact on your campaign results.

23. www.siftmedia.co.uk