A wake-up call: why CTAs need more consideration

An impactful call-to-action (CTA) represents the most pivotal element across all marketing campaigns and collateral, driving desired visitor response and conversion events that incrementally advance their buying journeys. Without a compelling, strategically placed CTA, even the deepest customer insight or most creative messaging fails to elicit outcomes – from lead generation sign-ups to content downloads or sale inquiries – thereby stunting pipeline development. 

Conversely, even modest collateral with a precisely targeted, artfully crafted CTA elicits responses from qualified prospects. From enquiry buttons and subscription offers to registration links and appointment schedulers, customer-centric CTAs tailored to each buyer stage prompt seamless transitions towards transaction, while sustaining engagement across platforms. They consistently transform passive content viewership into measurable commitment signals. 

Why, then, do so many businesses spend a disproportionate amount of time and effort creating a persuasive piece of content, only to lead customers to a metaphorical marketing cliffhanger by failing to create compelling prompts? And more importantly, how do you really make the most of this all-too-often overlooked mechanic? The answer is ultimately to approach CTAs with the same attentiveness you show a headline or hero image – but here are some other considerations to help you nail the perfect prompt. 

Set goals

Instituting CTAs warrants deep familiarity with granular business objectives sought from each marketing campaign or asset channel. Is the strategy focused most on capturing net-new leads to build the top of the funnel, or is there emphasis on accelerating deals within existing qualified pipeline? Based on those priorities, corresponding CTAs (such as access to in-depth ROI reports for lead generation or scheduling sales demos for existing opportunity nurturing) should be customised respectively. 

Trigger urgency

By reinforcing limited timeframes or exclusivity constructs around your collateral, CTAs can spur more rapid responses from targeted personas psychologically wired to react to potential losses from delays. Key drivers such as early sign-up incentives, expiring discounts or special concession demonstrations fuel the fear of missing out (FOMO), thereby motivating desired actions. 

Ease conversions

A CTA is not the end of the journey – not by a long shot! The subsequent pages or processes the CTA links to can aid seamless follow-through on conversions by prefilling information to lower drop-offs from laborious data entries or employing progressive disclosure to not overwhelm users upfront unnecessarily. Customer experience excellence demands thoughtfully facilitating outcomes post click-through – remember, a few clicks does not a customer make! 

Analyse performance

Like all marketing communications, CTAs warrant continual experimentation to determine what stylistic elements around placement, colour schemes, shapes, dimensions or semantic text maximise desired outcomes. Leveraging tools such as A/B testing and results measurement like lead scoring helps continually refine and localise CTA appeal. 

As crucial lynchpins in marketing blueprints, optimising CTAs through messaging, visual salience and frictionless user experiences following click-throughs will uplift conversions massively. And while it’s true that every customer interaction channels future sales, the interactions customers have with your CTAs are more crucial than most touchpoints. Speak to the team at Asgard about optimising your CTAs and your wider content strategy for consistently successful customer journeys.