Are You Picking the Right Calls-to-Action?

When making a transition into inbound, web-based marketing, calls-to-action (CTAs) are one of four elements essential to lead generation. These in-text links, social media updates and buttons take website visitors directly to specific landing pages where they can access a content offer, contest, or consultation by completing a form. It is the call-to-action that begins the process of converting a website visitor (or blog reader or social media follower) into a lead.

Picking the right calls-to-action will ensure you have something to offer visitors and prospects at all stages of the buying cycle.

Create CTAs for Top-Performing Offers

One of the most obvious places to start in creating CTAs is with offers that have historically been popular on your website with a high visitor-to-lead conversion rate. Offers that have an established track record of converting visitors into leads will likely continue to do so.

Craft CTAs for your top marketing offers and continue to promote them through your website, blog, emails and social media.

Create CTAs for High-Quality Offers

While it is likely that your best-performing offers in terms of visitor-to-lead conversion are those that are focused on education and awareness, with a low commitment level, you need to also focus on the offers that are farther down the sales funnel.

These are the offers, such as sales consultations and product pricing, that are more tightly related to the bottom of the sales funnel. This makes them valuable in qualifying prospects and driving business results. Including CTAs for these offers can move leads further down the sales funnel toward the sale.

Create CTAs Based on Behavior

You can also create CTAs based on what you know about your prospects and their past behavior. For example, if they have already downloaded an ebook on creating calls-to-action, you could create a CTA offering them your CTA Placement Checklist or CTA Report Card.

On the thank you page that appears after a webinar describing your service, you could place a CTA offering a free trial. Craft these thank you page CTAs specifically to fit the context of the previous offer.

HubSpot does this by offering a free trial of their service on the thank you page after downloading an ebook about personalized marketing by highlighting the company’s personalization tools.

Create CTAs for Upcoming Campaigns

CTAs should also be created for upcoming campaigns. That could mean an annual conference, a new product release, contests, or a new offer such as a webinar. Be sure to include CTAs in a variety of formats to use on a wide range of platforms, from your blog and social media to paid ads and emails. In fact, there are at least 11 places you should be placing some kind of CTA.

By using CTAs for your campaigns, you can continue to generate awareness and increase recognition for the campaign. As with any CTA, these should link to a specific landing page, such conference registration or a contest entry page.

Social Media Examiner features a CTA for their upcoming conference prominently on their website’s home page, along with including it in social media updates and blog posts.

These four guidelines will help you pick calls-to-action that address all stages of the buying cycle (also called the sales funnel). But don’t just create something and throw it up without planning. Download our free Comprehensive Guide to Designing and Executing Calls-to-Action in order to maximize lead generation and sales conversions.