A request that leads followers to do something is a call to action (CTA) and is an important way to encourage engagement and convert users to leads.
Why Are CTAs Important for Digital Marketing Strategy?
From a marketing perspective, CTAs can help drive conversions. CTAs will be different depending on the industry or business but no matter the field or the platform, they help guide visitors to take action. And although one main goal of calls to action is to create leads, CTAs aren’t just about making money. CTAs can motivate a wide variety of reactions depending on the goals of your business or brand. If your goal is sales, CTAs can help convert a visitor into a customer. If your goal is to grow followers, CTAs can guide users to your social media platforms. If your goal is sharting information, a CTA can lead to more downloads of PDFs.
Using CTAs can help shape future strategy using analytics. You can use tools like Google Analytics (GA) to figure out how visitors have arrived at your website, app, or social media platform, as well as how they behave on it. GA’s Behavior Report shows the performance of every page of your website and tells you what types of actions visitors to your site are taking, including specific actions visitors take on your site (such as CTA button clicks). This is why calls to action are so important—they give users chances to take action and allow you to track it.
How to Write a Compelling Call to Action
These days, it’s not enough to simply put your content out to the world and hope people will follow you on social media, download an infographic you worked hard on, or register for your email list. You have to work to drive users online to do what you want. That’s where calls to action come in.
With the simple click of a button (a prominently displayed button, of course!), users are taking the next step. But they’re not just going to click for the sake of curiosity. Use clear, uncomplicated language and be direct (“sign up for my newsletter” or “follow us on Instagram”). Use language that tells the user exactly what they’ll get (“shop hair products,” or “get your quote”). Use language that conveys urgency (“book your appointment now” or “space is limited—register now”).
Most people won't just click for the sake of clicking. Try a CTA that lets people know what they’ll get—for example “15% off when you sign up,” “gift with purchase,” or “free shipping for new customers.” And while the text is a key element to any call to action, don’t be afraid to make your CTA pop using a contrasting color for the button, emojis, and GIFs.
Keep your CTAs user-focused by ensuring all the links are working and your buttons lead to the right places. If people are clicking your CTAs, they want to end up where you promise they will. And if you find you're not getting the traction you hoped you would, switch it up! Don't be afraid to play around with different wording, placement, or platform.
Incorporate CTAs Across All Your Channels
While calls to action are helpful no matter what, they appear in different ways depending on the platform. Let’s jump into the ways to incorporate CTAs across various digital marketing channels.
Email Marketing Campaigns
Calls to action are a critical part of email marketing. You can use CTAs in many different ways, from collecting feedback (“complete this five-minute survey”) to encouraging a purchase (“shop our new collection”) to event planning (“register now”). There should be CTAs at various points in every email. You can also use CTAs to encourage subscribers to follow you on your social media accounts (Like us on Facebook”) or add buttons to encourage sharing across platforms.
Company Website
When it comes to your company website, calls to action work as prompts that encourage those visiting your website to do something. That “something” can be asking users to subscribe to your email list, make a purchase, download a document, or follow you on other social media platforms. CTAs are what push visitors to your website to be less passive and ultimately turn into customers. Including a CTA on every page of your website (preferably “above the fold” on your homepage so they don’t have to scroll) will encourage engagement, invite connection, and grow your business.
There are two ways to incorporate CTAs on your business or brand’s Facebook Page. One is by adding a button that will appear at the top of your Page, just under your cover image. Depending on your goals, this can be “Follow,” making it easy for people to follow your page, “Message,” which will enable users to correspond with you directly, “visit group,” if you’d like to direct visitors to your page to join a specific group. With more than 15 possibilities for custom buttons, Facebook helps you direct users where you want using call to action buttons.
Another way to create more organic calls to action on Facebook is by crafting text posts that motivate your followers. Words are the messengers of your brand. Make sure they are well-chosen, error-free, convey your message, and stay true to your company, product, or brand. Engaging social media copy is something that prompts your followers into action. You can use these kinds of posts to tell stories, share information, motivate your audience with calls to action, get feedback, and ask questions.
If you have a business account on Instagram there are handy call to action buttons (for example “Contact” or “Message”) that you can add to the profile section. Having the buttons at the top of your profile simplifies ways for people to connect with you.
Your Instagram profile is also the one place on Instagram where you can include a clickable link. Use the URL space in the profile section as another kind of call to action to drive traffic to your website or landing page.
Engaging with your Instagram followers by incorporating elements like polls and questions draws people in, gives them ways to interact with you, and provides chances to take action as well.
As with Instagram, those with a Business Page on LinkedIn can add a custom button (such as visit website, contact us, learn more, register, and sign up) as a call to action for current and potential followers. As LinkedIn’s popularity grows and its reputation changes from a job posting site to a true social media network, it makes sense to embrace the platform as a place to engage with people and promote a business or brand.
YouTube
Calls to action on YouTube are what push viewers to be more active, less passive, and ultimately turn into subscribers and customers. These CTAs can be asking viewers to subscribe to your YouTube channel, click a website link, send an email, like your post, or share your video. Including CTAs in every video will continue to funnel viewers to other social media sites and grow your business.
And don’t forget about the most basic call to action of all: the good ol’ verbal, “like, share, and subscribe.” Although it might seem repetitive, reminding viewers of this at the end of every video keeps their interest piqued and creates more opportunities for them to take action. Plus, the more people who engage with your videos (that is, the more comments and likes your video gets), the higher YouTube will rank it in its search results.
TikTok
Calls to action on TikTok can be similar to those on YouTube (especially the verbal shoutouts), but adding any clickable links means paying for In-Feed video ads. With 52% of users indicating they find new products from ads on TikTok, consider taking the leap and paying for ads. In-Feed ads are short-form videos that appear on the For You page of your target audience. These ads take up 100% of the screen, so they look similar to regular TikTok videos and blend organically into users’ feeds. Brands can add a clickable call to action button on In-Feed ads to send people to their company’s TikTok account or external landing page.
Another way to drive viewers to action and connect with subscribers across channels is by addressing your other accounts directly in your videos. You can mention them verbally, or add a text box to your video encouraging those watching your TikTok videos to follow you on Instagram or other social media networks. You can also invite your TikTok followers to send you a DM on Instagram.
Learn Digital Marketing
Want to learn about CTAs and other tools of the social media marketing trade? Enroll in Noble Desktop’s 30-hour Social Media Marketing Certificate. The curriculum gives participants a comprehensive overview of the industry. Hands-on training over five distinct units allows students to master various elements of social media marketing. Certificate program participants will learn how to determine the right social media platform for their goals, develop a successful social media strategy, and create content that increases engagement and drives sales. Expert instructors teach participants how to gain a following and underscore the importance of market positioning and using social media analytics to improve results. Noble even offers students a chance to retake the class for free within a year to drill down on challenging concepts or refresh their skills.
If you want to take a shorter course or focus on a specific platform, look into Noble’s wide variety of social media marketing classes. Individuals can attend in-person classes at Noble Desktop’s New York City location or attend live online social media marketing courses from anywhere in the world.
Enrolling in a digital marketing program is a great way to learn more about the field or enhance current skills. Digital marketing classes teach how to use the various platforms to your advantage. Depending on your location, you may be able to find digital marketing courses, bootcamps, and certificate programs in your area using Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me tool.
For a more comprehensive look at digital marketing strategies, take a look at Noble’s Digital Marketing Strategies bootcamp. The bootcamp is a 12-hour course that delves into the important role digital marketing strategy plays in a company’s overall success. The bootcamp is also offered as part of the 78-hour Digital Marketing Certificate, which delves deeper into each aspect of digital marketing including developing an end-to-end marketing strategy through hands-on classes where you work on your business or company as a project. Students even have the chance to retake the course for free for one year!
Noble’s Facebook Marketing class provides an in-depth look at creating targeted ads, leveraging Facebook groups, and creating business pages within the platform. The Instagram Marketing class helps students learn about advertising on Instagram as well as how to build a following by creating resonant content. The course delves into the Instagram algorithm and how to use it to develop content and posting strategies as well as increase engagement. The course’s expert instructors go over best practices and tools like Instagram Stories, marketing, and advertising.
With Noble’s LinkedIn Marketing class, you’ll learn how to craft a marketing strategy for LinkedIn, create dynamic content, and advertise on the platform. The course also covers prospecting with LinkedIn search as well as how to use LinkedIn analytics to your advantage. Finally, Social Media Video Marketing: TikTok & YouTube teaches how to use the platforms for video-based campaigns and techniques for creating content. Students will also learn how to monitor video trends, and identify and engage their target audience.
Other digital marketing and social media marketing resources offered by Noble Desktop include its digital marketing blog which has detailed articles about various social media marketing topics. Noble’s YouTube channel has two helpful seminars as well: The Pillars of Digital Marketing Success and an Intro to Social Media Marketing.