So you’re about to send out an e-mail, maybe launch a new piece of content, or just want to add a button on your site. Here are five great tips on how to ensure success:
There is a lot of good data and research on what generally works and what doesn’t but ultimately your customer base is unique. Feel free to test placement, colors, wording, and design of your CTAs, and do it constantly. You can always improve.
You don’t need to run an imposing amount of multivariate tests; a constant sequence of A/B tests will do fine to start.
Some good options for setting up experiments are Google Experiments or Optimizely. If you’re testing CTAs on unique landing pages Unbounce is worth a look as well.
Whether it’s a contact button, a newsletter subscription form, or a submission button, place your CTAs where people can expect to find them.
For example:
These rules don’t run hard and fast, but you should consider them in your placement.
Don't be shy or hide your CTAs, people can’t click what they can’t find!
But also avoid unnecessary or excessive CTAs. You don’t need to remind people to Buy Now eight times in an e-mail.
If a link leads to a video, then “Watch the Video” makes more sense than simply “Submit.”
And remember: context counts! The copy on the page around your CTA matters as much as the call to action itself.
Make sure your CTAs stand out. Anything you can do to make them look unique, colorful, or look different from your background can only help.
When you are using text as a CTA, there’s no need to form a sentence like “click here to submit your information” when “submit your information” will do just fine. Your customers know what a hyperlink looks like!
