Top 5 Mistakes That May Spoil Your Call to Action in Writing

When content marketers create content specifically for their websites, their intention revolves around providing the best of the information to generate leads. In order to do so, they assign proper calls to action in writing. The call to action mostly referred to as CTA, guides the readers to take the next step if they are interested.

Nowadays, the role of CTA is just not limited to the company website; content marketers are using the call to action in writing on emails, social media, and similar other platforms. However, not every time CTA brings the desired result. And this is not the consequence of a bad content piece leading to an unsatisfied customer, but the poor placement of CTA. There are many mistakes associated with the call to action in writing that content marketers are unaware of. This, in turn, results in poor performance of the content, low conversion rate, and an insignificant number of sales.

To begin with, we have listed out some of the common calls to action in writing mistakes that could be easily avoided but are often ignored or not taken as mistakes.

• Too many Call-to-Action Options: When we present a customer with too many choices, it confuses them resulting in ‘choice-paralysis’. And same goes with too many calls to action in writings. When you scatter CTAs in large numbers, the reader confuses and loses its path resulting in inaction.

  To avoid such an instance, the marketers need to decide the goal and then design the CTA accordingly. Asking your reader to sign up for an email newsletter, social media, and content upgrade altogether will leave them confused and they will bounce from the website without subscribing to any of those.

  Here, it is advisable to take one step at a time. For example, focus on getting the email address, and ask to sign up for content upgrade through the email newsletter. You need not restrict yourself to only one CTA, but you definitely should be aware of 'how much would be too much. Too much of CTA usually reflect desperation and insincerity.

• Strategize your Call to Action- This part is as important as the entire content piece. While you guide them with your CTA, you should let your readers know that what they would be getting out of it. In short, be clear with your thoughts and request.

  For example, 'Enter your email address to subscribe to the newsletter. And this statement becomes very vague as the reader remains oblivious to the fact regarding the type of newsletter and kind of benefits s/he would be getting out of it. In case it is a series of newsletters, ask them how often they would like to receive it.

  Another significant step in strategizing the CTA is- relevance. For example, if you have written a blog on marketing your CTA must be associated with marketing only.

• Test Suitable CTA: It is no secret that one type of CTA does not fit everywhere. Hence for every article and blog, where you are incorporating a CTA, a new call to action in writing should be designed individually.

  To find the most suitable CTA of all, marketers usually go for some A/B tests. This helps them decide exactly which call to action suits the best according to the content piece. Heat maps can also be implemented to find out the click rate of CTAs.

  Once you are aware of well-performing CTAs, focus on them, and remove the others.

• Minimum Questions for Opt-in Forms: It might appear convincing to you to ask multiple questions in the opt-in forms, as it shows your level of interest in the audience. But answering too many questions can become repelling for the audience and hence they might lose interest halfway. Completing an opt-in comes in the form of time investment from the reader's end, and rarely anyone would like to invest so much time at first instance. Even there are enough data out there to prove that the less-info section in opt-in forms has a positive impact on conversion. Also, the number of questions is inversely proportional to the conversion rate.

  As per a study conducted by Dan Zarella, the conversion rate increases by 50% if the number of questions is limited to 3 to 4. Similarly, as per a report published by ImageScape, when the number of sections was reduced to 4 from 11, the conversion rate boosted to 120%.

  Hence, it is advisable to reduce the number of sections in your opt-in forms. However, to reduce the number of sections, you should not miss out on important data.

Keep the following points in mind, while you frame the questionnaire-

1. Collect Relevant Data
2. Provide some optional fields

• Placement of Call to Action: The content piece is brilliant and the call to action in writing may seem to be provoking, yet the conversion rate is insignificant. This may be because the audience is not able to find out the CTA button.

  Usually, the CTAs are buried in between graphics and texts, or they are very from the line of sight of the reader; and this inhibits the conversion rate.

  Using the right kind of CTA at the right location can significantly boost the conversion rate. A company found that adding a CTA button boosted the conversion rate by 62%.

  On other hand, as per a report published by a Campaign Monitor using a CTA button, rather than a CTA text link, can fuel the conversion rate by 127%.

Here are a few points to follow while deciding the placement of the CTA button-

1. Try keeping a CTA on top of your webpage, where the audience can easily see without scrolling.
2. Use action verbs to encourage readers and provoke the curiosity factor to take some action. For example- ‘Learn More’ or ‘Get Started’

Conclusion:

Call to Action has become a very important aspect as it directs the audience to execute the action plan. Hence, it needs dedication and time to tailor well-suited ‘call to action’.

The mistakes mentioned above are quite common; however, they could be easily avoided if concentrated upon.

The article was written above also included solutions to educate how to avoid mistakes use the content to the best of its ability for lead conversion.