A call to action is what we want our audience to answer right? It’s that thing that spurs them to “click”, “call” or leap from their lazy boy and do what that television commercial just suggested. But what makes an effective call to action? Why do we need to start thinking beyond just the usual “contact us for more info”?
Hubspot offers 7 tips for more effective calls to action and they definitely got us thinking. We’ve been pondering this for awhile now. When it comes to economic development and tourism, the “call” has to be pretty compelling. We’re not asking someone to order a pizza, we’re asking them to come to a community at least for a visit, if not for a complete life change. That call better be good!
Here are some of the tips we think particularly apply for economic development:
Indicate a Specific Action
Make your call to action as specific as possible. Tell the user exactly what you want them to do and how. Avoid vague generalities and instead tell them to click, sign up, contact us or download.
Use Images
It often helps to direct a user’s attention to a call to action by placing a stock photo of a person looking directly at that call to action. Images with actors looking directly at the user tend to distract them. (On3 Editor’s note: Even better not to use stock but that’s a debate for another time)
Pay Attention to Position
Calls to action “above the fold” on a page (in the first screen viewable on a page without scrolling down) do very well. Calls to action in a sidebar don’t perform as well as those in the central content area of a page. Put the call to action where the rest of the page will naturally lead a viewer’s eyes.
(On3 Editor’s Note: For an example go to Twitter - it’s apparent right away what they want you to do and it’s front and centre “Get started – Join!” Thunderbird does this really well too using a big bold image to indicate the way to download.)
You can read all the tips over at hubspot here.
UPDATE – Two more thoughts I just had on this:
1) If we’re talking about an email – how can you put your CTA right in the subject line so they know right away if it’s worth reading or trashing? Definitely a worthy goal.
2) If you’ve got a webpage, print piece or email campaign, see how long it takes you (and others) to spot the call to action. Compare it with other stuff out there and find inspiration wherever you can to make your CTA stand out.
Tags: call to action, designing a good call to action, writing a good call to action