“CTA: Call To Action”
When creating a website or a landing page intended to sell something, businesses and marketers alike often try and cram as many CTAs in as humanly possible, often without any strategy in mind. When using CTAs, you need to get into the mind frame of the user. How often do you click on a popover yourself? If you were on a website and it had a pop-up on every page would it thrill or irritate you? Does it make you want to give that brand your custom? Or does it send you straight to the cross? There are statistics to show that popovers and calls to action are incredibly effective, however, it all comes down to how you choose to use them.
Here are three key things to consider:
The User’s Experience
If you are using a whole page popover, make it clear to the user where the exit is. Humans are creatures of habit and are used to the exit button being in the top right-hand corner. Use this to your advantage. Think about consistency. If you use a certain font or colour for one CTA, use it for the rest (unless you want the user to carry out a different action). When the user is likely to see it on a regular occasion, keep the Calls To Action in the same place. If you are convinced that there needs to be more than one, keep them in relatively the same position (if the button is aligned central once, keep it aligned central further down the page).
Consider the value it has for the user.
Highlight the benefits clicking through will have for them. For example, if your target audience is based abroad and you are based in the UK, use your CTA to highlight the amount of money your users will now save due to the pound’s decline after Brexit. Simply giving your user facts about your product/service then instructing them to “click here” isn’t going to provide them with any incentive or reason to click through.
Carefully think about the process after.
Keep it as simple as you can. A user is likely to be put off if they have to fill out an 8 field form or provide any personal information such as bank details on the off. They will be equally as put off if they have to log into their emails to confirm their address to download a free brochure. People are especially impatient if they are viewing your CTAs on mobile, they are likely to be multitasking and want the process to be as quick as possible.
Design
Consider contrast.
The fonts and colours which you use have a big impact on how the user interacts with your CTA. Hubspot recently conducted a test on how different colours affect how effective the CTA is. The test determined whether different actionable colours affected the click-through rate. The results showed that a red button gained 21% more clicks than a green button, proving that colour can have a massive impact. If you want to find out more about the results you can check them out
The results showed that a red button gained 21% more clicks than a green button. Providing an argument that colour can have a massive impact. If you want to find out more about the results you can check them out here.
The likely reasons for the red button performing better than the green button are due to the vibrancy and contrast of the red against the background (making it stand out), as well as the subconscious association the user has with the colour having a strong call to action.
Think hard about your fonts and layouts.
As I mentioned in my post on “How Improving Your UX Can Optimise Conversion Rates”, users have a tendency to skim read. Make your CTAs stand out. Not only through the contrasting colour of the button, but make the text bigger or bolder. Make them jump out at the viewer as they scan down the page. Keep the content on your CTAs simple, if your call to action is buried amongst vast amounts of text it’s going to get lost. If your website, landing page or newsletter is heavily populated with content, give the CTAs room to breathe. Leaving empty space around them so that the break in the chaos helps it stand out.
Credibility
Another key thing with CTAs (especially if they aren’t embedded into your website) is trust. Make sure your marketing material is up to date and aligns with your brand. You need to make your user feel safe about clicking through. If your popover looks like something from the 90s, the user is bound to be sceptical as to whether they are clicking through to a virus or a dodgy site.
If you need help applying your brand consistently online, get in touch or read more here.
