Some people estimate that as many 70% of small businesses don’t have a clear call to action – a shocking statistic, which almost certainly means that they are missing out on potential sales. A succinct and eye-catching call to action is a vital part of a business’ sales funnel – leading to better conversion rates across the board. At Indy Web Designers we want to help small and medium sized businesses compete with the big boys, providing affordable online advice that can help take your business to the next level – contact our friendly team for a free no strings attached quote and start your journey to a better website.  

What is a call to action?

A call to action (sometimes known as a CTA) is a statement that seeks to induce an immediate response from the person who reads or hears it. It is widely considered to be a crucial part of a business’ marketing strategy, because it tries to get their intended audience to do something.  However, many businesses choose to leave CTA’s off their website, because they believe they are tacky and make that business appear untrustworthy or too keen to sell something – the web equivalent of the notorious and unpopular hard sell. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth and a good call to action can really boost sales and conversion rates. At Indy Web Designers, we believe that a good call to action can really help small businesses and in the following article we will tell you some of the reasons why.

Users want a call to action

The most important reason to have a call to action on your website, is that despite many businesses believing that users don’t like them, they actually do. The reason for this is simple – they give a prospective client an easy means of showing interest in what a business or organization is offering. Internet users expect things to be easy and don’t want to have to click through loads of pages or go searching for information – they want things to be simple. If your business is offering something worthwhile, then why not show them the easiest way to buy it, register for your services or get a free estimate? A call to action is also a great way of providing prospective consumers with information about what you are offering – if you are offering a discount that lasts until Christmas, then it is perfectly legitimate to ask a user to act now or risk losing it, thus a good call to action can help you and your customers.

A good call to action is good for business 

An effective call to action has the potential to really help businesses thrive. Research suggests that 90% of users who read the headline of a website, will also read a well-placed call to action[i]. While, Facebook advertising has been shown to generate 2.85x more clicks, when a call to action is used[ii]. This is also borne out by the conversion rates of businesses that have a call to action, with research from ‘Toast’, suggesting that a single call to action at the bottom of an email could ‘Increase Clicks by 371% and Sales by 1617%’[iii]. 

An important tool for high-value sellers

Many businesses who sell high-value products fail to include a call to action within their marketing material – be it online or via email, because they feel that customers are unlikely to make an expensive purchase due to a small piece of text. However, this assumption is incorrect in the vast majority of cases and a good call to action has the potential to really boost sales. This is because a good call to action forms as vital part of the sales funnel – allowing high-value sellers to provide a small service, such as a ‘free evaluation’ that will eventually lead to a sale. This is confirmed by the statistics – with luxury shops like ‘Helzberg Diamonds’ seeing a 26% rise in sales when they added a call to action to their website[iv].

Active vs Passive memory 

Numerous studies suggest that actively doing something is far more likely to lead to short-term memory acquisition, when compared to passively following. This is regularly used by educational experts who seek to actively involve learners in educational activities, rather than have them passively learn or repeat facts[v]. It is fairly logical to suppose that the same is true of most actions and thus prospective customers who actively engage with marketing material are more likely to remember it than those who simply passively read it. 

Market to the right people

The digital revolution has dramatically changed the way that businesses market their products and most now seek to target very specific groups of people. To do this successfully, you need to know as much about your customer as possible – allowing you to market your product to those who are most likely to purchase it. A well-designed call to action can really help you learn about your customers, by persuading them to sign up to a newsletter or ask for a free evaluation.

A call to action for a call to action 

A good call to action is a vital part of any website and can really help boost sales, donations and pretty much everything else. At Indy Web Designers we help you design eye-catching, succinct and attractive call to actions, which have the potential to really take your website to the next level. Contact a member of our friendly team, for some no strings attached advice on how we can help you.

[i] https://unbounce.com/landing-pages/threats-to-your-conversion-rate/

[ii] http://blog.adroll.com/content/cta-infographic.png   

[iii] https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2015/06/10/digital-marketing-stats

[iv] https://www.protocol80.com/blog/16-kick-ass-call-to-action-statistics-that-prove-ctas-are-essential   

[v] CARL A. BENWARE and EDWARD L. DECI ‘Quality of Learning with an Active Versus Passive Motivational Set’ American Educational Research Journal Winter 1984, Vol 21, No. 4, Pp. 755-7