Why the Call to Action Can Make or Break You

Whether it's a postcard, an email, or a webpage, your call to action (CTA) motivates your target audience to respond to your offer. Simple changes can often make a big difference, so testing your CTAs to see if they can be improved is essential. Let's look at three real-life examples to see why.

Case Study #1: The Power of Exclusivity

Visit Santa Barbara (VSB), an organization that promotes tourism to Santa Barbara, CA, uses influencer programs to promote this beautiful, sunny California destination. To engage influencers, VSB has typically reached out to previous participants in its program, complimenting them on the value of their partnership and inviting them to return. But could the approach be better? The marketing team decided to find out.

Instead of asking for the influencer's partnership, VSB framed the program as an exclusive team with limited opportunities to join. Influencers, VSB indicated, would participate in luxury adventures and private sailing excursions. It followed with the CTA: "Santa Barbara is searching for three influencers to embark on our biggest partnership yet!"

Visit Santa Barbara received more than 500 applications for just three spots.

Case Study #2: From Bland to Grand

When encouraging prospects to contact the company for pricing information, Funeral Funds, a company helping families pre-plan for funeral costs, used the CTA "Get Quote Now!" Studies show that consumers respond to commands rather than suggestions, which is not a bad approach. But, Funeral Funds wondered, does the CTA reflect what its prospects are looking for—the lowest rates? So Funeral Funds changed the wording to "Get The Best Rate Now." The result? A 17% increase in leads.

Case Study #3: What They Want

A software company encouraging website visitors to seek product pricing used the simple call to action: "Learn More." The CTA had a 2% click-through rate and 10% of those who viewed the pricing converted into paying customers. But "learn more" is very general. Could visitors looking for pricing interpret the CTA as "learn more about the software," and if so, not be motivated to click through? So, the company changed the wording to "View Pricing." The click-through rate rose from 2% to 5%. The conversion rate rose to 20%.

The takeaway is clear. Use the most straightforward, compelling CTA for each campaign and target audience if you want better results. If you're going to do A/B tests, use the power of digital printing to see which approach really shines.

Examples are drawn from "The Call to Action: 5 before-and-after examples of effective CTAs (with the results to prove it)" (Marketing Sherpa).