Call to action points or CTA’s as they are know, are without doubt the most important way in converting visitors (traffic) into live customers. Recently we were really shocked to learn that over 70% of websites globally still don’t have any form for CTA on them.
Without them your visitors do not have any idea where to go next, what to do or what their next steps are and this can put a lot of customers off, after all if you don’t ask them to ‘get in touch’, ‘Download a PDF’ or ‘Sign up for a newsletter’ then they wont. It’s that simple, or is it?
The problem with CTA’s is that even if they are on a website, many of them simply don’t work and users are getting fed up with generic, boring CTA’s that don’t personally speak to them or engage with them in any way.
In this article, we will look at 4 examples of the best CTAs and how these could drive more sales from our website.
1. Persistent header CTA
Persistent header CTAs are really simple but highly effective and you will have seen thousands of these whilst browsing the internet im sure. If you are not familiar with them these are usually a bar that sticks to the top of the website and follows the user down the page as they scroll down.
These are usually really subtle and do not take up a lot of space on the page and always offer the user the option to hit the ‘X’ button to close it should they wish it to stop being displayed which is good practice on all CTA’s such as this. The message on the Persistent Header may say something such as ‘ Would you like a free Brochure? YES – NO’ which points the user to a page with a downloadable brochure or for them to enter their contact details (data capture) and request a printed version.
I did say it was simple. Even if this just leads to an additional 5 brochure requests a week thats 20 a month and 240 over the year. If a business can convert just 20% of these leads well thats 48 new customers that you wouldn’t have possibly had leading to a dramatic increase in probability. See simple CTA’s can and do really work if done properly.
2. Exit-intent popups
Exit What? Exit Intent Pop Ups, these are a traditional type of pop un which again im sure you will have seen over the years but they do have a special purpose to them. Regular pop ups still do have their place but they can be annoying also. In truth however, even if you don’t want to admit it, a large proportion of your website visitors will leave your website after just 7 seconds of visiting it. Exit Intent Pop ups can however help snag the leaving users contact details just before they leave with a tempting offer.
This form of pop up appears just as the customer is about to leave and is triggered when the mouse curser starts to move towards the browser ‘back button’ or the ‘ X’ on the tab in their browser, clever.
This should have a really compelling image or even better a short video clip followed with a message they can’t refuse and a sign up form. For example as the user is moving towards the top right or top left of their screen in a quick mouse movement a pop up appears saying ‘Before you go, don’t be left out of the loop, keep up to date for our flash sales – Enter your email here’
As mentioned above Pop Ups are not for everyone but using the same example above if you can just snag 1 extra client per week the profit at the end of the year will reflect this so its really worth doing. These really do a great job of converting at the last second.
3. No-risk CTAs
One of the best ways to drive interest in your product or service is by offering no risk, free trials as apposed to a direct hard sell. Most of your website traffic won’t convert on their first visit especially if they are shopping around before buying. A No Risk CTA helps convert the user by emphasising the point that ‘they have nothing to loose’
These days people want to use, try or not be tied into anything, they may have also been mis sold products or services in the past and are weary of signing up to things online. However if you offer things such as ‘Free Trial’ ‘No Credit Card Needed’ ‘Free Demo’ ‘No tie-Ins’ ‘Cancel at any Time’ etc. These are all key points that get displayed on No risk CTA points reassuring the user into giving it a try and it works.
This way, if your service, software or guidance does prove to be beneficial or time saving to the new sign up then you instantly win a new customer. By being fully transparent like this it reassures the client and helps build up trust leading hopefully to a long term customer who will use and recommend your services for years to come. People love to experience things before they buy.
There are many ways of promoting this form of CTA such as the regular pop up as mentioned above, on dedicated pages on your website, a big button on the top right of your website saying ‘FREE TRIAL’ or simply by placing your own banner adverts throughout your website.
4. Live Chat
Last in our list os our favourite and most recommended CTA, Live chat. Live Chat is nothing new but boy does it convert sales. Long gone has the day where people used to be have to sat at a desk all day waiting to reply to an inbound message and now it all comes through via a mobile app and replying is as easy as sending a text from your phone.
Users of your website may have what seems to them as a ‘silly question’ and would always be reluctant to call, email or write to you with this where a quick live chat message is painless and quick. This in turn usually always leads to a new sale. It could be somebody wants to know if you can ship abroad, or they may want to know if you charge VAT or not. By answering these questions not only gives great customer services it also makes the customer feel reassured that there is someone behind the website should there be a problem with their order.
There are a few downsides to Live Chat however if not done correctly. The main one is having it installed and then not using it, this will only frustrate your potential clients and we recommend it gets monitored during normal working hours. After all it can be done form your phone and dosnt interrupt your normal working day with it being so easy to use. This is one of the biggest complaints on the web so make sure you are available for your customers. The other big mistake we see is BOTS being used and automated replies, these do have their place if the demand on the live chat system is high but generally if you can reply on a personal note its always better. If you still don’t have time to monitor a I’ve chat system but realise the importance then there is companies out there that we can introduce you too that offer virtual website support. I.e. they answer all your live chat messages and pass the contact details over to the website owner or help the user find what they are looking for which may require you training them a little on what you offer. So there really is no excuse.
Most live chat systems also have lots of analytics behind them so you can record conversations, see who regularly uses the system, see the most asked questions historically (you may then want to tweak your website to minimise this) plus lots more.
Summary:
As you can see there are many different ways to help convert users into sales with clever CTA’s and it may be worth you grabbing a coffee and looking over your website to see how these can be implemented in to your business.
Now here comes our CTA, if you wish to discuss any of the points above or would like us to help you with these then please do get in touch by calling us on 01772 687218 or drop us an email to hello@nmcreative.co.uk
