How about that alliteration in the subject line? Chatgpt helped me with that hehe - I’m so excited about it 😆 Anyway!

Happy New Month, July 😱 and Happy Monday! Are we on fast-forward coz how the hell are we in July?!

Personally I’m glad June is over because what a dark dark month that was! I hope July will bring new possibilities, hope, and light. I also hope you are doing well and are ready to get back into the groove of things!

Today I thought we could refresh ourselves on CTAs because they are super crucial in all our marketing. My hope is that after this we can get inspired to improve our CTAs or to even have one if you just realized that you don’t even have one…

Ok to the basics,

what is a CTA?

It’s a call-to-action period.

It’s the thing you tell your audience to do after you have presented your business to them. Ok so you have pretty flowers from a nice organic farm - so what?

So, I want you to buy them and have a pretty home - that’s what!

CTAs are important because people are dumb - jk! people are busy and you really need to just get to the point about what you want them to do now that you are in their face. CTAs help guide user behaviour which in turn drives conversions for you. You have to tell your audience what you want them to do - don’t assume they know what you want. Do you want them to subscribe to your channel? buy your product? or share your product with their friends?

Ok, so where do you use CTAs?

All the places where you interface with customers. This could be on your website, social media, emails, and even offline platforms like billboards, flyers, etc.

Your CTA will need to be tailored to the platform you are using and there are different tactics and tips to use depending on the platform but that’s another newsletter - if you are interested let me know and I’ll break it down further but for purposes of maintaining your attention (and quite frankly mine) I’ll keep it high level.

Cool, what is a compelling CTA?

It needs to:

Be clear and concise:

Keep it short and direct.

Avoid unnecessary words or jargon that might confuse the user. Ideally, aim for no more than 5-7 words to maintain clarity.

Use words that create urgency, such as "Limited Time Offer," "Act Now," or "Only X Days Left." This can motivate users to click on your CTA without delay.

Regardless of your medium or platform, make your CTA stand out visually. Use contrasting colors, bold fonts, or buttons to make your CTA visually distinct from the rest of the content to help draw attention and encourage clicks.

Make sure your purpose is clear. Users should instantly understand what will happen when they click on your CTA. Avoid vague or ambiguous language that might confuse them about the next steps.

Position your CTA where it's most likely to be seen and where it makes sense in the context of the content, medium, or platform

Support your CTA with clear next steps.

After the user clicks on your CTA, make sure the next steps are clear and intuitive. Guide them smoothly through the conversion process to minimize drop-offs.

Have strong action words:

Start your CTA with a strong action verb that clearly indicates what action the user should take. Example "Buy Now," "Install App," "Subscribe Today," etc.

Offer a value proposition:

On top of using action words, include the benefits of them taking said action. i.e. instead of "Sign Up" highlight the primary benefit or outcome they will gain by clicking “Signing up”. For example, "Sign Up to Receive Exclusive Tips"

You can also identify common challenges or pain points your audience faces and emphasize how clicking the CTA will help solve these issues. Use language that resonates emotionally with your target audience.

If possible, quantify the benefits the audience can expect from taking action. For instance, "Install the app and get 30% discount" or "Save 2 Hours Every Week."Another way is to use language that makes the user feel like they are accessing something special or exclusive by clicking the CTA. For example, "Join our VIP Club" or "Limited-time Offer for Subscribers Only.”

Incorporate elements such as testimonials, reviews, or ratings near your CTA to reassure users of the value others have experienced. Phrases like "Join Over 10,000 Satisfied Customers" reinforce trust and credibility.

If applicable, mention any incentives or rewards users will receive for taking action. Whether it's a discount, free trial, or bonus something, clearly state the added value users will get.

Choose words that evoke emotions and create a sense of motivation or excitement. For example, "Transform Your Business Today" or "Start Your Journey to Success Now.”

Lastly, you can take the personalization angle - understand your audience's motivations and interests, and craft CTAs that align with their specific needs and preferences. Personalization can enhance perceived value.

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As you know, with everything in marketing you have to test to find which CTA resonates the best with your audience. More often than not you will have multiple ideas on CTAs to use. For example, should you go for the quantifiable value option, the pain points, or the emotional play option?

To figure this out, you have to identify the metrics that will show you whether your CTA was successful or not.

Some metrics to look at:

1. Click-throughs: How many clicks is your CTA getting - this metric is available on platforms that allow links or buttons so this wouldn’t apply on a flyer for example.
2. Page views: If the button or link takes users to a page -you can check how many people viewed your page. This metric can be more valuable than just click-throughs because people can click by mistake or this can also tell you the quality of the clicks which in turn can tell you how good your CTA is. If your CTA wants people to watch a video but you see 1k clicks but only 200 video views then it means the CTA isn’t landing because even if they are clicking they aren’t staying long enough to take the action. I think this is an important point to make especially when it comes to paid ads. A lot of the time you can get a lot of clicks because Zuckerberg just wants to get paid but it’s up to you to check that those clicks are quality clicks by looking at other metrics
3. Conversions: Whatever your conversion metric is, i.e. sales, subscribers - tracking that number is important especially if you can attribute it to the specific CTA that way you can tell clearly which CTA works. This is a hard and technical thing to implement but there are simpler, more rudimentary ways to attribute such as testing one CTA at one given time frame i.e. a week, and testing another in a different week and comparing metrics from the two weeks. (More on testing and attribution in another newsletter).

The topic of CTAs is extensive and I can talk more about it if you want me to - just let me know! But for now, please check on your CTAs - have you implemented them? Are they compelling? How are they performing?

Adios!

My favorite things this week:

Podcast: I have been researching growing my audience on LinkedIn and I came across this podcast that had some interesting insights, especially for founders

Book: Me I am nosy so I bought Cece’s memoir - if you live in Nairobi you know Cece and if you don’t know her check out her out here - she is cool peeps.

P.S: Great satisfaction comes from sharing with others 💜

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