If you are considering taking your digital marketing strategy to the next level, you should consider trying content marketing. However, you need to first understand what it is and how it works. For your information, 60% of marketers create at least one piece of content every day. Also, 42% of B2B marketers attribute their success to content marketing. You can also do it. It's all about creating good content based on a proper understanding of your target audience and putting a CTA at the end.
The main objective of any marketer is to generate and convert leads. However, there is so much content on the internet. You should know that this content is growing each day. The real headache for you is how to grab the attention of your prospective customers and hold it long enough to successfully convert them into actual leads. Don't worry. The answer is mainly in CTA.
As the name suggests, you are basically calling upon your readers to do something. A Call to Action (CTA) simply describes the next step that you want your readers or audience to take. In addition, according to the Content Marketing Institute, a CTA solicits the desired action from customers or leads.
Typically, any content marketing strategy must have a CTA. How do you do this? Once the reader goes through your content, you should create a feeling of fear or urgency of missing out. Trust me, this feeling will motivate your reader to take the next step.
How does it work? You can place it anywhere within your blog post, website, email, or website. It can be a line of text or a button prompting readers to perform a specific action. On most occasions, it takes the form of a directive or instructions. It uses common action verbs, such as sign up, buy, follow, or register, among others.
If you can't strategically utilize a CTA to motivate your audience to become real customers, then you are done. You should always know that the CTA button is always the determining element between a lead and conversion.
Have you ever heard of content conversion? It starts with creating engaging growth content on certain topics that interest your target audience and ends with a conversion. However, if you skip the CTA, then don't expect any conversion.
1. Most Customers Badly Want it- Did you know that most customers expect a CTA at the end of your growth content? Yes, after reading your post, they are interested in engaging more with your brand. Thus, they will look for the CTA button to see what they should do next.
2. It's a Chance to Motivate Your Sales Funnel- There cannot be sales funnel without CTAs. As noted by HubSpot, a call to action serves as a significant transition between two phases of a buyer's journey. It is an anticipated instruction on what to do next. It prompts them to take action. Maybe you want them to subscribe or download something, contact you, or even make an order.
3. It's Good for Digital Advertising- Typically, content marketing is a major component of digital advertising. Both focus on generating hype about your products or services. Your goal is always to grab the customers' attention and encourage them to seal the deal. How can you do this without the call to action? In other words, a CTA is what emphasizes the real power of an ad copy, and without it, the message in your content is flat and useless to you.
I know you have come across the term "growth content." If written properly, you should see new traffic and higher search rankings within 30 days of publishing. Now that you have an audience, you need to convert them through CTAs. But, how do you do it?
You need to get this right. Sometimes, more CTAs don't translate to more conversion. In other times, it does. You need to understand different types of CTAs and formats that work with different blog posts.
1. Smart CTAs at the Bottom of the Post
Now that you have written your blog post, you can put your CTA at the bottom. It directs your readers to take action after they have finished reading your content. The type of CTA selected depends on your target audience.
As identified by HubSpot, you should serve content that is tailored to a specific audience. For instance, if your content targets a random website visitor, the call to action should direct them to register by filling a form, subscribing, or even visiting the brand's social media site.
If your content targets a return audience, the CTA should direct them to start a free trial, contact the company, or even make an order. In short, make sure that you have different CTAs throughout the entire conversion funnel.
2. Tweet This CTAs
You know what Twitter is, right? Once you have written a post, you can utilize a tool known as ClickToTweet. You just put a link that is known as "Tweet This" on it. When the reader clicks them, a pre-written tweet will appear promoting your brand and content.
However, this CTA doesn't work on all content. It works the best if your post contains infographics or other tidbits of knowledge that are easily sharable. Readers can click, share, and post interesting facts about your post. This gets more traffic to your blog.
3. Comment CTAs
You know what a comment is, don't you? This CTA is common at the end of a blog post. You can end your article by encouraging your readers to share your thoughts or simply leave a comment.
There are different ways of doing it. The most common one is putting something like "Comment Below" to air your views about the post. In other instances, you can ask for their views by asking a question based on the topic covered.
This CTA is an effective content marketing strategy that gets more people to engage with the post. By leaving a comment, you can rest assured that they don't just read your content and leave. As they engage, there are chances that they may wish to learn more about the product or services you are selling.
4. In-Line CTAs
The name should not scare you. This is actually one of the simplest CTA that you can use. It is a simple link within a blog post that provides your audience with more information about a certain topic. It can be put anywhere within the article and should be carefully crafted to prompt readers to click it.
It's that simple. It serves the same purpose as the call-to-action button as it directs readers to take action. However, please note that it is just a written link and not a hyperlinked button.
5. Subscribe for More Content
If you frequently read blog posts, you must have come across this CTA. You can also use it. As you ask readers to subscribe for more content, you are building a community of engaged readers. This drives significant traffic to your site. It also helps you create and maintain a database of valuable leads, customers, and potential customers.
Where do you put it? This CTA is mainly used at the end of the article. In some other cases, it pops up when one tries to cancel or close the tab. The reader makes a subscription by writing down their emails or phone numbers.
6. Sidebar CTAs
This sounds tricky, but ask yourself one question. How do you put a CTA that is not related to a blog post without putting the reader off? Okay, you can't put it at the end of the article or include it in the text. You can simply put it at the sidebar of the blog.
As the reader goes through the post, they can see it and might be tempted to click. It is visible to anyone visiting the blog and can significantly help drive company goals.
7. Connect on Social Media CTA
We all have Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts, among others. Most probably, we also have social media pages for our businesses. If this is the case, you can use this CTA.
Furthermore, this CTA uses the logic that someone who is reading your content today might be interested in your future posts. Thus, the readers are more likely to click a call to action that urges them to connect with your brand on social media. If you do this, create a call to action for each of your social media platforms.
These are seven CTA options to choose from, but how do you know the right one for your content? You need to consider several factors before determining the CTA that is best suited for your blog post. Some questions to ask yourself include:
Finally, when you're working on any piece of content for your blog, don't just leave it to chance. Make sure it's part of an overarching strategy, so it doesn't end up just being words on a page! Think through how to best entice the reader with a CTA that appeals to them. At Sproutify, we can help you get that process rolling—and help you create really amazing content as a result. Chat with Leo to learn more!"
Enter your email below and we'll send you 10 fresh design jobs, hand-picked by our team in the last 72 hours. No strings attached.
