Lead Generation and using a Call To Action
When you think about sales, it’s likely that you think about lead generation. Lead generation is the initiation of consumer interest or enquiry into your product or service, with the main purpose being the development of a sales pipeline.
Lead Generation – Sources for Small Business
For most businesses, leads can come from a whole host of sources, including various advertising activities, websites, blogging, business directories, pay per click advertising, social media, email marketing, word of mouth referrals, content marketing, trade events and many other avenues.
What is a Call-To-Action (CTA) and why should I care?
A Call To Action is a button, text or image that attracts the interest of a prospective customer. The Call-To-Action guides the prospect to take some form of action. For Example: “Book Now” “Register for your free guide.” “Call Today”.
The Call To Action might prompt a visitor to place an order, register for a webinar, subscribe to a newsletter or get a free quote. The aim of the CTA is to get the customer to part with their contact details so that you can collect these details and communicate with them at later point in time.
Consider including an offer in your Call To Action to generate interest. For example. “Register here to get your free business health check.” might be a good Call To Action to use on your website’s homepage if you run a Financial services business.
Why are CTA’s important?
A CTA helps a business to attract leads. Hence a Call To Action is a key driver for lead generation because it couples together some key factors that are necessary in the lead generation process.
Incoming traffic & the chance to convert this traffic into a lead, with the longer term objective being to convert it into a sale as it moves down the sales pipeline.
Where should I use a CTA?
CTA’s can be used in a variety of places. Think about your marketing materials. Some places to consider using them include:
- Your home page
- Services page of your website
- Contact page of your website
- Any other relevant page of your website
- On your blog
- Email Marketing Campaigns
- Enewsletters
- Videos
- Email Signatures
- Social Media posts
- Print Advertising
- Google Adwords
For example you could include a CTA in your email marketing campaigns for:
- People to subscribe to your blog,
- Watch a video or listen to a podcast,
- Register for an event or workshop,
- Request a product demo,
- Visit your website or e-shop.
- Register for a webinar,
- Download marketing content,
- Request a quote.
An example of a Call to Action could be something like: Download a growing your business template here. Or Sign up for our 10% off introductory offer.
What makes a good call to action?
A good CTA is simple to understand, gives you a good reason to subscribe or share your contact details, uses complimentary colours that stand out and is well positioned on a webpage. Here’s an example to give you an idea of how one can be structured.
Furthermore, some of the key features to keep in mind to ensure you create good Call’s To Action include:
Colour
Use colour to attract attention. The CTA button or text should not blend in with the background, it should stand out and pop, so that people notice it and take action.
Size
Don’t make your CTA too small. Ensure that it is easy to see and noticeable. Therefore the key is making it large enough for people to pay attention to it and click it.
Content
Including an offer or something of value is important. For example; Get your free tax guide here. Link your offer and CTA to the content that is on the webpage so it all hangs together well.
Highly Visible
Most of all, place the CTA in a location that is easy to see.
Finally test your CTA’s you might find that one offer or a certain colour of a button or text works better than another, test and refine to get the best results.