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).

Creating an Emotional Connection with Your Customers

Any type of relationship starts with emotional intimacy. Business relationships are no exception. This is why many companies are investing in customer intimacy strategies.

Is customer intimacy just a fancier way of referring to customer engagement? Nope. Customer engagement is designed to create online and offline interaction with customers using tools such as surveys, social media activity, clickable links, interactive print, and so on. Customer intimacy is different. By definition, it is based on a relationship, not just a response or activity. By their very nature, relationships create a bond of loyalty and advocacy that, in a business environment, directly impacts the bottom line. Relationships are sticky. Thus, customer intimacy is deeper and less fickle than other measures, and it’s worth your time to figure it out.

How can you use the tools in your marketing toolbox—print, digital, mobile, and social—to deepen customer intimacy?

Enhance personalization: Whether it’s print or email, enhance your understanding of your customers with data that is relevant, current, and continually kept up to date. When communications are genuinely relevant, trust is built. Trust builds intimacy.

Customer surveys: When you ask someone’s opinion, you show that you care. It starts a two-way conversation that makes customers feel valued. Use direct mail, email, web and social media polls, and even text messaging to solicit feedback.

Monitor your Net Promoter Score (NPS): A Net Promoter Score is a single survey question that asks, on a scale of 1 to 10, how likely customers are to recommend your product, company, or service. Over time, monitoring your NPS by customer segment tells you where you are doing well and where you need some work; when customers see that you value and respond to their opinions, that creates intimacy.

Updates and “report cards”: What are your company goals this year? Communicate them to your customers and provide updates. Transparency helps customers feel more connected with you. In a B2B environment, offer annual reviews of your customers’ performance metrics, too. This is one way you can give back and deepen the relationship.

Send gifts and cards: Take note of key dates in your customer relationship, including birthdays and customer anniversaries. Sending a card or gift sends a powerful message: We care. Do this by mail, not digitally. Printed pieces create a far more significant emotional impact.

There are many other ways to create customer intimacy, so get creative. Whatever tools you use, the message should be the same: We know what you value. We care about what you value. By engaging with you about these things, we care about you. That’s a message that resonates—and sticks.