12 CTA Optimisation Mistakes That Are Losing You Leads
As a business, you want more leads, conversions, and subscribers to have more sales since these translate to a Better ROI.
Getting more leads is no walk in the park, and you need to have a well-thought-out marketing strategy.
Call to action (CTA) is a marketing tool in your digital arsenal you can leverage to convert your leads to customers.
So, what is a CTA? It is a prompt that guides users and gives them clear instructions on what to do next. For example, if you want your clients to call you, you can have a direct call widget on the contact us section.
Sounds quite simple right?
Wrong! CTA can make or break your business.
To fully maximise this potential, you will need to optimise them well and avoid the common mistakes made by others.
To help you avoid making them, we have outlined the top CTA optimisation mistakes that could make you lose leads!
1 – Your business content is the lacklustre type
You need to have content that is convincing enough for your readers. Provide necessary information that is straight to the point and tell them what value they get from your product or services.
Well-structured informative content entices users to click on your CTA. Ensure that you make a compelling case to gain users’ trust, and they will go for that action.
Developing your business writing skills helps you have the right content for your landing page. That is critical if you are to keep your readers engaged and eventually convert to sales.
You, however, don’t have to come up with this content yourself if you can’t since you could hire an expert to do it for you.
2 – Your CTA is misplaced on your website and not mobile-friendly
We live in a digital world where almost everything happens online.
Having a business website is a significant step, but it doesn’t stop there. You need to have a well-designed website that is mobile-friendly too.
Building a website nowadays is not rocket science. Many website builders exist in the market, such as box mode, making it easy for you to place your CTA in the correct positions where customers can’t miss it.
Where should you place your CTAs?
First, place them where they are easily visible to your users and grab their attention. Fun fact: a study by vwo.com indicates that well-optimised CTA buttons increase conversion by 62%!
The next crucial factor is ensuring that your website and CTA optimisation is mobile-friendly.
What does this mean? In simple terms, they should be visible on any mobile or tablet device. Having a mobile responsive website means that your CTAs perfectly fit the screen when viewed on mobile phones.
It would be best if you had CTAs that are short and well-spaced. Why is this necessary? 70% of web traffic comes from mobile devices, and they expect to have a flawless experience.
3 – You are misleading your leads
From the word itself, you can tell that a CTA needs to be specific. Your CTA should go to the page or product that is tied to the action.
If you drive your leads to “try for free,” they need to be directed to the subscription page and not elsewhere like the product page or pricing.
Pointing your leads in the right direction keeps them engaged with your content, product, or service and makes them come back for more. However, understanding all of your audience is not a walk in the park.
To make it easier for your audience to understand, you need to use some of the available tools that help you communicate with your audience. A great example of such a tool is using live chat plugins.
Communication is key to understanding and leading your leads in the right direction. Live chat plugins help you have instant communication and provide immediate feedback to your clients greatly appreciated.
Live chat plugins help to increase conversions as you get to answer questions potential leads have.
4 – You are overselling
As a business, it is tempting to oversell your product or services. That is a dangerous path, and you should avoid the trap of overselling.
Overselling is when you promise to deliver more than what is needed, and failing to deliver turns your customers off.
Overselling is an indicator that you don’t put the customers first. You miss out on the rule that the customer is always right.
It shows that your main focus is on your products instead of the customers. The customers’ needs should come first since they are the key drivers of growth and their opinions are the most important.
To avoid the overselling trap, you can invest in research or have an entire R&D department understand your clients. After understanding your target group and leads, it will be much easier to offer value.
Therefore, whenever you are selling your products and services to a potential customer, it is best to focus on how it will help the customer. The customer needs to see that you aren’t only in it, only for the money.
5 – You are using generic words in your CTA
You need a compelling CTA! Words have the power to motivate people to take action. Your end goal is to make your leads interact with content based on your CTA.
Their decision will be based on the type of words you choose.
There are many words to choose from, but you need not follow the flock.
Avoid using generic words like “click here,” “submit,” “like,” or “complete.” Use exciting words that entice like, “try for free,” “get started,” “new,” “join us.”
It is also important to remember the need for trigger words in your CTA. The better the trigger words, the higher the rates of customer conversion.
The wrong words in your CTA optimisation plan could lead to an ineffective marketing strategy, and you don’t want that.
6 – You are not optimising your CTA for SEO
Search engine optimisation is essential for ranking your website to gain more traffic.
Using the correct keywords makes a huge difference in building traffic and understanding your customers’ key searches. Moreover, it will ensure that whatever you have on your landing page gets to as many potential customers as possible.
CTA optimisation is a great way to add relevant keywords to your website for SEO.
Optimising your CTA with the right keyword convinces your leads that you know what they are looking for.
You will need to approach an expert to help you out with the right optimisation strategies for you to get it right.
7 – You are using the same CTA repeatedly
It would be best if you had different CTAs for different audiences. You have other target groups who are attracted to various features and offers.
Older people may be willing to “subscribe now” to a paid service compared to teens who might want to “Try for free.”
Having different CTAs that target specific audiences helps keep your CTA relevant over time and attract new leads and referrals from your customers.
8 – You are not running tests on your CTAs
Numbers don’t lie, and that’s reasons enough to be on your toes and analyse your CTA performance. But how?
By running tests from time to time, one great way is by doing the a/b test, also known as split testing.
In simple terms, a/b testing is comparing how your different CTAs perform. You test the user’s response to your CTA, which helps you know what is effective and what is not.
Testing CTAs will also enable you to see the actions your viewers took. Such actions include how many times your CTA was clicked, viewed, and submissions or conversions over some time.
A/b testing helps you improve the user experience, understand your visitors and customers better, and improve conversions.
9 – Your CTA doesn’t convey urgency
Going hand in hand with using the right words in your CTA needs to be as urgent as possible. You need to pass the message that the customer could lose out on a good deal if they dilly dally.
Humans are always looking out for a good deal, and adding a tone of urgency to your CTA will tap into this.
Take the classic example of a limited-sales edition product that could run out fast because too many people are chasing it.
That’s why you have to find a way to add as much urgency to your CTA as possible. Urgency in your CTA will drive up interactions and give you a better chance of converting viable leads into customers.
While focusing on the urgency of your message, you shouldn’t run the risk of sounding too wordy.
10 – You aren’t Trying out Free Trials in your CTA
While it is understandable not to give free trials due to the different dynamics affecting the business, free trials could improve your conversion rates. Let’s face it; many people love free trials.
Providing free trials shows your service to potential clients and gives you a chance to impress your leads. That will lead to higher lead conversion rates.
If people like what they saw in the trial, who’s to say they won’t prefer you to your competitors?
You will, however, need to be as prudent as possible when crafting a free trial CTA to avoid it backfiring on you.
Gear yourself to pull out all stops to impress the potential customer as practically possible to ensure you have a higher chance of retaining them once the trial ends.
If you are dealing with software products or services, exploiting free trials’ viability could be just what you need. That could help you to increase the number of leads that turn into loyal customers.
11 – You are using too many CTAs on your page
Nothing screams desperation like having multiple CTAs on your page. This could not only confuse your leads but could also drive them away. The main reason you have a CTA is to elicit a response that will lead to the reader performing a single action.
Therefore, having too many CTAs on your page defeats this purpose. You are supposed to focus on one thing that is the primary goal of the page.
If, for instance, you are selling eBooks, you shouldn’t have CTAs telling leads to watch a video, follow you on social media, or subscribe to your blog.
Less is more in some circumstances, and this is one of those circumstances. However, you can include several CTAs on a page if they all lead to the same conversion goal. That means they should be related in some way.
Let’s go back to the eBooks example. You could have a CTA “Download the book” and then put another one along the lines of “Get It Now” next to a picture of the eBook. The two CTAs, though different, have the same goal in mind.
12 – Putting Money Before Value
The fact that a person is on your page means they are somehow interested in what you have to offer. Therefore, asking for money before showing them what value you have to offer is in bad taste.
It would help if you had your CTA convey some value. That means you tell the customer what they could gain from you and why they should partner with you. You need to set grounds for a conversation first.
Heading straight to the money part might appear direct, but it is self-defeating, and you shouldn’t try it. You could try going the discount route or even a free offer that doesn’t compromise your strategy.
That will set the tone for a conversation, and you will engage with the lead and maybe convert them in the end.
Final Words on CTA Optimisation
You are now aware of some of the CTA Optimisation mistakes that are making you lose leads. To recap the above, here is a summary of what you need to optimise.
- Have engaging content that is relevant and informative
- Have a beautiful well-structured website, hire an agency if necessary
- Have CTAs that are specific
- Don’t oversell. Provide value
- Use magic and enticing words in your CTA
- Remember to optimise your CTAs for SEO
- Use different CTAs for different audiences
- Analyse your CTAs to see performance
- Don’t overwhelm the lead with too many CTAs
- Don’t put money First
- Leverage free trials
- Communicate urgency in your CTA
All the above will help to increase the chances of you converting leads. Ultimately you have to remember that the customer is king and that whatever you do should be geared towards providing them with value.
Otherwise, you might find that your CTA isn’t getting you as many leads as you would have wanted.
Author Bio: Dennis Vu is the CEO and Co-founder of Ringblaze, a virtual business phone system company that helps teams to serve their customers better, anywhere.
