Does your copy include a strong call to action? Or do you leave them thinking ‘That was nice…’ or ‘I wonder what that was all about?’ Worst of all, maybe they don’t even get past the first few lines before you lose them. Every website needs to have a call to action, in essence a reaction you want your users to complete. But how do you encourage your user to respond? And what classes as an effective call to action? Those questions you have will be answered as you start to implement the five following factors which can improve your copy to no end and have your customers flocking to take action.
A call to action is an experience that often occurs over an extended period of time and involves multiple visits to a website. Users don’t often go from zero to completing a call to action within one simple step. Take for example a call back request for a flood risk assessment which is a journey involving:
As a consequence of this broad journey, it may well be necessary to present the user with different calls to action depending on where they are in the journey. For example, whilst the user is researching different engineering firms that carry out flood risk assessments, you may wish to encourage them to register for your newsletter in order to ensure that they keep your firm fresh in their memory. Similarly, once a user is ready to request a consultation you will want to ensure that the process is compelling and clear.
How then can you create persuasive calls to action for your engineering business that encourages conversion? That is where our guide is here to assist you. Outlined below are the critical factors that influence the effectiveness of your calls to action.
Sometimes it comes down to the simple fact that if you don’t ask you don’t get… If you think your readers are going to simply ‘get the hint’ and sign up, or put through a quote request for your engineering services, you may be right in one or two exceptional cases. But generally in the busy hustle and bustle of everyday life, your potential customers need to hear your request loud and clear.
Not only must you ask, but you must make it extremely clear as to what the action is you’d like them to take. Did you know that 55% of all pageviews get less than 15 seconds of attention? This demonstrates that users tend not to read online, instead they will scan the copy of website pages looking for key phrases that answer whatever questions they have. To support clarity in your copy, you should introduce features that aid scanability. Make use of headings and sub-headings as this will break up large blocks of texts and allow the user to quickly access the copy that is most relevant to them. For instance, if you are trying to promote a piece of engineering software you’ve recently launched, you could consider breaking up the About Page into the following sub-headings:
– Overview
– Key Benefits
– Who is the Software for?
Be specific about what you want them to do. It’s best if you ask for only one thing at a time. They say the less you ask a person to do, the more likely they are to do it. In other words, if all you ask for is the email address, you may well get it, but if you want an email plus several other things, your reader may keep scrolling because it just feels like too much to do all at once. According to Neil Patel, every additional field is a barrier for them change their mind.
How to clean up the opt-ins attached to your calls to actions:
Only ask for essential data. You can always collect more data as time progresses, but if you want to increase your conversions, then reduce the amount of data you require.
Make some fields optional. If you’d still like to try and gather more information from your leads, then simply invite them to share data with you, and mark those fields as optional.
Keep in mind: The more you ask from your leads and users, the less likely they are to convert.
There’s a fine balance between sounding professional or efficient, and coming across like a robot. Don’t lose that personal touch – always remember that after all, your potential customer is a flesh and blood human being just like you. So put some heart and soul into your writing and connect with your readers in a personal way that will make a lasting impression.
Whatever your call to action is, it will likely involve a certain level of trust on the part of users. They need to be able to trust that you will deliver on whatever it is you have promised. Trust you with their data and trust that you will respect the boundaries of your relationship.
So, how do you perfectly craft your copy so that it seems personable and trustworthy at the same time? It’s all about the tone of voice. When you are so focused on pushing the conversion, the text can come across as impersonal and manipulative. This leads us in nicely to our next suggestion, adding a sense of urgency into your copy.
How can you add a sense of urgency to your copy, whilst keeping that trustworthy human tone of voice? Yes, your customers need to get the message that you can’t wait forever for them to decide. So you should definitely use a few decisive words and phrases like ‘don’t delay’, ‘call today’, ‘hurry in today’ or ‘click here now.’ You might also like to make some special offers ‘for a limited time only’, or ‘while stocks last’. This way your customers will know that they need to take action sooner rather than later. However, if used unsubtly, they can undermine the trustworthiness of the site and, as a consequence, calls to action.
Pairing compelling copy with a human tone of voice can be challenging and comes from practise, and trial and error. However, you should opt to write in a personal, open, yet matter of fact tone of voice whilst subtly incorporating in the decisive phrases such as ‘don’t delay’.
Once you’ve got your customer ready to take an active step, don’t let them struggle with the basic logistics. Make it simple and user friendly for them: if you want a customer to come in to your shop, include a map or GPS co-ordinates; if they must fill in a form, keep it as uncluttered as possible; and if they are going to make a payment, let them pay by whatever means they prefer within reason, whether it is PayPal or credit cards.
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