What is a call to action?

In web design, a Call to Action (CTA) is a banner, button, or some type of graphic or text on a website meant to prompt a user to click it and continue down a conversion funnel. It is an essential part of inbound marketing, as well as permission marketing, in that it actively strives to convert a user into a lead and later into a customer. The main goal of a CTA is a click. If your site makes your facility look enticing, the next step is to get a commitment.

The biggest mistake people make on their web pages is the lack of a defined call to action. A web page can look pretty, say great things about your services, but without a well-defined call to action, you will not accomplish the goal: Grab That Customer!

Many depend on a Contact Us page, and hope the potential customer will call. But if they are at work, or it’s 11:30 at night, they may just have to wait and try to call you later. And maybe later, they will forget which place it was, or accidentally call and book with your competition!

You want to get that customer off the market, and commit to your facility right then and there. Giving them the ability to book on the spot will do that. Remember, they do instant bookings for dinner reservations, airline tickets, rental cars, hotels, massages, doctor appointments, etc. Why not for your facility?

Hard or Soft Sell CTA?

Remember that a Call to Action does not have to be a command like Book Now or Reserve Today. While those are very effective, it can be intimidating to people if they are not ready to pull the trigger. It may also be advantageous to have a soft sell CTA as well. Great examples are “Learn More” or “Check Availability.”

With this goal in mind, we located the email to the second page of the registration process. If you run a “Check Availability” button, it asks how many people, then will show them your calendars. That lets the customer ease into the booking process without having to commit in their mind yet.

“Well, maybe I’ll just see what’s available… Oh! I can get in Saturday at 2…”

We have put both types of CTAs on our web page at GatSplat and set it up with referral links so we can track how many clicked on one versus the other, and the soft sell is winning 58% to 42%. So, not overwhelming results one way or the other, but it does show that some people are more inclined to click one button than the other, so why not offer both!

Put a defined call to action, or two, on your page and increase your bottom line dramatically.