How to Spot & Avoid These 5 Conversion-Killing Mistakes in Your Call to Action

It’s frustrating isn’t it?

You’ve seen countless credible stories and stats that businesses with sound content marketing and advertising strategies get more leads and sales. Still, you have not joined those ranks.

And you’re wondering why all that hard work has not panned-out and how to fix it. That’s the bad news. The good news is it can be fixed.

Your content has to be in order – high quality, relevant and (above all) useful to your audience.

Countless split-testing case studies show how powerful and important the call to action is for those killer conversions most dream about. Average copy can still convert wildly with a well-crafted call to action based on what’s known to work.

There are many mistakes made with the call to action. Today you will see how to avoid some of them so you can enjoy the fruits of your hard labor.

Mistake #1 – Ask and you shall receive. Do you have a call to action?

Believe it or not, I still see business sites that have no call to action. Maybe those businesses simply don’t know about the call to action, think it’s not important, think it’s spammy or cheap – or what.

The effectiveness of the call to action was hands-down proven to be highly effective decades before the internet was even conceived. It’s based on human nature and the need for most people to be told what to do next.

Mistake #2 – Avoid making readers (skimmers) think too much. The best way to do that is giving them specific instructions. Early 2000s usability research showed a high percentage of online readers skim and scan.

Yet, at this point testing should be done. “Click Here” can still be used. But you should test with other calls to action: Download Free Report, Click Here for Free Video, etc.

Mistake #3 – What’s in it for me? Failing to give benefits for the opt-in or other desired action such as calling for a free consultation.

What do you think will motivate your readers?

“Enter your best email address” or “Subscribe to our newsletter” alone hardly inspires. You don’t have to write lengthy copy to tell people what they stand to gain and benefit from your newsletter or free consultation.

Mistake #4 – Poor contrast with your call to action means it blends in with the background and missed. This one is another area where tons of split testing has proved that high contrast calls to action produce higher conversions.

Examine your graphic button and call to action text colors for high contrast. You’ll want to avoid colors that are garish as that will be too much and have a negative effect. This is where simple A/B split testing will help and definitively show what works best.

Mistake #5 – No social proof of any kind for your most desired action; email opt-ins, etc. You know the supreme value of social proof and why it works so well. People will be far more likely to subscribe if they see others have done so.

Do you have any kind of social proof for your newsletter?

Avoid making the mistake of devoting too little time to your calls to action. The call to action is an entire sub-niche of marketing and advertising. There’s no need to build Rome in a day. Yet, you can begin by implementing the tips discussed here today. And continue with your own research and testing.

Do your business emails inspire responsiveness and engagement?

Tags: benefits for optin, call to action, conversion mistakes