The basics and definition

Marketing is a business concept completely driven by the needs of the consumer. Its whole purpose is to analyse and define the needs of the consumer in order to try and satisfy those needs in a superior way than the competition does. Doing business in such a way, if you are successful, will lead to a high level of satisfaction, trust, and loyalty from a customer which will result in a long-term relationship that leads to profitability in the long run and continual consumer satisfaction. However, marketing is not only the prerogative of large companies but it is also extremely important to small/local companies. To achieve this, as a company, we need to:

• analyse and define the market and its needs
• segment it and choose the right target market
• adapt the 4P elements to suit market needs
• analyse the satisfaction of customers and adapt accordingly

An adequate marketing strategy cannot be created without full knowledge of the market and its needs. The market is also a collection of different customer preferences and desires and a successful company needs to identify the group of customers (target market) that it can try to satisfy through its marketing activities. So, the marketing concept requires extensive market research, data analysis and rational market segmentation that must lead to the creation of an offer tailor-made for the target market. This offer comprises of 4 basic elements that we call marketing mix.

The elements of the marketing mix

Elements of the Marketing mix are the core offer of a company to the customer/consumer on the market. These four elements (4Ps) are combined, moulded and adapted to each market segment to suit the customer and their needs to the highest possible degree.

Product (service) is the core value we provide, the offer to the customer. It can be a service or a physical object that has certain characteristics that satisfy a consumer need. The product is not static, it is always a subject of development and change aimed at its adaptation to the changing needs of the market.

Price is the amount of money paid for the product. The price should be linked and determined by the value of the product but it is also influenced by the market (competitors’ prices), costs, expenses, and discounts.

Placement represents the distribution network of our product. These networks today encompass social networks and digital markets as well as traditional networks (small and large market store chains)

Promotion is PR, advertising, and the complete promotional strategy of the company. It ties in and balances all other elements to create and present and offer tailor-made for the target market.

Marketing is digital

The whole world and all of our customers are digitalising their life and the way they are doing business. Habits and the way of communicating are changing. Internet, Web sites, social networks, blogs, influencers, etc. have all made it very easy to communicate with a customer and also made communication a two-way street. Traditional ways of communicating do not appeal to customers anymore. Consumers tend to react and respond to the Brands they can communicate with directly, passive marketing based on billboards and flyers does not allow that. Using digital marketing made it possible for companies to communicate with the market and monitor its response at the same time, which allowed them to adapt to the observed trends of the markets. It also allowed them to try, to a certain degree, to create, control and lead trends on the market.

Social networks, in particular, have allowed companies to efficiently use digital marketing to raise brand awareness, promote new content, products, and services, develop trust with consumers, maintain an existing client base and expand it, and also to research, analyse, and monitor the markets to adapt to its needs even better.

When we consider that digital marketing can be up to 60% cheaper and up to 3 times more efficient than traditional marketing, it is clear why digital marketing is developing fast.

Website basics

The web site has been a starting point for digital marketing development and has so far proven to be the basic content source when building brand awareness. It is the starting point of every brand in the digital world. Combined with Google Analytics, AdWords, etc it is the basic digital marketing element today. These tools allow companies to track, monitor, and analyse consumer interest when visiting a web site, check who the buyers are and why visitors left without buying. In this way, they are a source of information for changing, correcting and innovating marketing strategies and tactics in the digital world.

Social media

Today, social media is the most powerful platform for building marketing campaigns and creating and developing brands. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn with their following count in the billions, represent an endless field for marketing experimentation and development. These are the networks that can be used to develop a personal relationship with a consumer and to invoke an emotional response, engaging a customer in the marketing activity of a company.

Blog, Bloggers, and Influencers

In today’s marketing and digital world, the customer tends to believe what others are saying about the company rather than what the company is saying about itself. In these conditions, companies are inclined to use other means of communicating with their target audience. Using blogs or bloggers and influencers has come to be a way of creating an image of a company and Brand promotion to the public we want to communicate with (customers and potential customers) Experienced bloggers and influencers that communicate with our target audience can be beneficial in raising brand awareness and realising planned marketing strategies.

These communication lines are also connected to new innovative and interactive marketing tools that are very beneficial to companies using them.

These aspects of digital marketing are also closely tied to Search Engine Optimisation which is one of the most important elements of marketing online. SEO is the process of optimising the content of a website, blog, or social media post by adding elements relevant to search engines to increase the rank of a web page and generate a high rate of traffic.

Marketing has evolved from its beginning and changed to adapt to the fluctuating markets, technologies, and habits of the consumers. As a term, marketing is often not completely understood and it is important to research it and study it further. In light of its continual development, we have pointed at some of the topics for study and analysis. However, in order to create and implement an effective marketing strategy, it is important to know that the market for marketing professionals and companies is very well developed.

The market has a veritable sea of knowledge and experience, so hiring a professional might be a good starting point when drawing up your marketing strategy.

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Wouldn’t it be great if you had a simple yet detailed guide on how to create high-converting CTAs in, let’s say, 15 steps?

Well, here it is! 15 tips on how to create high-converting CTAs:

Finding the perfect combination of elements and putting it all into a single Call to Action might seem simple, but it is far from it. This is one of those game-changing details that can determine whether or not your marketing campaign will succeed.

• Are you familiar with your target base?
• Do you understand your clients?
• Which colours should you use?
• Which combination of words drives people to take action today?

These are all questions that you need to be able to answer before you hope to create high-converting CTAs for your marketing efforts. It is my hope that you will be able to do just that, after these 15 steps.

1: Choose the right colour for your CTAs

Colour can speak volumes to your clients, no matter how small the section or button. This is why you should take the time to consider the colour you want your CTA in. Make it easy on yourself with this quick colour-choice checklist – it needs to:

• Be a colour.
• Stand out from the background.
• Not clash with the background.
• Grab your attention.

Colour plays an important role in CTAs.

One way to test this it to try with your company colours first, and then do a trial run with other colours. This way, you will be able to determine which colour works best for your niche.

2: Don’t over-complicate the design

Yes, if you want to create high-converting CTAs, they should stand out. However, this doesn’t mean that you should go to Las Vegas with your design. Sometimes, less is more, and the same can be said for a good call to action. Keep font colour limited to black or white, while changing the background colour of the button.

3: Size does matter – keep it sensible

Despite what people might have you believe, bigger is not always better. With CTAs, you have to make sure that the button is sensibly sized. Here, you need to consider both desktop and mobile device users. If a button is too, small, people might have a hard time clicking on it. And if you make the button too big, mobile device users will find it overwhelming and annoying. So, balance is key here.

You have to consider mobile devices and how your CTAs will fit in there.

4: Choices are always good to have, as long as you limit them

People love to think they are in control. This is why we love having choices when faced with a decision to buy something. However, you can’t give people too much space for thinking and establishing control. So, if you do decide to give people a choice between different CTAs, limit it to a maximum of 2 choices.

To create high-converting CTAs, you have to limit your options.

5: Make sure the design is inviting and clickable

As obvious as it is, people need to know that the CTA is clickable. What this means for the buttons is that they should have:

• A rectangular shape
• Clear boundaries or borders
• White space surrounding them.
• A contrasting colour

By following these criteria, you will make the buttons more clickable. Combine that with action words and you get the result you’re looking for.

6: Create high-converting CTAs in such a way that they are the next logical step

“Okay, now I need to click on the button and proceed”. This should be the thought that comes to the mind of online visitors once they reach the call to action. That button should be the final, and culminating part of the process. You can usually find examples like these when you have a company that is presenting a product. In the image below, Movers Development presents a moving quote calculator through a video. They then ask potential clients to apply for a demonstration of the product right next to it, in plain view – the next logical step.

Always have everything in plain sight when you aim to create high-converting CTAs.

7: Quality of wording over quantity

When you aim to create high-converting CTAs, you need to focus on maximum impact with minimal wording. The button has to be a knockout that will be direct and to-the-point. Glance-click-done.

8: Aim to make an impact

The Call to Action button is one of the most important page elements. This is why the content has to be nothing short of perfect. However, this varies from campaign to campaign and company to company. So, there are several tactics that you can combine:

• Use action words (get, try, use, read, see etc.)
• Use timing words (today, now, ASAP etc.) to create high-converting CTAs
• Keep it positive – including positive encouragement.
• Stick to obvious nouns (checkout, course, deal etc.)
• Spice it up with value – using “free” or “no charge” etc.
• Keep it consistent – always think about what you’re offering.

9: Focus on first-person CTAs to generate conversions

Speaking to the needs of your clients is one of the best things you can do when calling them to take action. Rather than using “we” or “our” and drawing their focus away, target it with 1^st person CTAs – “my” or “I” etc.

10: Apply pressure with a sense of urgency

We all know that if given too many options and space to think, people tend to prolong making a decision. This is why you have to implement that sense of “limited time” urgency into your CTAs. Today, you have to push clients in the right direction to get the desired effect.

11: Explore the aspect of “lazy” CTAs

Not everyone is willing to take a short time and little effort it takes to get through your perfect landing page and click to proceed. However, this is where “lazy” CTAs can come in handy. Usually, you would use these when asking for credit card or address information, to make it as simple as possible for people to proceed to the next step.

This might be too demanding for people looking for a quick fix.

12: Make the white space work for you

The International Design Foundation claims that “Macro white space” acts as a container for your design, and can be incredibly calming to your user. So, why not use this to your advantage. Leaving adequate white space around your Call to Action button sends a clear message to visitors. However, this does not necessarily need to be limited to white space – sometimes a non-intrusive photo can fill the role of “white background space” and focus people on the CTA.

13: High-converting CTAs should be optimized location-wise

Just like all the elements we mentioned up to this point, the location of the CTA plays a key role as well. You have the popular opinion that the solution to create high-converting CTAs is to put it at the end. However, according to research done by Hubspot, only 6% of conversions come from CTAs at the ends of posts. So, you have to carefully consider where you position your CTAs.

14: Keep it specific for effect

People today are used to seeing ads and marketing campaigns. So, offering them products or services through universal terminology won’t make an impact. The more specific you are in what you’re offering, the easier it will be to create high-converting CTAs. One idea is to personalize deals or promotions with number or brand names etc.

15: Be prepared to get into some A/B testing

At the end of the day, none of the previous 14 steps we mentioned will matter unless you test and measure the results. Testing is that constant factor that plays a crucial role in finding your perfect and high-converting CTAs. So, test, test, and then test again. It might take time, but you will get there eventually. And once you do, it will only be a matter of putting it all together.

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