Call to Action

Call to action is a marketing term that describes the banners, buttons, graphics or text on a website which prompts users to continue through a “conversion funnel.” Users are able to click on these web elements and follow through to a new page, often a sign up or sales form, resulting in a user-conversion. Conversion describes the point when a user completes the desired action or goal; for example, when a site’s visitor signs up to receive a newsletter trial, this is considered a conversion. The ultimate goal is to transform these sign-ups into paying customers eventually. Call to action elements are part of an over all action plan essential to inbound marketing and permission marketing.

The immediate goal of call to action banners or graphics is for users to click on the banner or scan a QR code. The success of the elements are measured with a simple conversion rate formula which tracks that number of clicks a call to action element receives in a predetermined amount of time.

Effective call to actions often stand out from other web design elements on the page. Often, these elements are larger than other content in the message or on a website page; some are up to 20% larger than a page’s logo, but are not positioned as high on the page. Other CTAs are positioned in distinguished areas. These elements may be placed on a higher plane, in the center of the page, or on the upper part of the page. Other CTAs may be surrounded by white space to draw users’ eyes to it.