SEO services, content marketing, social media — they’re finally delivering the targeted traffic you’ve been working so hard to achieve. But despite all of that “quality” traffic, the conversion rate isn’t where it should be. And frankly, no lead conversion = what’s the use?
Creating a lead generation CTA that consistently delivers high conversion rates is both art and science but heavy on the science. There are types of CTAs that can earn the name the “best CTA for lead generation.” That’s the kind of CRO-minded CTA we like to see and what we’ll explore below.
Why Are Lead Generation CTAs Special?
Every marketer knows the importance of the sales funnel. You fill it at the top, and as people move through that funnel, they get closer to becoming a customer.
But you can do this in an unorganized way. You generate mad amounts of traffic. You “hope” they’ll see the value and retain interest long enough to become a customer.
Or you can do this organized, efficient, and cost-effective way. You clearly define the stages in your funnel. You capture leads early so that you can nurture that lead in a more controlled environment.
The lead generation CTA is key to creating an organized and effective sales funnel. It tells a visitor what you’d like them to do next. And if you’ve played your cards right up to this point (bringing in targeted traffic, adding value, building trust, etc.), they will feel compelled to take that action.
Your CTA has 9 components — and hint: understanding this will also help you create a more powerful CTA for lead generation.
- It meets a need for the visitor – If you fail to provide CTAs when people need more info, people viewing your content will look elsewhere, leaving your site. And they’re gone.
- It adds clear value – The CTA clearly states the value of clicking.
- It speaks directly to the target audience – You’ve clearly defined who your target audience is behind the scenes. You know who you’ve attracted to your site through targeted brand awareness efforts. Your CTA should speak directly to this visitor who came to this content to learn something.
- It eliminates confusion – Why did you create this piece of content? Today’s tech-savvy consumers know that most content creators are getting compensated in some way. To be clear, when generating leads, you don’t necessarily need to go to your main product. Think top-mid funnel. Today you could be offering a free 5-point CRO audit. Download it now.
- It uses action language – Buy now. Sign up, Download now.
- It creates some sense of urgency
- It’s concise
- It has the right visuals – Shapes, imagery, colors can all impact the effectiveness of your CTA.
- It’s in the right location at the right time – CTAs can be in the form of exit overlays that popup as someone is about to leave the page or after a set amount of time. They can appear in the text, on the left/right sidebar, or at the top/or bottom.
Lead Gen CTA Examples
1. Get $10 off Your Next Lunch (TheBurgerBach.com)
Industry: Food Services
What makes it work:
It states clear value now and meets a need for the visitor, which could amount to a free lunch. The restaurant seeks to convert people who visit the website into paying customers who will not only come in for the offered deal but keep coming back.
Restaurants run on slim margins, so giving away $10 worth of food puts them in the red on that order. But because they are generating a lead, that’s not a loss but an investment in a repeat customer.
2. Enter Your Details Below to Get Instant Access to the Free eBook (EwanBramley.com)
Industry: Professional Services
What makes it work:
When combined with the previous statement, this CTA promises to provide information that will help a visitor make the buying decision. It offers the eBook now. And if the price is giving an email, getting an eBook is a great deal.
3. Schedule a Demo Now and Get a Free Tour (pagemutant.com)
Industry: B2B SaaS
What makes it work:
One could argue that getting a demo is getting a free tour when it comes to SaaS. But still, this works because it suggests value in getting the demo now to get the free tour. Getting the demo is a clear next step in the sales funnel, and it will allow the company to nurture this lead lower in the funnel.
4. Enter Your Email Below to Get Access to My Proven SEO and Traffic Tips (backlinko.com)
Industry: B2B SaaS
What makes it work:
It states clear value to the target audience. And don’t be mistaken. That black arrow is part of the CTA. It says,
“Look here now. Do this.”
5. Buy Now or Learn More (Whistle.com)
Industry: B2C Technology
What makes it work:
Normally, we wouldn’t suggest a CTA giving a person two options. But this one works. It has a “Buy now,” which is green, so this is clearly the one they want you to pick. But there is also a “Learn More” button. Of course, the third option would be to close the popup, but by giving only two options, they make “learn more” the logical button to click if someone is early in the Buyer’s Journey.
Lead Gen Form Optimization
To create a high converting Lead Generation Form, note the above 9 components of a CTA. How are you leveraging them to generate leads through your CTA? It helps you look at samples of what works like those we’ve provided above. No matter how creative you are, we all need to see examples to explore what may be possible with lead generation.
Once you’ve done these two things, it’s time to create your own very best CTA for lead generation. Then use A/B testing to conversion rate optimize your CTA. More on that below.
How to Generate More Leads From Your Website
To generate more leads from your site, you have to create a clear conversion path that guides visitors through the sales funnel / Buyer’s Journey. Having no clear path is a missed opportunity.
And of course, perfecting the lead generation, CTA is vital to capturing these leads. You can’t get around it. When in doubt, getting a CRO audit from a CRO services company can help you understand where you have room for improvement.
A/B Testing CTAs
A/B testing is the scientific way to improve CTA performance. It doesn’t stop at best practices that worked for someone else. It instead focuses on what helps you get the best results in your industry for your business.
A/B testing involves making one change to an existing CTA (A) while keeping everything else as equal as possible. You will then measure if (B) performs better or worse than (A) or vice versa.
It’s essential to understand the importance of AB test significance. In any test comparing two things, you will have some variance caused by chance. B may perform better than A now, but A may perform better if you ran the test again. That would mean that chance is too big a factor in your testing, and the results aren’t statistically significant. You could end up making changes that aren’t actually better. And this may be why despite testing CTAs, your conversion rate remains low.
You can’t CRO your lead generations without significance. It doesn’t work. So to increase A/B test significance, you may need to increase the sample size, lengthen your testing period to make sure your results are significant or work with a CRO services company like Digital Current that understands how to achieve A/B test significance. Get Your Free 5-Point CRO Audit.
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Still struggling to increase conversion rates? Digital Current offers a full suite of CRO services:
- Conversion Rate Optimization Audit – Find out where you stand to uncover opportunities to improve conversion rate.
- Customer Research & Interviews – Learn straight from your happiest customers what they think you’re doing right, so you can do more of it to attract more targeted customer just like them
- A/B Testing & User Testing – Get ongoing A/B testing to continually improve your website’s lead generation performance and truly CRO your website.
