What's a Call-to-Action & How to Use it
A call-to-action (CTA) is a button or link prompting email subscribers, website visitors, or social media followers to take an action. Think back to when you received an email from a company or brand you support. Did you click the link to “Shop Now,” “Learn More,” or “Download the eBook”? If you did, then you took the step that was intended for you to take.
CTAs are essential for driving traffic to your Farm website, generating sales, and increasing your conversions. They can (and should) be used across all channels - web, social, mobile, and email. Whether you want email subscribers to “Shop Now,” website visitors to “Read the Full Story” about your Farm, or social media followers to “Enter the Giveaway,” these CTAs conveniently offer the next step in their journey as a Customer with you.
CTAs in Your Email Newsletters
CTAs in emails drive subscribers to your Farm store with one click. If your CTA button is eye-catching, clean, and motivating, your subscribers won’t be able to resist clicking on it!
Here are 3 CTA tactics to use in Email:
Use action-oriented text. Your CTA button should drive some sort of action, whether to shop, learn, or register for an event. Visually, buttons should be large enough for readers to see and identify, but they shouldn’t be obnoxiously large.
Keep it short. 2 - 3 words is best for a compelling CTA. Since the text is actionable, no more than 5 words should do the trick. Use a maximum of 3 CTAs in one email - you don’t want to overwhelm readers with too many options! Since the text is actionable, no more than 5 words should do the trick.
Create urgency. Do you sell out of products quickly or have a limited inventory of specialty items? Use promos to create a sense of urgency where readers won’t be able to resist checking out your Farm store. Try “Buy Now,” “Order Today,” or “Earn Free Delivery,” and “Save 10% Now,” depending on what your goals are.
CTAs on Your Farm Website
CTAs are crucial to helping visitors take the next step when navigating your website. It’s essential to anticipate the needs of your site visitors, including a clear CTA to bring them to ‘Shop,’ ‘Learn More,’ or ‘Find my Farm.’ Website visitors come with a plan to see available products and place an order, so they should be able to browse your inventory in less than 1 second from any page. The best places to put a “Shop” CTA are on the homepage and in your menu bar. This makes accessing your Farm store easy and convenient.
In addition to one-click access to shop from your Farm, the most important CTAs you should use on your website are Carry Forward CTAs. Your visitors should never be left guessing what to do next when navigating your website. Do you offer on-Farm events? Make sure there is a “Register Now” CTA at the bottom of that subpage. Have a snippet about your Farm on your homepage? Include an “About Us” CTA bringing visitors to the About landing page. It’s critical to carry forward visitors to the next action, no matter how they navigate your website. Any dead ends will lead to exits from your website (and lower conversion).
Learn website best practices that the top-performing Farms across the country implement:
CTAs on Social Media
Effective CTAs on social media can drive traffic to your website, generate engagement from followers, and drive conversion rates to your Farm store. Similar to email, CTAs on social media can prompt followers to do what’s next. However, you need to give a reason why they should click. Do you want followers to sign up for your newsletter, drive them to shop from your Farm, or enter a Farm giveaway? By using effective CTAs, these actions can be taken through social media.
Here are 3 CTA tactics to use on Social Media:
Send them where they need to go. If you call out “Click the Link in Bio” to shop from your Farm, that link needs to bring people directly to your store. There is nothing worse than clicking a link that leads you to a different page. Being clear about what to expect if a link is clicked will reduce the odds of visitors leaving your store.
Tie your CTA to Your Content. At Barn2Door, we constantly refer to the 3 E’s - Educate, Entertain, and E-commerce to create content. For example, if your post is educational about your Farm practices or how Buyers can purchase from you, a good CTA would be to “Learn More” directly linking your About Us landing page.
Make the CTA pop. CTAs easily stand out on your emails and website because they look like buttons. On social media, it’s harder to have your CTAs stand out because you don’t have flexible formatting options. Try using line breaks to separate the CTA from the rest of the text, or use an emoji next to the CTA so viewers can catch it immediately.
We outline additional social media best practices in these blogs:
There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution when it comes to CTAs. You will need to create variations to serve different audiences (prospective Buyers vs. returning Customers), channels (web, email, or social), and needs (shop, learn, or register for an event). The most effective CTAs will generate sales, drive website traffic, and increase conversion rates. The key to success is figuring out what action you want customers to take and then creating a clear CTA that motivates them to click it.
Be sure to check out Barn2Door Bootcamps and the Barn2Door Academy that cover Mailchimp, Website, and Social Media best practices to learn more about CTAs and related topics.
At Barn2Door, we’re proud to help 1000’s of Farmers across the country grow and manage direct sales. If you’re curious how we can help your Farm increase sales, access more customers, and save time, watch this 5-minute video.