HERE’S A RIDDLE for you: What can be as simple as two words but is the key to bringing new patients through your door?
The answer: a call to action or CTA.
A good CTA will keep your office phone ringing, fill up your appointment calendar and turn your website visitors into new patients. So what exactly is this magic little phrase, and what makes a good one?
What is a CTA?
A CTA is phrase that instructs or encourages a user to take a specific action, such as booking an appointment, signing up to a mailing list, calling the office, filling in a form or getting more information about a promotion. It can (and should) be used in basically any form of marketing, such as your website, a landing page, a Facebook promotion, an email or even a radio ad.
Each element of your marketing is designed for one ultimate purpose — to bring in appointments and optical sales. If you fail to include a CTA, you risk losing potential patients who may delay or not otherwise take the next step toward that goal. Making the call to your office or action easy and quick reduces lag time and dropoff rates.
What makes a good CTA?
A good call to action makes it clear what action you want visitors to take and gives them the tools they need to do so. The best CTAs address the what, when and why of taking the next step and usually have the following traits:
- What: They use action verbs to direct conversion such as, “Call our office, Fill-out an appointment form, Book an appointment, Contact us, Visit our office etc…” The best CTAs are those that include the words that would follow the phrase, “I would like to …”
- When: They use time-sensitive wording such as, “Today, Now, Don’t Delay etc.”
- Why: They are often benefits-oriented, answering the question of why one should take the action. “Take care of your precious eyesight, Save time and money, etc.”
- They stand out on the page using bright colors and bold text. They are clear and easy to spot, and they are most effective when placed in the header and/or at least above the fold. They should also show up prominently on both desktop and mobile devices. And in case you’re wondering, we’ve seen that circle buttons stand out more and work better than rectangles.
- They are easy to use. Nowadays clickable buttons, especially on mobile-friendly sites, are the way to go. If your visitor can click a CTA button on your site and schedule an appointment or call your office directly, you’ve eliminated almost every obstacle. What could be easier? Our marketing experts recommend a CTA attached to an embedded online scheduler when possible, allowing patients to instantly see your availability and book an appointment.
Now here’s one catch: There is such a thing as too many CTAs on a page. You don’t want to overdo it. Top, bottom and once in the middle is “enough.” In that case, the CTAs are easily accessible get the job done. Anything more starts to turn off the visitor.
So the next time you are working on your website or scheduling a new promotion, stop and think about your CTAs. They are probably the most important part of your marketing or campaign strategy.