B2B lead generation is no walk in the park. It takes time, effort, and money. But with the proper tools and knowledge, you can speed up the process and make life a lot easier for yourself. A key part of the process is having the right Call-to-Action.

Research from MarketingSherpa shows that 68% of B2B companies use landing pages to attract new sales leads for future conversions. Quick Question: What takes you to a landing page? Answer: An effective Call-to-Action (CTA). CTAs are the key elements that guide people to your offers, so it’s important to understand how to design and use them effectively.

First, a little background:

  • What is the purpose of a CTA? — In the B2B lead generation process, a Call-to-Action aims to catch a visitor’s eye and guide them to a landing page, where they are encouraged to fill out a form in return for an offer. By providing their contact details, the visitor becomes a new lead.
  • What do CTAs look like? — In terms of design, your Call-to-Action can take various forms and shapes including text, image, or a combination of both. But it should always include a hyperlink to a corresponding landing page. CTAs are most effective when they look like buttons.
  • Where do you include CTAs? — Literally almost anywhere! CTAs can be used on product pages, press releases, blog posts, email, social media – you name it – it only requires a space in which you can market your offer.

Now, ready to check out our top 5 Call-to-Action best practices to help you optimize your lead generation? Let’s go.

  1. Be clear and to the point – Marketers will often focus too much on being witty or gimmicky instead of the actual message in their offer. Be crystal clear and specific about what you are offering. Additionally, your CTA should also convey a compelling benefit of receiving your offer. The ambiguous “Download Now” or “Get a Free Trial” simply doesn’t cut it.
  2. Design your CTA to stand out – Think of your Call-to-Action as a peacock. A CTA is supposed to stand out and attract attention. If your CTA blends in too much with your site design or background, nobody is going to see it, rendering your offer useless. Your goal should be to have as many sets of eyes hone in on that CTA as possible, so use contrasting colors to make the CTA light up! Avoid positioning your Call-to-Action directly next to other images or among navigation links that would suggest clicking on something else.
  3. Make your CTA appear “clickable” – Along the same lines as #2, Calls-to-Action should “look like” links. Design and style the icon to resemble a button that can be clicked. After all, that is your goal. Whether you jazz up your CTA with a 3-D appearance, activate a motion graphic or color change when you scroll over it, or simply shape it in a way that distinguishes it from the rest of your content, ensure it tempts someone to click.
  4. Link your CTA to a specific landing page – Calls-to-Action are meant to connect visitors to a landing page where they receive a specific offer. Do not use CTAs to drive traffic to your homepage. Even if your CTA directly pertains to your brand or product (and not an offer like an eBook or checklist), link the user to a landing page that’s relevant to what they’re searching for. A Call-to-Action creates the opportunity to send an interested audience member to a page that will convert them into a lead.

    Extra Tip: Every time you insert a CTA into your various marketing material, clone it and create a separate landing page with a different URL for it so you can track which mediums are working best for you!

  5. Take advantage of Thank You Pages and Emails – Once a person completes a form on your website (giving them new lead status), they are typically redirected to a Thank You Page or sent an automated Thank You message via email. Don’t stop there! Your B2B customers just gave you their contact information, indicating they are truly interested in your offer. Use your Thank You channels to promote related content and offers . By freely giving more valuable information, you demonstrate thought leadership and earn trust.

So the next time you’re creating a lead generation campaign, remember our Top 5 CTA Best Practices. By implementing these effective CTA tips into your strategy, you’ll see your click rate rapidly improve. Partner up your Calls-to-Action with an optimized landing page and you’ll be converting a much higher percentage of those leads into customers.

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