Today, we expect a lot from our customers. We often need three forms of ID just to confirm that they are in fact who they say they are. We need them to give email addresses, phone numbers, small children and various other forms of collateral in order to receive information from our company.
Doesn't this seem contrary to best marketing practices? The best success rate with conversions occurs when the barriers for entry are extremely low. The person doesn't even think about giving the information away or calling the number if they are interested. By reducing the amount of choices (to 1 or 2), you are greatly increasing your chances for an inbound call or email.
Targeted leads are fantastic and often result in tremendous success rates when it comes to direct marketing; no one is denying this. However, if you are primarily focused on directing inbound marketing efforts, you often need far less information. The potential customer found you, now all you have to do is remove some of the barriers to potential contact.
My favorite call to actions? "Email us" and/or "555-567-5309." You don't need to give us any more information than that. We don't want your third wife's horse's name, we just want you to reach out and contact us so we can best facilitate fulfilling your needs. Simplicity increases convergence. Just examine the Google homepage and enjoy the ruthless efficiency that it employs.
What else works? Simple, clean (and often ugly) forms for information entry. They catch your attention on a website, make you want to fill them out quickly and move on. In a sense, it's interruption marketing, but it works because it is the only part of the inbound experience that calls for that kind of in-your-face approach. You also need to build in multiple choices to allow for maximum customization by the end user. (The form I included in this post is the closest to the holy grail as you can get.)
This, of course, will likely cause your designer to flip out. Don't worry, every designer does this. They will be quelled when the company is more successful in acquiring leads thanks to your ugly, simple interface. Remember: you aren't trying to gain a designer's approval, you are after the potential customer's.
The best call to actions are always the simplest, clearest and most easily remembered. So why do we make them more complex then they have to be?
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, showing us some social love or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.
tagged as call to action, contact form marketing, designer contact form, inbound marketing, interruption marketing, simple call to action, simple contact form, simple cta, website inbound marketing
