What? You Don’t Have a Call-to-Action on Your Website?

Your website is often the first point of contact between your business and potential customers. It’s your virtual storefront, open 24/7, ready to welcome visitors from around the globe. But here’s a critical question: What happens when those visitors aren’t ready to make a purchase right away?

If you’re not capturing their information through a well-crafted call-to-action (CTA), you’re essentially waving goodbye to potential future customers. Let’s dive into why having a CTA on your website is crucial for building a mailing list and nurturing long-term customer relationships.

The Power of the Mailing List

First, let’s address the elephant in the room – why bother with a mailing list when you have social media? While social platforms are excellent for engagement, they’re rented land. You don’t own your followers there, and algorithm changes can dramatically affect your reach overnight.

A mailing list, on the other hand, is a direct line to your audience. It’s an asset you own and control. Here’s why it’s invaluable:

1. Direct Communication: Email allows you to speak directly to your prospects, landing right in their inboxes.
2. Higher Conversion Rates: Email marketing consistently outperforms social media in terms of conversions.
3. Cost-Effective: Compared to paid advertising, email marketing offers an impressive ROI.
4. Personalization: You can segment your list and tailor messages to specific groups or individuals.

The Buyer’s Journey Isn’t Always Linear

Now, let’s consider the typical buyer’s journey. It’s rare for a first-time visitor to make a purchase immediately. In fact, it often takes multiple touchpoints before a prospect feels ready to buy. This is where your mailing list becomes crucial.

By capturing email addresses, you’re not losing those visitors who are just browsing or researching. Instead, you’re opening a channel to nurture these leads over time. You can provide value, build trust, and stay top of mind until they’re ready to make a purchase decision.

The CTA for Teddy Baldassarre

Crafting an Effective Call-to-Action

So, how do you get visitors to join your mailing list? It all starts with an effective CTA. Your CTA is essentially a lead magnet.  Actually, the high-value giveaway you deliver to the visitor completing your CTA form is the lead magnet.  Here are some key elements:

1. Value Proposition: Clearly communicate what subscribers will gain. Will they receive exclusive content, special offers, or industry insights?
2. Visibility: Your CTA should be prominently displayed, not hidden away in a footer.
3. Design: Use contrasting colors and compelling visuals to make your CTA stand out.
4. Copy: Use action-oriented language that creates a sense of urgency or exclusivity.
5. Simplicity: Don’t ask for too much information upfront. Often, just an email address is enough to get started.

The Follow-Through: Email Marketing Strategy

Once you’ve built your list, the real work begins. Your email marketing strategy should focus on providing consistent value to your subscribers. This might include:

• Educational Content: Share your expertise and help solve your audience’s problems.
• Product Updates: Keep subscribers informed about new offerings or improvements.
• Exclusive Offers: Reward your subscribers with special deals or early access.
• Storytelling: Share your brand’s story and values to build emotional connections.

Remember, the goal is to nurture relationships, not to constantly push for sales. By providing value consistently, you’ll remain top of mind when your subscribers are ready to make a purchase.

For my email marketing, I use Flodesk.  It’s great because one, it’s less expensive than most of its competitors; and two, you can create a series of emails that will be sent automatically to those completing your CTA form.  You create this “flow” of emails and schedule them to be mailed in the interval you set, I suggest weekly.

Huckberry’s call-to-action

The Long-Term Benefits

Implementing a strong CTA and building a mailing list isn’t just about short-term gains. It’s a long-term strategy that can yield significant benefits:

1. Customer Loyalty: Regular communication helps build stronger relationships with your audience.
2. Increased Lifetime Value: Nurtured leads are more likely to become repeat customers.
3. Valuable Insights: Email engagement metrics can provide insights into customer preferences and behavior.
4. Brand Advocacy: Satisfied subscribers are more likely to recommend your brand to others.

SEO Benefits of Having a CTA on Your Website

While the primary purpose of a Call to Action (CTA) is to convert visitors into leads or customers, it also offers significant SEO benefits. Here are two key ways a well-placed CTA can boost your website’s search engine performance:

1. Increased Dwell Time: A compelling CTA, accompanied by engaging copy, can significantly increase the time visitors spend on your website. This metric, known as dwell time, is a crucial factor in search engine rankings. Here’s why it matters:
   • Longer dwell time signals to search engines that your content is valuable and relevant to users.
   • Strategic placement of CTAs throughout your site encourages visitors to explore further, even if they initially scroll past the first occurrence.
   • The more time a visitor spends on your site before returning to the search engine results page (SERP), the better your chances of improving your site’s ranking.
2. Improved Site Conversions: While not a direct SEO factor, conversions indirectly impact your search performance and are the ultimate goal of your website. Here’s how CTAs contribute:
   • By offering a valuable lead magnet through your CTA, you provide immediate value to your visitors, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
   • Higher conversion rates often lead to better user engagement metrics, which search engines interpret as indicators of quality content.
   • Converted visitors are more likely to return to your site, share your content, and potentially link to it, all of which are positive SEO signals.

By incorporating strategically placed CTAs on your website, particularly on the home page, you’re not just optimizing for conversions – you’re also enhancing your site’s SEO performance. This dual benefit makes CTAs an indispensable element of any comprehensive digital marketing strategy.

Case Study:  Vanie Poyey Photography

Vanie is a leading headshot photographer for actors and corporate clients in Los Angeles.  Over the past ten years or so she has built up a mailing list of more than 9,000 actors.  She’s active on several social media channels on which she leads actors to her home page to learn more information.  Her high-value ‘give-away’ is titled, “The Ultimate Wardrobe Guide — For Stress Free Preparation.”  She says it’s the number one question she gets asked from new bookings.  In order to get it, the actor need only provide their first name, email address, and phone number.

The CTA on the home page of Vanie Poyey Photography

To retain a top-of-mind presence for her prospects, she emails her entire list weekly. This email marketing campaign has led to client bookings of course.  But where she gets incredible value from her list is with her twice-yearly “Sale Day” which is an exclusive event for those on her list.

Vanie shoots only four looks for actors.  If a client wants less, she refers them to another photographer in her studio.  But for this sale, she offers two- and three-look packages; she’s selling something many desire but cannot have except during the sale: an opportunity to shoot with her for less than four looks.

She uses an automated booking system, opens more time slots throughout the day as the open slots fill. Is it successful? In one day she books in excess of $6,000 in revenue.  I can’t think of many ways to make $6,000 in ten hours!

Conclusion: Don’t Miss Out on This Opportunity

If your website doesn’t have a clear call to action to build your mailing list, you’re missing out on a powerful marketing tool. You’re letting potential customers slip away, perhaps never to return.

Remember, not every visitor is ready to buy now, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be in the future. By capturing their email addresses, you’re creating opportunities for future engagement, nurturing, and eventually, conversions.

So, take a critical look at your website. Is your call to action clear, compelling, and easy to find? If not, it’s time to make some changes. Your future customers – and your bottom line – will thank you.

Start building your mailing list today, and watch as you transform casual browsers into loyal customers over time. Your email list isn’t just a nice-to-have – it’s a must-have for sustainable business growth. Good luck!