Call to Action! What is the Next Step?

Every Page on Your Website Needs a Call to Action

Every visitor to your website has a question in mind when they start their online quest. They may wonder if you have what they are searching. They may wonder “will this work for me?” or “can I picture myself here?” Every question needs an answer…and the answer might be “let’s find out more together.” Providing a call to action (CTA) on every page of your site is a critical way to serve your user and help them discover their answers with you.

A few years ago I heard someone from Noel Levitz give a great presentation regarding websites. The story I remember is how so often in education website design schools are quick to provide only one call to action: “Apply Now.” They shared the story of how that call to action is akin to asking our site visitors to jump a huge chasm. What would be better, they stated, was getting them to cross small garden bridges. Five years later, I’ll take that analogy even further by suggesting we should simply ask them for the next step.

As we have outlined in other blog posts, prospective students are digitally savvy, suspicious of quick commitments, and require authenticity; you have to be smart about how you ask them to engage to the next level. But, as social scientists know, once a user takes an initial step, they often will commit to other choices as well. Use this to help your prospects understand more about your school. By getting them to take one step in the direction of application.

Websites should, therefore, provide small, tangible next steps for their users to bring them into the funnel.

The initial ask should require as little information as possible; it may be as simple as an anonymous answer to a polling question. But, with each succeeding call to action, the user should be required to reveal more information and provide permission for additional communication through email, social media, and ultimately phone.

By using techniques such as gated content, or content only available only after a user provides minimal contact information, you should be able to build a solid email list to begin nurturing through marketing automation. As you build more information about your visitors, more specific and tangible content can be delivered to those groups of prospects.

Remember that every action should have a reaction, so it will be critical for you and your team to respond in a timely manner and with the information that is required. Keep your prospects engaged and serve them by walking the path with them and building trust.

Every part of your digital marketing needs a plan and a strategy. The call to action is a critical part of that plan.

Do you have a plan for your marketing? If not, let us know so we can help!

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