7 Steps to Craft an Excellent Call To Action (CTA) for Video

Do you want to get the most out of your video marketing and production services? If so, you need to make sure that you have a strong call to action, usually shortened to CTA. Once people watch a video, they need to clearly know what to do next. Do you want your viewers to reach out to you to learn more? Do you want them to visit your website? Do you want them to buy your products and services?

If you have a compelling call to action, it can make a significant difference in your conversion rates. What do you need to do if you want to maximize the results of your calls to action in your videos? The team at Animus Studios is ready to help you. Get started by learning more below!

While you might think that a call-to-action is just a detail at the end, it is actually one of the most important parts of video marketing. Some of thereasons why a call to action matters include:

• Guide Decision Making: A call-to-action is helpful because it lets your viewers know what you want them to do next. Your viewers have spent a lot of time watching your video, and now, you need to tell them what to do next. A call-to-action can remove a lot of confusion from the decision-making process.

• Increase Customer Loyalty: A call-to-action is important because it can help you increase customer loyalty as well. When you include a call-to-action, you make them feel like a part of the team. They will have more emotional energy invested in your company, and this emotional drive can push them to take the next step.

• You Can Nurture Your Leads: Even if someone is not going to make a purchase just from watching your video, a call-to-action is important because it can nurture your leads, moving them further down the sales funnel. Maybe you can convince them to sign up for your email newsletter, or maybe they will pick up the phone and call you. People would act if they were asked to or shown a next step, but are often not presented with the option.

• Increase Your Conversion Rate: Finally, a call-to-action is important because it can help you increase your conversion rate. Your video marketing is a significant investment, and if you want to maximize the return on that investment, you need to include a call-to-action to let your viewers know what they should do.

These are just a few of the many reasons why you need to think about your call-to-action. What are some of the actions you might be able to encourage your viewers to take after watching your video?

Your overall goal is likely to convince your viewers to purchase your products and services, but that might not necessarily be the primary goal of your video marketing campaign. Some of the calls to action you can include in your videos are:

• Call The Business: Your call-to-action might be to ask your viewers to call your company to find out more. You should include your phone number if you want your viewers to call the company.

• Sign Up for a Newsletter: You might also want the viewer to sign up for the company newsletter. They can leave their contact information, which you can use to reach out to them later and move them down the sales funnel.

• Follow on Social Media: You might want your viewers to follow the business on social media. You should include your handles for social media accounts, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, if you want them to do so.

• Purchase Your Products and Services: Finally, there are situations where you want your viewers to go ahead and purchase your products and services. If that is the case, you should include purchase information to make it easier for your viewers to do so.

• Speak to a Consultant: This could be a simple contact form or calendar scheduling option to make connecting with a member of your team as easy as possible.

• Visit a Website: If someone is watching a video on your website, they’re likely where you want them already. However, if the video is playing on another website, social media, or trade show, you’ll want to include a link as part of your video.

• Watch Another Video: Creating a video playlist is a helpful way to move clients along your funnel. You can have a playlist of a series of videos or have various videos on a scrolling webpage to help guide the conversation with your audience.

These are a few of the many actions you could encourage your viewers to take after watching your videos. If you want to increase your conversion rates, how can you get the most out of your call-to-action?

A great CTA is important, but what’s more important is engaging your audience in the right location. Your CTA might not need to be as direct and pointed if your strategy and creative is strong.

Start with strategy. Make sure you think about what video will help guide your audience at each stage of their journey. If someone is just getting started in the buying process, you likely just need to get their attention. Once you have their attention, you can focus on educating them, building trust, and moving them deeper in the funnel.

Creative is added to your strategy to amplify the goal of each step and ensure your brand stands out in a unique way. An eye catching video should align to your brand and make your audience think in a way that only your brand can. An explainer video should dive into details without being boring.

With strategy and creative executed well, you can worry a bit less about your CTA. For example, you won’t need to point them to a website on an explainer video that already lives on your website. The CTA is likely a subscribe, contact, or buy button already on the webpage.

If you want to get the most out of your call-to-action at the end of your videos, there are a few important tips you need to keep in mind. They include:

1. Embrace New CTA Tools for a Seamless User Experience

Years ago, your CTA needed to be text on an endboard of your video. However, modern video tools allow you to rethink your CTA. Social media allows you to make videos clickable to link directly to the website, so you don’t need to include the website address in the video. Many video players allow you to easily add clickable links, pop-ups, gated screens requiring email, and more right in your video.

Keeping the usage of your video in mind and pairing it with the tools you have at hand allow you to remove unnecessary content from your video and create a more seamless user experience.

2. Be Specific and Remove All Confusion

Do not underestimate how easy it is for your viewers to get confused. If you want to boost your conversion rate, make sure you are as specific as possible. For example, including a simple link that says “learn more at our website” is nice, but your audience will have to do the work of finding your website for themselves.

Instead, make sure you include a link or a web address for them to follow. Better yet, as mentioned in the first tip, if the video or button can help the user directly click to the website it may increase conversion even further. If you make it easier for your audience to complete the desired action, your conversion rate will go up.

3. Take Advantage of FOMO

FOMO stands for the “fear of missing out.” If you want to maximize your conversion rate, include an element of this in your call-to-action. If you can target the emotions of the reader by convincing them that they will miss out on something if they do not take the desired action, your conversion rate will likely go up. The easiest way to do this is to make the call-to-action time-sensitive. Let them know that the offer will not last forever and that they need to take advantage of it now.

4. Make Sure Your Call To Action Matches the Video’s Goal

If you want to maximize your conversion rate, you need to make sure the call-to-action you add to the video matches the goal of the video. For example, if you want your viewers to visit your homepage, you don’t want to direct them to watch a second video. Instead, you need to include a link to your homepage. Make it as easy as possible for your viewers to find your homepage.

While this might sound obvious, there are plenty of situations where companies do not include a call-to-action that matches the stated goal of the video. If the call-to-action does not match the video, your viewers are going to get confused. Your conversion rate will suffer, and you will have a hard time growing the business. Check the video to make sure the call-to-action matches the video.

5. Put the CTA Early in the Video

If you produce written content regularly, you are probably used to putting the call-to-action at the end. While this might be a nice way to convince people to read to the bottom, this could hurt you in a video. If you wait until the end to tell your visitors what to do next, they might not watch until the end. People will get bored and click away, so they won’t see the call-to-action. If you want to maximize your conversion rate, consider putting the call-to-action early in the video. A substitute for putting the call-to-action early is putting the purpose of the video upfront to hook the viewer and give clarity as to why they’re watching the video.

6. Ensure Your Call To Action Is Compatible With All Devices

Think about the various platforms on which someone will be watching your videos. For example, some people will use a desktop computer, while other people will use a laptop. Some people might use a phone, while others will use a tablet. You should make sure that your videos show up well on all devices. Then, make sure the call-to-action is compatible with all devices as well. If you ask them to fill out a contact form, make sure the autofill feature works well on all devices. You need the process to be as painless as possible if you want to maximize your conversion rate.

You’ll also want to consider the best aspect ratio or ratios for your video. For example, will they be watching this horizontally or vertically on a mobile phone. More often, videos are produced both horizontally, vertically, and square to align the best video format to the use case. Each aspect ratio may might the best format for your CTA.

7. Keep the Call To Action Short and Sweet

When you visit a website and see a wall of text, you probably do not want to read all the way to the bottom. It is too long, boring, and intimidating. The same is true with your call-to-action in your videos. You need to keep the call-to-action short, sweet, and to the point. You don’t need to be aggressive, but make sure the call-to-action is clearly noticeable. You should make sure that it stands out from the rest of the video. That way, people don’t overlook it.

Remember the first tip. With the right tools in place, you can keep your CTA very simple helping to replace details such as website URLs with native buttons while opting for fewer text on screen to ensure the core message pops.

8. Target Sight and Sound With Your CTA

If you put a call-to-action in your video, you have a unique opportunity to target more than one sense. For example, make sure it is both verbal and visual. You might want to have someone state what the viewer should do next, but make sure you include a visual button that someone can click. Having more than one option available will make it easier for people in all situations to complete the desired action.

8. Consider Using A/B Testing for Your CTA

Finally, you might want to use A/B testing for your call-to-action. Are you having a hard time figuring out which call-to-action is the best for your video? If so, consider testing a few options. Roll out two separate CTAs and track the conversion rate. Then, see which one works the best.

Use this information to inform your CTAs for future videos as well. You need to capitalize on what is working well, improve what is not working well, and ensure you put your videos in the best position possible to be successful. That is where our team can help you. We are here to make sure you get the most out of every call-to-action you include.

If you want to maximize your conversion rate, you need to have a strong call to action in your videos, but, more importantly, you need a solid strategy and smart creative. Your call to action may take different shapes and forms depending on the type of video you produce. At Animus Studios, it would be our pleasure to help you.

We are proud to be one of the most trusted video production companies in the industry, and we can ensure your videos target the right market and include the necessary language, visuals, and features to maximize the return on your video marketing investment. Give us a call today to speak to our team and discover how our video marketing services can help you!