Let’s face it.
Most visitors to your website are not ready to buy yet. Many prospects sitting at the top of the sales funnel refrain from hitting that “Buy Now” button. And there’s nothing that can be done to force them to buy.
Not to worry! This is the perfect scenario for a transitional call to action.
This is a compelling offer you dangle that allows your prospective customers to learn more about you and build trust until they’re ready to buy. This concept isn’t new – you’ve seen them many times. Some common transitional CTAs you will recognize are:
- Watch Video
- Get Our Free eBook
- Get Our E-Newsletter [don’t use this one!]
- Join the Course Now
- Get Industry Updates
By having a transitional call to action, you ensure that prospective customers get something of real value. Maybe it is a free ebook, video, or a free trial.
For example, our eBook “Costly Marketing Mistakes Most Marketers Make” is our transitional CTA to help prospects get to know us and get a sense of how we can help them before they schedule a call with us.
In other words, a transitional CTA is simply an invitation to access what’s often called a “lead magnet”. A lead magnet is a free asset with high value to the prospect that is given by a company in exchange for their email address [or other contact info]. Using transitional CTA is a cute yet clever marketing strategy to keep your customers engaged so that they begin a relationship with you rather than simply leaving your website and forgetting all about you.
Why Use Transitional Calls to Action?
Here are three key benefits transitional Calls to Action phrases offer:
Establish Your Authority
By offering valuable content related to your expertise, you prove your expertise to your potential customers.
Foster Reciprocity:
By offering valuable resources or content to your customers without pushing them for sales or expecting for returns, you build goodwill with your audience. It shows that you care for your customers genuinely. This fosters a sense of reciprocity, encouraging customers to engage with your brand and potentially reciprocate by supporting your business in the future.
Strengthen Customer Relationships:
Building trust takes time, and transitional CTAs play a crucial role in deepening your relationship with potential customers.
These CTAs provide opportunities for engagement with individuals before they become customers. Whether it’s a short video or a series of emails, transitional CTAs nurture these relationships over time, gradually guiding prospects toward making a purchase when the timing is right.
How to Make Your Transitional Call to Action Get More Leads
Understanding Your Customer’s Needs:
First of all, understand the concerns or requirements of your customers. This will help you create valuable offers that truly resonate with them.
Let’s say you are an industrial switchgear manufacturer. You can offer a free guide titled “Increasing Uptime: Key Tips for Choosing the Right Switchgear” to help your potential customers choose the most suitable switchgear solution for their requirements.
Provide Relevant Content:
Craft your transitional CTAs to address the common questions or concerns prospects have about your products or services.
These CTAs serve as bridges, guiding people from being curious bystanders to committed customers.
For example, the industrial switchgear manufacturer can offer a video or guide on “Switchgear Solution Types: A Complete Handbook”.
This guide could cover topics such as the importance of reliable switchgear in manufacturing operations, key features to look for when selecting switchgear, and tips for optimizing switchgear performance to minimize downtime.
Building a Community:
Once someone becomes your customer, it’s crucial to make them feel like they belong to your community. You can continue to offer additional valuable free resources that help them succeed with your products or services. This encourages them along the path to becoming a raving fan that provides referrals to your company.
Generating Leads:
Leads are individuals who have expressed interest in your offering through transitional CTAs. They’re the first step in your customer journey. Nurture these leads by continuing to provide valuable transitional CTAs, aiming to turn them into lifelong customers.
By the way, you can chain transitional an unlimited number of CTAs together. Perhaps your first one is an e-book. At the end of the ebook or in the nurturing email sequence that gets dripped after download, you invite them to sign up for a video series. Perhaps that feeds them into an invitation list for a webinar. And so on….
Place it Rightly:
The placement of your transitional CTA also does matter. Make sure to place it in a spot where it is highly visible to your potential customers. Typically we recommend at a minimum placing a button in your hero section at the top of your website above the fold. Later down on the page you can also include an ‘ad’ for it in between cornerstone content. You can also include an ad for it on the sidebar of your blog.
You can also have it on your key service pages. For example, you can place a CTA for a guide on assembly line maintenance tips on your assembly line service page.
(Also Read: Why Your Website Needs an Obvious Call to Action?)
Ways to Engage Customers with Transitional CTA
Provide Free – Yet Valuable – Information:
Educate your customers with unique, informative content such as video series or PDFs on topics relevant to your industry. Encourage prospects to sign up for how-to videos, podcasts, and webinars to deepen their understanding of how to solve their problems and achieve success using your products. But make sure it’s valuable and relevant to them from their perspective. Since you are asking them for an email address [or other contact info] in exchange, a good rule of thumb is that it needs to be worth at least $20.
Send Samples:
When possible, offer samples of your products to let customers experience them firsthand before committing to a purchase.
Offer Free Trials:
Provide free trials or test drives of your products to allow potential customers to experience their benefits without full commitment. This transitional call to action captures email addresses and nurtures relationships, increasing the likelihood of a sale.
Watch a Video:
Capture customers’ attention with engaging videos that showcase how your products or services can benefit them by solving their problems and getting them to the success state they desire.
OVER TO YOU…
Without a transitional call to action, potential customers who aren’t yet ready to make a purchase have no choice but to simply leave your website, potentially forgetting all about your brand. Offering a small, initial step for these prospects allows you to nurture relationships, establish authority, and convert them into customers more effectively.
That’s why it is important to have a transitional call to action on your website in the form of free e-books, guides, and videos. Not only does it build your expertise in the eyes of your potential customers, but also conveys the message that you care for them.
