Social Media Metrics For Dummies

Building Great Calls-to-Action

One of the first hurdles you face when trying to engage visitors to your site or social streams is deciding what you’ll ask them to do after you get their attention. Most people who are new to developing calls-to-action get overwhelmed and default to a simple Email Us — or just list their e-mail without even making it a link.

A good call-to-action won’t ask your visitors or social media followers to think too much about how to do what you’re asking. In fact, they won’t have to wonder too deeply about what it is you really want them to do, either. Clarity is key.

Going beyond clarity, you have to make your calls-to-action easy to see as well. You won’t have anything to measure at all if people can’t figure out where to do what you want them to do.

Color

Calls-to-action often appear in the form of buttons or icons. Color is important (see Figure 15-1). Did you know that there have been psychological studies on what colors motivate people to do or feel different things? You can apply this information to your marketing and measurement efforts.

Figure 15-1: Sample color wheel, a great way to visualize colors for your site.

Here’s a quick color reference guide:

Blue creates a feeling of safety, security, and calm and is often used when the goal is to ...