The return on investment of digital ads is three times better when a call to action (CTA) is included, according to a study by Laurent Faracci, chief strategy and marketing officer for Reckitt Benckiser. According to Advertising Age, Faracci and many other consumer goods marketers are retuning to web ads with CTAs, after focusing mainly on branding in recent years, because "if people are taking action, they're retaining information better." A 2010 study by WPP's DynamicLogic found that ads including CTAs do better on purchase intent for consumer packaged goods and travel advertisers, while ads asking people to send something or share doubled brand favourability and purchase intent scores across all industries.

Calls to action are effective because they let consumers know what to do next and spur them to action, and they should be included anytime you want potential customers to do something. Beyond advertisements, CTAs should also be included on your brand website and social media to encourage visitors to download, register, or purchase. To maximize effectiveness, CTAs should make it as simple as possible for consumers to carry out the action by minimizing the number of steps ad prompting each step separately. They should be direct, using attention-catching action words like "call now", "download free," or "subscribe", and should be big, bright, and above the fold to catch viewers' attention.

Read the full article on Advertising Age's website.