The 2 Types of Calls to Action to get More Leads for your Practice (2024)

Calls to Action help marketing your private practice get more leads.

CTAs, you’ve often heard this phrase from me, and others I am sure.

It’s when you include words in your marketing that tell people what their next step is – you give them guidance so they know what to do next. But are you actually using the 2 types of Calls to Action (CTAs) wisely when marketing your private practice? If not, you could be losing sales. Yes… they are that important.

Using CTAs effectively can shift a few numbers in your marketing – numbers that are all about getting more leads and more clients.

If you are not using CTAs wisely, we want to change that by making sure you know what you need to do with your CTAs to get more results from your marketing.

That’s what this lesson is about – the two types of CTAs and how to position them to get more people reaching out to you – booking consults or growing your list of prospects.

2 Types of Calls to Action to get More Leads and Consults

As I mentioned above, I often find in marketing assessments that folks do not have effective CTAs, and this holds them back from getting more leads, consults, and clients.

I remember a marketing assessment I did last year for one of myThrive Marketing Academymembers, and it was very clear that she was missing out on opportunities to grow by not being as effective with her CTAs as she could be.

We saw this when we reviewed her website – several key pages were missing any Calls to Action or didn’t have an effective CTA, if one was there.

Why do we use Calls To Action?

CTAs guide people to make a decision from a message. And yes, they (we) often need help.

Today’s world is one filled with thousands of messages hitting our brains every day.

Studies have shown the average person experiences thousands of messages every day – up to 10,000 in 2022, which is a big change from 500 to 1000 back in the 1970s.

It’s also been found that we can be making 30,000+ decisions every day, from simple things like getting out of bed, to brushing our teeth, to bigger life-changing decisions.

Our brains are tired and in overdrive. So, when it comes to marketing, you want to be sure you are helping your website visitors and online community members along… help them know what to do next.

That’s what a Call to Action does. It gives the reader or viewer guidance, so they know what to do next. You cannot assume they will always know.

(Remember that saying about the word, assume??? 😊)

Calls to Action can be used in many places when it comes to marketing your private practice or business.

Whether it’s on your website, your social media or email marketing content, even in videos … no matter where your content and message land, you want to be directing people on what to do next and that’s a call to action.

There are 2 types of Calls to Action that you want to use in your marketing:

Direct and Transitional CTAs

​Direct CTAs are just that – Direct.

There is no iffy-ness, no wondering, it is a straightforward CTA.

It is the one folks underuse the most because we are always trying to be nice in our marketing.

I find this especially to be the case with practitioners. You are healers, helping people with their health and well-being. You always want to help people, not sell to them.

And like many, as the business owner, you don’t want to sell to people so you tiptoe around the CTAs at times. But sales and marketing are how we get people to work with us. You will need Calls to Action, but you can do them in ways that are not icky, and do not take you out of being your authentic self.

Be direct! Here are a few examples of Direct CTAs:

• Learn more about our nutrition counselling services.
• Get started today with a marketing assessment for your private practice.
• Book a call now.
• To register, enter your name and email below.
• Book your seat now.
• Register today.
• Get access instantly to this free mini training.

You see how those are all very direct. Each one tells you exactly what to do and most will link to somewhere to complete that action mentioned in the CTA.

As the visitor or reader, you know what’s going to happen in the next step when you do click that button or text or link. That is a Direct CTA.

Transitional CTAs offer an option.

These are CTAs that give folks an alternative option – often to the Direct CTA.

The Direct CTA may be risky for some folks. That action might scare them or overwhelm them. It may just be too much pressure!

“Eek!!!! Sign up for a consult?!?! Oh Wow, I want this result, but she probably just wants to get me on a call to Sell! Sell! Sell!”

Okay, so let’s be direct about this… 😉

That is ultimately what consults are for, but you can position CTAs in a way that they are not as scary for the reader or visitor to think about doing. (That is a lesson for another day.) But it will still scare off some folks. A consult is a sales mechanism, and that is why you want the transitional CTAs there … for those folks scared to take that direct step. Give them a less scary option, like downloading your ebook or a PDF.

Transitional CTAs tend to be the ones that seem less scary, less direct and have that option of giving folks an alternative to the ‘bigger’ decisions for a next step.

Here are a few examples of Transitional CTAs:

• If you want to learn more, grab this free eBook.
• To see this lesson in action, register for this free training.
• Want to know more about where to put your CTAs? Enter your name and email for this free cheat sheet, 7 Places to Include CTAs in your Marketing.
• Not sure if this program is a fit for you? Click here and book a quick call with me. We can hop on Zoom and discuss if it is a fit for where you are with your business.
• Still have a question? Send me a DM on Instagram and ask away!

Do you see the difference there?

The Transitional CTAs are not as strong on what to do and may be a backup for the folks reading them in case they are not ready for the direct action. Actions that might mean making a purchase online or even booking a call.

Hey! Did you notice that booking a call is also a type of transitional CTA??

Yes, it is for those direct ones where the CTA is “Buy now.” The “book a call” CTA is less direct in a case like this.

The idea is you want to let people know what to do next by offering them a direct CTA and then a transitional one as well.

This way your marketing content, whether it is a website page, blog post, lead magnet, emails or social media content … offers folks a guide to what they can do next.

Not every instance needs both. You will need to assess each instance and the next step folks can take. Sometimes it will be one or the other, sometimes both.

YOUR ACTION STEP TODAY??

CTAs are meant to get people to take action so be sure you marketing content is doing that by including them in the content. But many forget them in their quest to get good content in their marketing. Never forget to give someone those next steps.

Do a checkup on your website and your marketing content, and be on the lookout for the 2 Types of Calls to Action.

Check and see:

1. Do you have CTAs in your content?
2. Are they Direct or Transitional?
3. What ones do you need to add or update?
4. Make a list of the places that need fixing.
5. Tackle the list one by one and get it done!

CTAs should be sprinkled everywhere it fits within your content. You want to pepper it into your marketing in as many places as you can without coming across as too pushy.

But here’s the funny thing … in my experience, people are more worried about selling too much but in fact when I have done those marketing assessments, people are more likely to not have any CTAs than too many!

Never be afraid to guide someone to their next steps. Your goal is really to help them after all!

One of the things we cover in marketing assessments is reviewing your marketing foundations. These foundations will help your marketing work more effectively. If you wonder if your foundations are working or need some fixing, then click here and take our Free Quiz.