In one sentence: A call-to-action is a clickable button with an image that appears in your Springcast player during a chosen part of an episode - "Get 20% off", "Read the show notes", "Buy tickets" - so a listener can act on what they're hearing in the moment, without leaving the player.
What it does
Audio is great at building interest and terrible at capturing it. A listener hears you mention a discount code or a link, and by the time the episode ends they've forgotten it. A call-to-action closes that gap: while the relevant part of the episode is playing, a small card with your image and a button appears right in the player. Tap it and the listener lands on the page you chose, in a new browser tab, without stopping playback.
You decide exactly when the button shows up. Talking about your sponsor from 4:10 to 4:35? Set the call-to-action to appear in that window. When the moment passes, the button disappears again. You can add several to one episode, each tied to its own moment.
Everything is handled by the Springcast player. There's no separate widget to embed and nothing to configure on your website - the buttons show up automatically in the player wherever it's embedded.
Who has access
Call-to-actions are included on the Professional, Scale, and Company plans. On those plans the feature is switched on automatically - there's nothing to enable.
On the Essential plan the feature isn't available. To add call-to-actions, upgrade the show's plan.
Note: Call-to-actions appear only in the Springcast player (on your website and shared player pages). They are a player feature, not part of the RSS feed, so they don't appear in third-party podcast apps like Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Anatomy of a call-to-action
Each call-to-action has a few parts:
| Field | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Title | The text on the clickable button itself - keep it a couple of words, like "Learn more" or "Get the deal". Up to 80 characters. |
| Button label | Where the button sends the listener. Must be a full web address (https://...). It opens in a new browser tab. |
| Link URL | A square image (JPG or PNG, up to 5 MB) shown on the card. An image is required for every call-to-action. |
| Visible from / Visible until | The time window during the episode when the card appears, entered as HH:MM:SS. |
| Expiration date (optional) | A date after which the card stops appearing, regardless of playback position. Leave it blank for "never expires". |
How to use it
- Open the episode you want to add a call-to-action to.
- Go to its Call-to-actions panel in the episode editor.
- Choose Add call-to-action - or click directly on the waveform at the moment you want the button to appear, and the time window is pre-filled for you.
- Fill in the title, button label, link URL, and upload a square image.
- Set Visible from and Visible until to the part of the episode where the button should show.
- Optionally set an expiration date if the offer ends on a certain day.
- Save. The button appears in your player within a few seconds - there's no separate "publish" step for call-to-actions.
To change or remove one later, open the same panel, edit the card, and save - or delete it. Changes go live in the player the same way.
The visible window
- The duration is capped at 30 seconds. A call-to-action can stay on screen for at most half a minute; if you enter a longer window, the end time is trimmed automatically. This keeps the button tied to a specific moment rather than lingering for the whole episode.
- New call-to-actions default to a 15-second window, which you can adjust.
- The end time must be after the start time.
Helpful warnings while you edit
The editor flags a couple of things without blocking you - they're guidance, not errors:
- Overlap: if a call-to-action's window overlaps another one on the same episode, you'll see a note. Overlapping is allowed (both buttons can appear), but it's usually worth spacing them out.
- Beyond the episode: if the end time runs past the episode's length, you'll be warned that the button may never appear, since playback ends first.
What happens after you save
When you save, don't forget to publish the changes - unless you have auto publishing enabled.
A few things worth knowing:
- New tab. The button always opens the link in a new browser tab, so the listener doesn't lose their place in the episode.
- Expiration is checked at playback time. If you set an expiration date, the player stops showing the card once that date passes - you don't need to go back and delete it. Clear the date to bring it back.
- RSS is untouched. Adding a call-to-action never changes your RSS feed or how the episode appears in podcast apps.
What statistics we gather
On the Professional, Scale & Company plan, call-to-action performance appears in your statistics:
- Total clicks - how many times listeners clicked a call-to-action, so you can see whether they're working.
- Clicks over the episode - a breakdown of when in the episode listeners clicked, minute by minute, so you can tell which placements land best.
Use these to compare offers and positions: a button that gets clicked at 4 minutes but ignored at 40 tells you something about where your listeners are paying attention.
Good to know
- One image per card, always. Every call-to-action needs an image - there's no text-only option. A clean, square logo or product shot works best.
- Multiple per episode. You can add several call-to-actions to a single episode, each with its own moment and link.
- Per-episode, not per-show. Call-to-actions are attached to individual episodes. There's no show-wide "always-on" button; set them where they're relevant.
- No website setup. The buttons render inside the Springcast player automatically. You don't touch your website's embed code.
Common questions
- "Why doesn't my button show in Apple Podcasts / Spotify?" Call-to-actions only appear in the Springcast player. Podcast apps play the RSS feed, which doesn't carry them.
- "My button won't stay on screen longer than 30 seconds." That's the maximum on purpose - a call-to-action is meant to mark a moment, not run the whole episode. Add a second one later in the episode if you need another prompt.
- "Do I have to publish the episode again after adding one?" No. Saving a call-to-action pushes it to the player on its own, within seconds.
- "Can I skip the image?" No - an image is required for every call-to-action. Upload a square JPG or PNG.
- "I set an expiration date and the button vanished - can I get it back?" Yes. Clear the expiration date (or set a future one) and the button reappears in its window.
- "Where do I see if anyone clicked?" In your statistics we'll show the number of clicks. We're still working on expanding this with e.g. a CTR.