Stephanie Donelson

Ah, the good old CTA (call to action). Some marketers love creating them and others despise them and just pop in a standard “Learn More” or “Start Now” on landing pages or in marketing emails.

And for some audiences that works! I’m not saying you have to have clever and pun-filled CTAs all over your marketing assets – you know your audience best and you should stick with what works.

But, if you are finding that your conversion rates are dropping or click-throughs on emails aren’t what they once were, it might be time to take a closer look at your CTAs to see if they could be the culprit for poor results. If you think they might be, let’s dive into how to write compelling CTAs.

How to write clickable calls to action

1. Make it action-oriented 

Be direct with your CTAs and tell the reader exactly what they’re going to do next.

• Buy now
• Shop the sale
• Watch the video
• Sign up
• Submit

Some of these are boring, I mean really? Submit? Unless it’s my tax returns or a payment, I don’t really want to submit stuff.

I like the CTAs that go beyond the basics and drum up some excitement around me clicking that button or link. Words like explore or access sound much more engaging than a simple “view more.”

2. Make it easy to follow

Like it being action-oriented, it should also be easy to follow. This point is more about the actions behind the CTA button, such as having a quick-loading webpage or a drop-down form fill. Once I’ve clicked that CTA, it better not take long to do whatever I need to do.

3. Make it logical

The CTA should be logical based on the context of where it’s hosted and what it’s pointing to. A CTA like “View More,” should not be used to sign up for emails from a brand. What exactly am I viewing? An email? That’s not the logical next step. The logical next step would be to move to another page to view more of whatever I was looking at.

4. Make it gratifying

Clicking the link or filling out the form has to be worth the reader’s while. You have to provide instant gratification, such as enrolling them into an email list, granting them access to an exclusive sale or downloadable asset, or taking them to a product page to buy something. Your CTA should be a solution or should be giving them something.

5. Convey a sense of urgency 

Lastly, your CTA should have some undercurrent of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) to it. Now, that’s not to say you have to append “today,” or “now” to every CTA as that’ll do the exact opposite of what you want, but your CTAs should encourage the reader to take action now instead of coming back to the site or your email later.

CTA ideas

Need to change up your CTA language or want to run some A/B tests on your CTAs? See if any of these CTA options suit your needs:

• Get started
• Start your free trial
• Access…
• Order now
• Discover…
• Explore…
• View…
• See…
• Watch…
• Search…
• Learn…
• Check out
• Read more
• Get “X” Now
• Get the guide
• Apply today
• Unlock your savings
• Earn…
• Redeem…
• Join our team
• Schedule a demo
• Request a demo
• Analyze your results
• Reach your goals
• Take the quiz

Has a well-crafted CTA stuck out to you over the years? One that stands out for me was the first time I saw first-person POV used in the CTA: Book My Trip. Tell me your favorite CTA in the comments below!