In marketing, a Call to Action (CTA) can be defined as the step you want your audience or reader to take. For instance, you can have a CTA directing readers to your shopping site, subscribing to a newsletter, or booking an appointment with you. In essence, CTAs act as  prompts that ask your audience to take a specific action after reading a marketing message on your website, social media, email, or other platforms. A CTA can be in the form of a button, link, or sign-up form. 

In this article, we take a look at the purpose of a call to action, some tips for writing a CTA, and some general examples. 

Do You Need a Call to Action?

According to a survey, adding a call to action button to your articles can increase monthly revenue by up to 83%. The major importance of a call to action (CTA) is that it brings your audience deeper into your content and sales funnel. From reading an article, you can get someone to subscribe to your newsletter, and from there, you can get them to start a free trial or shop for your products.  In addition, CTA improves ROI by turning your website visitors into clients that pay for your products or services. Content without CTAs leaves users confused about what to do next after visiting your page and leads to you losing potential customers. 

Some benefits of using a call to action include:

1. Improves Conversions: You can turn your audience into leads and customers if you get them to follow your CTA. The more clicks you receive on your CTA, the more leads and customers you get, thus leading to an increased conversion rate. 

1. Directs Your Audience: Users can get overwhelmed or experience decision fatigue after reading your content. Directive or request statements like Buy Now and Download Now can guide your audience on what to do next and reduce their chance of leaving your page. 

To answer the question, do you need a call to action? Yes, you do. You need a CTA to make it easier for potential customers to make it down your sales funnel and benefit from your products and services. A compelling CTA brings customers closer to your business offerings and boosts your sales. 

Tips to Write a Good CTA

CTAs are simple. They are usually a one-line statement intended to engage your audience and encourage them to take a desired action. Some of the most popular examples of call to action are two-word statements like Join Now, Order Yours, and Sign Up

Netflix’s CTA is Join Free for a Month. 

Trello is Sign Up-It’s Free

BambooHR is Get my Free Demo

Adobe Photoshop is Find the Right App

Knowing how to write a CTA is important because it might determine whether people will take the desired action or skip to someone else’s website. Here are some call to action tips for your ad copy and marketing message:

1: Think About Your Goals

It might help to think about the goals you want to achieve with your call to action. Do you want more people to subscribe to your newsletter, need your readers to share your content, or add a product to your cart? Determine the purpose of your call to action to help you choose the best CTA for your marketing content. For instance, if your goal is to get your audience to download a guide, you can use CTAs like “Send me Guide” or “Download Now.” 

If you wish to get people to buy a specific product, then it might be a good idea to use a CTA like “Buy Now” or “Order Now for 20% off.”

2.  Start with a Verb

Most of the CTAs you’ll see start with a verb, a strong action verb that gives your audience a clear understanding of what to do. If you can’t think of any CTA, think of an action verb, like Subscribe, Join, Book, Play, Watch, or Order. 

3. Keep it Simple

Clarity and simplicity are two important tips for writing a CTA. You’ll lose your audience if your message is unclear or too long. Always stick to short and simple sentences that your audience can easily understand. It’s advised to stick to a CTA of five words or less so that they can fit into a button format. 

4.  Offer Something of Value

An action verb isn’t enough if you don’t add information on what’s in it for your audience. A popular music app’s CTA is ‘ Listen for Free’. Another music app has its CTA as Listen Now.

Both CTAs have an action verb, listen. However, CTA 1 offers something of better value: free. Listen Now could work as a CTA, too, but adding  free will entice viewers. Always look for something of value you can offer your customers to get them to click your CTA.

Also, note that something of value doesn’t have to be free. It could be a discount, a resource, or an explanation of the benefits of the action. For example, you can have a CTA like ‘Be the first to try out our platform’ and then have a CTA button that says, “Join Waitlist.” In this case, the value is being among the first to try out the app. When writing a CTA, ask yourself, ‘What’s in it for the audience?” The more reward you offer, the more likely your audience will take action.

 5. Add a Sense of Urgency

Another effective tip for writing a CTA is to add a sense of urgency. You can position your offer as something available for a limited time to encourage people to sign up. Instead of Subscribe Now, you can say, “First 20 People to Subscribe Get 10% off”. Instead of Sign Up for Free Membership, you can say, “Sign Up for Free Membership before July 1st.” This fear of missing out (FOMO) tactic shows customers that your offer is not forever. 

6. Position It Strategically

If you are designing an ad copy, you must ensure that your design elements do not overshadow your CTA. The best position for your CTA placement will depend on some factors, like the length of your content and the type of content. However, it is generally recommended to place your CTA above the fold where readers can see it without having to scroll down. Make sure that your call to action content is very visible and commands attention on the page. It’s also recommended to use rounded CTA buttons for your content as they stand out and perform better. 

7. Use the Right Colour

A good tip on how to write a good call to action is ensuring your CTA is visible and stands out from the rest of the content. One of the best design tips for  CTAs  is to use a different color for your CTA button, preferably one that catches attention, like Red, Orange, Yellow, or Green. Avoid neutral colors like Black, White, Grey, and Brown for your CTA buttons. 

8. Be Enthusiastic and Appeal to Emotions

There is a difference between Join Now and Join Now! Adding an exclamation mark after your CTA can make it sound more exciting and enthusiastic. Also, you should use languages that appeal to emotion, like Protect Yourself from Stress, Get Your Dream Body, and Transform Your Workspace.  This type of language will evoke positive (or negative)experiences and offer solutions that it’s hard to ignore. 

9. Test Multiple CTAs

One of the best call-to-action tips is to understand what works and what doesn’t, what brings about increased conversions, and what does not. To identify the best CTA for your content, you can consider testing multiple CTAs against each other to see how each CTA performs.

10. Be Creative

There are many examples of CTA you can use for your content, but the best CTAs are those that are unique. Instead of using general CTA examples, consider creating and writing something more unique. Be creative with your language, personalize your CTA, and look for interesting ways to stand out. 

Where Can You Use Your Call to Action?

Now that you know how to write a good call to action, where do you use them? There are different ways to deliver your call-to-actions content, and some options are:

• Clickable buttons
• Images
• Pop up fields
• Banner text
• Clickable Links
• Graphics
• Social media posts

Call to Action Examples in Marketing

So, now that you know, you understand the call to action, meaning, importance, and some tips to write your own. Let’s look at some common examples of CTA you can learn from:

1. Read Now
2. Learn More
3. Download Here
4. Contact Us
5. Create an Account
6. Book an appointment
7. Start Free Trial
8. Subscribe to our newsletter
9. Request more information
10. Click here for 10% off
11. Sign Up for exciting deals
12. Click Here to read more articles
13. Watch this video
14. Add to cart

Conclusion

In summary, CTAs are important interactive marketing elements that help businesses and marketers inspire a response or action from the reader/audience. They assist businesses in converting a visitor or viewer into a lead and paying customer. Try out different examples of call to action (CTA) for your campaigns to generate more leads and increase your ROI. Remember always to make your CTA clear, simple, and short.