6 Secrets to Great CTAs

The importance of the call to action cannot be understated. Good CTAs encourage people to email you, sign up for newsletters, watch videos, or take any other action you want them to take. The right CTA can make or break your sales and marketing efforts.

The question most marketing and sales professionals have is about how to write those can’t-help-but-click CTAs. You’ve been writing CTAs, but you’re not getting the responses you think you should be getting.

These six tips are here to help. Using these secret ingredients, you’ll have a recipe for concocting the perfect CTA every time.

1. Use a Strong Verb for Effective CTAs

Remember high school English class, when the teacher would tell you about “strong” and “weak” verbs? Put this lesson to good use when you’re writing your calls to action.

Good CTAs clearly inform users what they should do, and they make a compelling case. They can feel almost like a command. Ask them to buy, shop, sign up, or click here.

Weak verbs don’t truly inspire the reader to act, so you’ll want to be sure to use those strong verbs to do the heavy lifting in your CTAs. Tell people to buy or to consult with you, rather than just getting in touch.

2. Deliver a Convincing Reason to Take Action

A good CTA is persuasive. If you’re not delivering a good reason for the reader to take the desired action, they won’t. You need to convince them that taking this action is in their best interests.

How does signing up for your newsletter help the reader? You already know how it benefits you, but put yourself in the reader’s shoes. Is this newsletter going to deliver more informative articles like the one they just read straight to their inbox? That’s a pretty compelling reason to sign up. Someone who enjoyed your content is likely going to follow through.

3. Appeal to the Emotional Side of the Reader

When you’re convincing someone to take action, an emotional appeal goes a long way. Think about great speeches you’ve heard. After the speaker finished, you probably felt inspired to take action.

Your CTAs should leave your readers feeling the same way. The language you use here is key. Some words evoke emotional responses, while other words are less likely to get a reaction. Opting for some of those emotional words can help you craft a better CTA.

4. Appeal to Different Audiences

Who is looking at this page? If it’s someone browsing on a desktop, they’re likely looking for something different than a person on mobile. If you have other information about the visitor, you can use that to your advantage.

Use smart CTAs to adjust to your audience. Someone who arrives from a Google search is not the same as someone who clicks a link on Facebook. Appealing to both using the same CTA will limit your success.

5. Get Creative with Your CTAs

Are you writing the same closing line over and over again? Chances are your competitors are also writing similar CTAs. Repetition causes a reduced audience response. As people see more of the same types of CTAs, they become almost immune to them.

Mix it up a little with your wording and even what you ask people to do. Why not have them watch a how-to video after reading about a product? It may not be the same as getting them to fill out a form, but it might be more effective.

6. Keep It Simple

Don’t ask your customers to do more than one thing. The most effective calls to action are simple, yet elegant. People often take the path of least resistance, so if it seems too complicated to take action, they won’t follow through.

Following these tips can help you craft better CTAs. In turn, you can achieve your campaign goals and get more buy-in from your customers.