Can you imagine how hard driving would be without road signs? Looking at the road, thinking you’re already late to meet your friend with music blaring in the background, road signs are nice, concise, little reminders to be careful.
We don’t have road signs in the digital world, but we do have Call To Action (CTAs) buttons. If you’re not that familiar with CTAs, they are those small buttons or links you see on social media or landing pages asking you to “Read More,” “Buy Now,” and “Download Here.”
You might not think much of them, but when you’re scrolling through endless content, that little button that stands out and invites you to perform an action can be very helpful for your marketing efforts and increase click-through rates.
But just placing CTAs throughout your content is not enough. You need to know how to write a GREAT call to action. If you’re unsure how to achieve that, you’re in the right place. Let’s dive in!
How to Write a Great Call To Action: The Big 3
To learn how to write a great call to action, we must talk about the LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh of CTAs: language, design, and innovation.
These three elements are vital when you’re building your CTAs. We’ll go through them one by one, starting with:
How to Write a Great Call To Action: Use the Right Language
You don’t need to be a marketer to know that words matter. But, in the online world, you need to know that you only have a few words (and seconds) to catch a reader’s attention, so you must make it count. According to Forbes, citing Hubspot, the average time spent by a website visitor on a single page is 54 seconds, so you only have a few moments to catch the user’s attention.
Although CTAs are not as limited compared to road signs, you still need to choose your words carefully. A CTA must be short, must indicate an action, and, most importantly, needs to catch the user’s attention.
You can tell them exactly why they must click your CTA (what they are getting in reward) and, simultaneously, what they have to do.
How To Write a Great Call To Action (Literally)
1. Be concise and demand action. When writing a great call to action, you must tell users why they should click. Are they getting a discount? Are they getting a nice report that could give them industry insights? Tell them!
Ask them directly to Download, Learn More, Shop Now, Show Me Show, etc. Don’t be afraid to demand it. A CTA is made to make decisions simpler, so use that in your favor to achieve your goal.
To help you do this, use imperative sentences, and start with an actionable verb. By telling or commanding them to do something, you’re also helping with the content fatigue they could be experiencing by scrolling through the internet.
Besides the verb of the desired action, tell them what they are getting in return. Are they downloading free templates or a free trial? Are they getting an invitation to an event or 50% off? Be specific.
2. Play with a sense of urgency. Don’t be afraid to appeal to the sense of urgency in your CTA. Using words like ‘free,’ ‘now,’ or ‘just for today’ can persuade users to click on your CTA and enjoy your benefits.
PS. Although urgency is permitted, don’t go too far. Be careful to sound like those spam pop-ups that appeared on the internet. (Yes, those telling you were the 1,000,000 visitor of the page and that you won a prize)
Source: https://blog.useproof.com/exit-intent-popup
To avoid doing this, be sure to be transparent in your CTA. Nobody wants to click on shady or suspicious buttons these days. So, back to point 1: tell them what they should do and what they will get after they click.
How to Write a Great Call to Action: Everything at The Right Design and Place
So now that you have written your CTA, we need to think about how it will look and where we will place it.
You will need to choose:
- The font
- The button and font color
- The size
- The location
With the font, you need a font that will pop out on your landing page or emails and be easy to understand.
The same thing works for color; find something that stands out but also suits your color scheme.
Although these may look like mundane decisions, they matter. For example, different case studies have found that a red button outperforms a green one. By this, we are not saying GO AND USE A RED BUTTON. We want to acknowledge that something as simple as color can improve your CTA’s results.
The same article emphasizes that there is no better or worse color, but what matters is how much the button color contrasts with the area around it.
This takes us to our next point: the button’s location. What surrounds your button is also greatly important. For example, according to Hubspot, Kommunicate’s website increased clicks to their CTA button by 25.5% by removing an email field beside the CTA.
Finding the right place to place your CTA depends on your email/landing page’s design, the colors, the images surrounding them, and the free, eye-catching spaces.
How to Write a Great Call to Action: Try New Things and Innovate
Following past examples, if you want to know how to write a great call to action, you must be open to trying and exploring new things. If you already placed your CTA but think it needs to perform better, try to tweak it. A different text, size, color, location, etc.
A great CTA integrates well into your overall product. This also means you need to pay attention to the copy above and underneath it, the images, and the colors. How you play and connect all those elements with your CTA will be the secret of your CTA’s success.
Start Working Your CTAs with Greenstar Marketing
Now you’re prepared and knowledgeable on how to write a great call to action, so don’t waste any more time! Start trying things and sharpen your strategies. And don’t worry if you get stuck or lost along the way; the experts at Greenstar Marketing will be thrilled to help you out. Ready to take your CTAs to the next level and drive high conversions? Contact GreenStar Marketing today!
