The Ultimate Guide to Crafting an Effective Call to Action: Tips and Tricks for Writing an Engaging CTA That Gets Results

Call to action (CTA) is a marketing term used to describe a button, link, or other element on a website or landing page that encourages users to take a specific action, such as subscribing to a newsletter, downloading an ebook, or making a purchase.

A well-crafted CTA is key to increasing conversions and generating leads for your business.

But how exactly do you write an effective CTA that gets results? We’ll discuss this — and everything else you need to know to make CTAs that convert — in this blog post.

Call To Action (CTA) Vs Call To Value (CTV)

First things first, let’s distinguish between two very similar terms: calls to action (CTAs) and calls to value (CTVs).

While the two concepts are often used interchangeably, there are some key differences between the two:

• CTAs are typically more direct, while CTVs are more persuasive.
• CTVs provide more context than CTAs, which usually increases their word count and makes them longer.
• CTAs focus on the desired action, while CTVs focus on the benefits of taking that action.

Whether to use a call to action or a call to value depends on the specific situation.

In general, calls to value are more effective when the user is not familiar with the product or service and needs more information to make a decision. Calls to action are more effective when the user is already familiar with the product or service and just needs to be encouraged to take a specific action.

CTAs Vs CTVs

Here are three examples of calls to action:

• Subscribe to our newsletter
• Download our free ebook
• Get a free quote

And the corresponding calls to value:

• Get exclusive access to our latest content
• Learn how to improve your marketing skills today
• See how our product can help you grow

8 Tips For Writing An Effective Call To Action

We’ll use the term “call to action” to refer to both CTVs and CTAs in this blog post. Some of the following tips may be more appropriate for CTVs than CTAs, and vice versa, while others will apply to both.

It’s up to you to decide which type will work best for your specific promo materials.

• Consider your target audience. Are they at the last stage of their customer journey? Do they just need a reason or an invitation to act? Or do they need more convincing? In that case, you may want to craft a longer message that focuses on the benefits of your offer.
• Consider where you’ll place your CTA. Are you writing a CTA for a landing page, email, or another marketing material? This should dictate the placement of your CTA. For example, on landing pages, CTAs usually work best when placed above the fold. In emails, however, they’re usually found in the middle or at the bottom of the body copy. Different placements work better for different purposes, so make sure to consider them in advance.

Also, keep in mind that you don’t need to apply all of these tips to a single CTA or CTV — that could be overkill. Use as many as make sense.

1. Make it Clear and Specific

Give potential readers a crystal clear CTA by:

• Using an active verb at the beginning of your call to action like “download”, “subscribe”, “sign up”, etc.
• Specifying one clear next step the reader should take
• Highlighting the action verb and link so it stands out when readers scan your page.

Examples:

• The old version: “Learn more about our product.” (lacks specificity, doesn’t use a very active verb)
• The rewritten version: “Download the free demo now.”

2. List the Main Benefit

You can compel your readers to take action by communicating the biggest benefit they’ll gain by doing so. (Note that this turns CTAs into CTVs.)

• Mention the main advantage of clicking your call to action. Focus on how it will save time, make money or fulfill an important need.
• Speak to your audience’s main motivation by using benefits that matter most to them.

Examples:

• “Save hundreds of hours with our AI-powered tool.”
• “Make an extra $500 this month with these simple tips.”

3. Create a Sense of Urgency

Set a timeframe or deadline to motivate readers to act immediately and create FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out):

• Use phrases like “limited time offer”, “ends soon” or “don’t miss out”.
• Set an expiration date if relevant (e.g. “offer expires in 48 hours”).
• Warn the readers of what happens if they don’t act now (e.g. “seats are filling up fast”).

Examples:

• “Sign up in the next 48 hours to secure the early bird discount.”
• “New members receive bonus features for a limited time. Become a member today to claim yours.”

4. Use Imperative Mood

Speak directly to readers using a commanding tone that demands immediate action:

• Address readers directly: “subscribe now,” “enroll today,” “download instantly,” etc.
• Replace passive phrasing like “you can…” with imperative commands.
• Use active verbs that create a sense of urgency.

Examples:

• “Subscribe now to start saving time today.”
• “Download the free demo to get started right away.”

5. Highlight Social Proof

Use evidence that others are already using or benefiting from your product or offer to build trust and motivate readers to take action.

• Mention relevant stats: number of customers, followers, sales, etc.
• Show testimonials or social shares from influencers and satisfied customers.
• Alternatively, refer to exclusivity or scarcity to make readers feel like early adopters.

Examples:

• “Over 10,000 companies currently use our software to streamline workflows.”
• “As one of the first 100 subscribers, you’ll join a small group of innovators maximizing productivity with our tips.”

6. Short and Scannable

Admittedly, some of our previous CTA examples may be too long for websites and more suitable for emails or social media posts.

So, in case you’re writing a call to action that will be used on a website — or wherever conciseness is a top priority — try to follow these tips:

• Limit the call-to-action text to around 50 characters.
• Use formatting like bold text and spacing for visual emphasis.
• Highlight keywords that stand out when read quickly.

Examples:

• Old CTA: “Click the link to download our eBook now!”
• New CTA: “Download your eBook →”
• Old CTA: “Get the special discount for a limited time!”
• New CTA: “Get a special deal →” or “Limited offer→”

7. Make Your Call To Action Stand Out

Follow these simple design principles to ensure your call-to-action buttons command attention and motivate action.

• Use white space. Surround your CTA button with ample padding to make it clearly visible.
• Contrast button colors. Use bold or bright colors that contrast with your background and stand out.
• Consider placement. Place CTAs under your header, after your intro, and/or at the bottom of the page to capture readers’ attention.

Simple design choices like these can have a major impact on the effectiveness of your CTA buttons. So test different buttons for size, color, copy, and placement to determine which design prompts the most clicks and conversions.

8. Test Multiple CTAs

Finding the perfect call to action (CTA) for your audience can be tricky, even when you do “everything right.”

It may take some trial and error, so make sure to test different approaches before committing to any one particular message, especially if you’re using CTAs in paid campaigns.

Here’s what to test:

• Different benefits. Try emphasizing different benefits of your services or products in your ads, and see which ad version or method produces the best results. Switch between highlighting emotional benefits, cost savings, or another unique benefit specific to your product to see what grabs people’s attention.
• Play with urgency. Compare CTAs containing phrases like “limited offer” and “act now” against CTAs with no urgency elements.
• Passive vs imperative. In most cases, CTAs in the imperative mood work best, but this may not be true in your particular case. Maybe your audience prefers a more laid-back or gentler approach. Make sure to test this, too.
• Placement. Where do you put your CTA? Above the fold? In the text? At the bottom? Experiment and see what gets the most clicks. This is especially important for website or in-app CTAs.
• Design. Customize colors, shapes, sizes — anything you can to make your call to action stand out. Test what works best.
• Wording. Play with the phrasing and emotional hooks to find what really resonates with your audience.

In order to adequately test different CTAs, you need to track certain metrics. The two that may be the most important are your conversion and click-through rates (CTRs).

• CTR is the percentage of people who clicked on your CTA compared to the total number of visitors or impressions. It shows how well your CTA is grabbing attention and encouraging action.
• Conversion rates track the percentage of visitors who completed the desired action after clicking on the CTA. This action could be making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a form. It indicates how effective your CTA is at driving actual results.

Other metrics to track

Depending on your goals, you may also want to track some other, more specific metrics. For example, you could track:

• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). CLV measures the total value a customer brings to your business over the entire relationship. It helps determine the profitability of acquiring and retaining customers. Tracking CLV can guide decisions on customer acquisition costs and strategies to improve customer retention.
• Customer retention rate. This metric measures the percentage of customers who continue to engage with your brand and make repeat purchases over a specific period. A high customer retention rate indicates customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• Churn rate. Churn rate measures the percentage of customers who stop using your product or service over a specific period. A low churn rate is a positive sign, indicating that customers are staying engaged and finding value in your offerings.
• Average Order Value (AOV). AOV calculates the average amount spent by customers on each transaction. Increasing AOV can lead to higher revenue and profitability without necessarily acquiring more customers.
• Repeat purchase rate. This metric tracks the percentage of customers who make multiple purchases within a defined time frame. A high repeat purchase rate shows strong customer loyalty and ongoing interest in your products or services.
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). CAC measures the cost of acquiring a new customer. By comparing CAC with CLV, businesses can assess the cost-effectiveness of their marketing and sales efforts.

5 Call To Action Examples

Let’s go over some examples of how CTAs are used in different ways, depending on the promo material in which they’re used.

#1 CTA Example: Google Ads

Dropbox’s Google Ad has at least four sales-oriented calls to action:

• (1) Save and access your files from any device, and share them with anyone.
• (2) Try Dropbox Today.
• (3) Join over 700 million registered users who trust Dropbox (…).
• (4) Find the best plan for you & get your free trial today.

Google Ad for the keyword “dropbox”

Each link in the ad could also be considered a separate CTA, as it grabs attention and invites readers to click and learn more. That’s why the language used in page titles matters, too, when it comes to Google Ads.

Dropbox uses it to further entice people to learn more about their products, services, and company.

Additionally, advertising on Google comes with certain restrictions, one of which is a maximum character number limit. This is where being concise and brief really comes into play.

You need to use direct sentences, and pack as much meaning into as few words as possible:

Google Ad for the keyword business coach

Note how the “CTA buttons,” a.k.a. links, point to a different set of pages here, namely the Services and About Me pages. This makes more sense for businesses offering more personal, direct services or relying on personal branding to make sales.

#2 CTA Example: Email Subject Lines

You can also place calls to action in your email subject lines. In that case, their job is to get subscribers to click and open the email.

As an example, consider this subject line from Pam Moore:

It does a solid job of sparking curiosity and enticing people to click.

If you had a more direct offer, you could also consider using urgency in your subject lines.

#3 CTA Example: Email Subject Line + Email Body

The email body can and often does contain CTAs, too. This is the case when an email is meant to take a reader elsewhere — to the checkout, a landing page, and so on.

Here’s how Kyle Milligan, an ex-Agora Financial copywriter, does this:

Kyle Milligan’s subject line

Note that the subject line doesn’t contain a typical CTA. It doesn’t use the imperative mood nor describe exactly what the reader will get by taking action — and this is precisely what works in this case.

As Kyle explains in his email, this subject line is meant to spark curiosity more than anything else.

Notice that his email body contains two more CTAs — one more mystery-building, and the other more direct and specific.

The point is: you don’t need to follow strict rules when crafting your CTAs. Play around with them until you find what works, or learn the rules first so you can intentionally break them later.

Here’s one example of an email body CTA that does follow some of our aforementioned “rules.” It’s clear, specific, creates a sense of urgency, and lists the main benefit — getting 15% off.

LearnWorlds’ promo email

#4 CTA Example: Home Page

Every home page needs at least one CTA.

For SaaS businesses, the CTA is usually as simple as “Sign up for free” or “Get [account/product],” emphasizing the ease of taking action.

Canva’s home page

Venmo’s home page

SaaS businesses often further emphasize the ease of signing up by offering people to do so via their Google accounts.

Slack’s home page

Businesses selling physical goods may need to use more direct, sales-oriented CTAs.

Rootless’ home page

Service-based businesses, on the other hand, often need to qualify their customers before offering a service that aligns with their needs.

In that case, they may need to add multiple CTAs to their home pages.

QuickenLoans’ home page

RocketMortgage’s home page

Uber’s home page

Here are a couple of additional examples of home page CTAs.

Google uses the CTA “Try Drive For Work” to call out their target audience and give a more specific idea of how the product can be used.

Google Drive’s home page

Dropbox, on the other hand, immediately invites users to find a suitable plan.

Dropbox’ home page

#5 CTA Examples: Landing Page

Landing pages always need CTAs. A company selling an AI writing assistant, called Jasper, uses two:

• “Try Jasper Free” emphasizes the ease of taking action and the risk-free aspect.
• “Request Demo” offers a viable alternative for more indecisive customers.

Notice the different designs of these two CTA buttons. One is highlighted and draws more attention, which can lead us to conclude that this is the company’s preferred course of action.

Jasper’s landing page

A company specializing in car insurance uses a simple main CTA — “Get a quote” — and makes taking action incredibly easy.

Progressive’s landing page

Compare that to another CTA, like “Contact Us”, which may require more heavy lifting on the customer’s part.

InfoConsulting’s landing page

5 Extra Tips To Make Your CTAs Way More Powerful

Now that you’ve nailed the basics of crafting effective calls to action, let’s go over a few more “pro tips” that will help you make them even more compelling.

1. Use Numbers

Numbers can be used in many different ways. When related to social proof, they can help you build trust in your brand:

• Join over 2,394,242 subscribers

Numbers can also be used to point out the price. This type of CTA is often used when an item is on sale or is one of the cheaper options on the market.

• Get a 50% discount
• Only $99/month

Lastly, numbers can be used to make our CTAs more specific, trustworthy, and enticing.

• Increase your conversion rate by 20% with this trick
• 10x your YouTube views
• Get 10 qualified LinkedIn leads a day
• Fill out a 2-minute form
• Get expert advice in less than 24 hours

2. Mention An Emotion Or State

Make your readers feel like you “get them” by mentioning a specific emotion or state of mind you’ll help them get rid of or achieve in your call to action. For example, consider saying:

• Feel instant relief instead of Buy a soothing cream, or
• Put an end to nightmares instead of Order sleep supplements.

This ties well with our next tip.

3. Promise Success

Whether you want to boost your website traffic or immediately get someone to buy, here’s a surefire way to get people to click on your CTA:

Promise them something they want, not just resources that would help them attain it.

If you’re selling a product or service, you’re selling a resource that helps your customers attain a goal. However, it’s not really your product or service they want–it’s the achievement of that goal.

So, instead of focusing on the resource, focus on their awesome goal. Try saying:

• Get great at writing today instead of Try our writing assistant, or
• Start getting booked out faster than ever instead of Book a consultation today, or
• Increase your conversion rates instead of Tweak your CTA messaging, or
• Become a better marketer instead of Read our article.

The goal is to paint an image of what their life will look like once they start using your product or service in order to eicit enthusiasm.

4. Remove Risk

Good marketers will tell you that the easier you make it for customers or clients to buy from you, the better for your bottom lines.

Customers want an easy buying experience, and a part of that is making it risk-free.

This helps persuade people into taking action even if they’re not entirely sure if it’s the right one yet. Here are a few methods you can use when crafting your CTAs to make your offer feel safer:

• Offer free trials, demos, or consultations. Schedule a free demo with our team. Start creating landing pages for free. Start your 30-day free trial.
• Offer guarantees. Love it, or get your money back. See results in the first 90 days or get a full refund.

This strategy can be especially useful for new, not-yet-established businesses.

5. Make It Personal

Address the person you’re talking to directly. It’s as simple as including “you” in your CTAs:

• Set up your account
• Save your favorite articles here

By making the CTAs personal and speaking directly to the individual, you create a stronger sense of connection and relevance, increasing the likelihood of them taking action. It shows that you understand their needs and are offering solutions tailored to them.

Wrapping Up

The ultimate goal for any marketer is converting more leads into customers, and writing effective calls to action is a crucial part of reaching that goal.

So, take the tips from this article and start testing different CTA formats, styles, and wordings on your own website, emails, and ad creative right away.

Don’t be afraid to experiment — try new designs, include more curiosity hooks, highlight urgency or different benefits. Just keep testing, measuring, and refining your CTAs until you find the magic combination that works for your audience.

Every tweak, every improvement gets you one step closer to dramatically boosting conversions and growing your business. So get started now.

Craft better calls to action today — and enjoy those higher conversion rates and larger profits tomorrow.