Email Call to Action Best Practices (with Examples)
The main goal of all email marketing campaigns is to convince the customers to purchase your products, in other words — to make people do what you want and need them to. You can achieve your goal with Call to Action (CTA) Words in your newsletters.
No matter how beautiful and creative your message is, if it doesn’t persuade to action, there’s a very poor chance that your potential customers will ever even visit your website.
So, is it reasonable to discuss the necessity and efficiency of email call to action campaigns? Noo! Because in case you do everything as it should be done, the newsletters will only help you raise your business.
Today we are going to discuss how to improve your Call to Action newsletters.
Every marketer has his/her own ways to capture clients’ attention, small secrets on how to win customers’ hearts and love, and own bad or good experience in creating and using new email marketing call to action campaign.
So let’s take a look at some email CTA best practices, use of which will only increase CTR, and CTOR consequently.
CTA best practices
1. Do not overwhelm your potential consumers with information
A perfect CTA helps the customers make the only right decision. Thus, in your newsletter, there must be just one call to action, focused on your main goal. You may even repeat it several times. It will help the consumers not to get lost on your site and they won’t be distracted by extra unnecessary options.
There are many examples when a big number of options in the letter confuse the customers and they do not really understand what the purpose of the email is. The efficiency of such campaigns is low.
2. But if you please, you can give your customers a choice
People hate to know they are obligated or forced, which is even worse, to do something. We prefer to feel that our decisions depend on us only. And you, with your value proposition, just ease lives, as you know our tastes and have already found the best products for us.
Actually, it is a good idea, which lets you strike two goals with one shot: when you let people choose between two items on YOUR site, and you gather their preferences; consequently, this information can be used eventually for your next call to action emails.
3. Make sure the action button is bright and visible
The magic button should be of a different color. Use different colors. In case the font colors are pale, cold, the button color should be painted in bright and warm color. Warm colors attract people. Want your customers to notice this button? Make sure it is placed in the center of the page/letter and its size is 44×44 pixels at least (then it will be visible on smartphones, as well).
4. Design your letter and the button
When creating your message, please pay high attention to its design. It should be unique, interesting, include anchor links and pictures. Very easy to do it with the help of our website.
There are many effective templates on Stripo, which can already be used in your newsletters. You just need to insert your logo, your information, add your links, change fonts, and voilà: the letter is ready to be sent.
Add link, give it a name. That’s it. Easy Peasy!
5. Call to action email subject lines should be catchy
Find an interesting and enchanting name for your letter. People receive about 20 newsletters per day. And you need to work hard to make them at least open your letter. Make the subject line unusual, impressive, clear and provoking. It may not show the real subject of the letter, but can be just indirectly connected with it.
Please, take a look at this example. In fact, they just sell old music hits of 70–80s. And if the subject line had been that simple, many people would have just deleted this message without even opening it. But the name “Your Time Capsule” made people read the message to find out what it was all about. Make them interested in what is inside.
6. Urge the customers to purchase right away
Add “today” or “only this week you can get this item for 25% off”. When people see messages like these, they think they are going to miss the chance and hasten to make a purchase right away. Make the customers believe they need to hurry.
7. Make sure you use the first person singular pronouns
The button line should not say ordinary “buy”. It can probably say “Yes, I want it” or “I want to add this item to my cart”. Confess it, there are no sweeter words than “I”, “My”, and “Me”. These simple pronouns get our attention immediately. Don’t hesitate to use them for your email campaign. Statistics say that this kind of messages increases CR up to 90%. Proven!
8. Add action-inducing words
Once again, I want to emphasize that the main purpose of marketing is to make people buy your products. Be sure you include call to action words in email campaign. There is a big amount of the CTA words you can use in your messages. And we suppose, you already have your own word list.
But here are some examples of the most used action to call words:
- Open
- Open here
- Get free trial now (you can replace it with “Let us help you”)
- Shop
- Purchase
- Add to Cart
- Look inside
- Get it now
- And many more
9. Mention the Purpose
When contacting a customer for the first time, explain why you are writing to him/her. Either you can help him/her in solving a problem, or in finding what he/she has been seeking for, or you know a good place to dine with friends during the weekend.
10. Reach your target audience
If your goods are just for female part of the humanity, no need to send it to men. Just a waste of your time and efforts. Please mention the target audience either in the name of your letter or in the beginning of it.
Let me tell you a short story: years back this person was not famous and worldwide known as he is now. When the psychologist started his first email call to action campaign, he addressed his messages just to girls. He started with “My dear women”, or “Is it difficult to be a good mom and wife?”, “Tired to trying to be a good daughter?”.
Of course he was aware he would send his messages to women only, but in the subject line with such phrases he emphasized his intention to talk to girls only.
11. Earn the customer’s trust
Then further in the letter, the very psychologist explained the reason why he would contact girls, and why they needed to read the message to the end.
He said he understood their pain of being lonely or of living with the wrong man. He made women think or even believe he knew them all personally. And also he promised to help each and every one of them, even mentioning the psychological methods which he might use. This way the psychologist earned their trust. And as you have guessed, the CTR of this newsletter was extremely high. The whole campaign was ultimately effective.
By the way, his button said: “Yes, I want to improve my life” and “Yes, I am ready for changes”. As we see, he used: creative letters, addressed them to the target audience (even without personalizing them), showed his care, designed the button, which was not only unique but also contained the first face singular pronoun “I” and he offered the way out. This is one of the best Call to Action email Examples.
Summary
Considering the creative psychologist’s newsletter and everything mentioned above, we see that you need to:
- show your (sincere!) interest in your target audience
- you have to offer them the way out, be it a good book to read on a rainy day, or online consulting on time-management, a perfect killing perfume or a cream against wrinkles, or even a perfect hotel to spend weekend at
Only then the customers will follow you.
As you see, email call to action marketing has its rules, to be honest, it has many rules. But the good news is that as long as you stick to them all, success will come soon.
Of course, you need follow the rules mentioned above, but do not be afraid to use new ideas. Turn your craziest email marketing call to action ideas into life. You know your customers well and have probably learned their preferences.
At the end of the post I would like to say: we showed you 11 email CTA best practices. And now it is up to you to decide whether to follow them, or implement just your own ideas. In any way, we wish you best of luck in your email call to action campaign.
Share your experience with us and others :)
