What Is a Call to Action (CTA)?

A call to action (CTA) is a marketing term that refers to the next step a marketer wants its audience or reader to take. The CTA can have a direct link to sales. For example, it can instruct the reader to click the buy button to complete a sale, or it can simply move the audience further along toward becoming a consumer of that company's goods or services. The CTA can suggest that the reader subscribes to a newsletter that contains product updates, for example. To be effective, a CTA should be obvious and should immediately follow the marketing message.

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Understanding Calls to Action (CTA)

The nature of the CTA varies by advertising medium. For example, a television ad for a charity organization may end with a CTA that directs people to call a 1-800 number or to visit a webpage, whereas a charity's monthly e-newsletter may just contain a “donate now” button in the body.

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In that vein, there are both hard and soft calls to action, depending on where the customer is in the journey to buy a product. For example, a softer call to action as a customer is simply learning about a new product or brand that may invite them to learn more. Other more direct CTAs have language such as "buy now."

CTAs and A/B Testing

Advertisers have found that data from the CTA represent a prime opportunity for A/B testing, which tests the effectiveness of marketing methods. Wording and appearance matter for conversions. People who shy away from the term “free trial” sometimes react differently to “give it a try” or “access now.” In digital marketing particularly, it is possible to run tests in near real-time, tweaking the CTA as data on click-through rates comes in.

A CTA can be the culmination of an advertisement or merely a step in the process. Sales filters where leads are collected, cultivated, and converted will have multiple CTAs. For example, the process may begin with a CTA for the prospect to try a trial subscription and then continue with several midpoint CTAs to encourage an upgrade. This could be followed with a “final” CTA to maintain access if the lead has not been converted. Next, there may be an additional CTA sent within a certain period after the “last” CTA with a discount or other enticement for the prospect. Each CTA action can be worded differently based both on the last CTA the prospect ignored and the feedback from all potential customers from AB tests.

Digital marketing uses analytical feedback to adjust both the appearance and frequency of CTAs. Print and other traditional media lack feedback mechanisms that can match such immediacy, but there are still audiences that can be reached using these traditional channels. Whether digital or traditional, it is difficult to turn the audience into customers if an advertisement lacks a clear CTA.

7 Tips for a Killer Call-to-Action

1. Use a strong command verb to start your CTA

It’s all about being clear and concise with your CTA. You don’t have a ton of space in your ad to get your point across, with the character limit set at 35 characters per description line, so it is important to get straight to the point. Let your audience know exactly what you want them to do, and don’t dilly dally – start the CTA button with the desired action.

Run an e-commerce website? Start your CTA with words like “buy,” “shop,” or “order”
Promoting a newsletter or white paper? Start your CTA with words like “download” or “subscribe”
Want someone to request more information? Try “fill out a form for…” or “find out how…”

Let’s go back to that white paper example. If you’re a marketing agency promoting your latest tips and insights, you want to be sure that your audience understands exactly how to access that white paper. If your CTA read something like “Our latest white paper is available” you may not get a great click-through rate, as folks might not be sure where or when they can expect to get their hands on it. A call-to-action such as “download our white paper today!” is much more direct and informative, which should help improve CTR.

📘 Free guide >> The 36 Best Call to Action Phrases Ever (& Why They Work)

2. Use words that provoke emotion or enthusiasm

You want to be able to elicit a strong response from your audience as a result of their enthusiasm. If your CTA is enthusiastic, then your audience will be enthusiastic too. Take a CTA like “buy now and get 50% off!” – not only are you providing them with a massive benefit but who wouldn’t be thrilled to get their order for half off?

For someone looking to book a trip with their family, a CTA such as “plan your dream vacation today!” will excite them about the notion of a family trip and make them eager to click on your ad. A small, yet effective element here is adding an exclamation point to the end of your CTA to evoke that enthusiasm. It makes your CTA pop and gives it a little extra kick.

o, find emotional words and phrases to use, check out these 120 words & phrases for marketing with emotion or maybe these 273 emotional trigger words.

3. Give your audience a reason why they should take the desired action

In other words, what’s in it for them? Will it help them do their jobs better, lose weight, or save money? This will tie in heavily with your value proposition, or unique selling point (USP). Your USP is arguably one of the most important pieces of acquiring new leads, so creating a nice USP/CTA mash-up is a great way to increase clicks.

A good example of a call to action here would be something like “call today to schedule your free consultation!” Not only have you stated the action you want the user to take (call today), but you have also provided them with a reason why they should take that action (a free consultation).

4. Take Advantage of FOMO

This is actually one of my favorite tactics when it comes to a successful CTA. Fear of missing out, otherwise known as FOMO, is an extremely effective motivator. When people think they might lose out on an opportunity that might not come around again, they’ll be mighty quick to hop on the bandwagon.

One of the best uses of FOMO in your CTA is to mention a sale or promotion that your company is holding, and which won’t last forever. You probably get emails with this sort of messaging all the time, I know I sure do. I’m talking about messaging like “Shop today! Sale ends on Monday,” perhaps during a three-day weekend. Or even “buy now while supplies last!” during the holiday season. It’s tough to ignore a prompt like that, especially during a time-sensitive, under-the-gun type of situation (e.g. the Christmas season). Similar to provoking enthusiasm as we discussed earlier, provoking fear of missing out on your CTA is sure to get you some additional clicks.

5. Know your devices

Creating a killer call-to-action is important, that’s no secret. But I also urge you to consider customizing your CTA based on the device being used by your audience. Google considers desktops and tablets as the same device, as the screen sizes are roughly the same, and people use them for search in similar scenarios. An example of this would be a person sitting on the couch at night, who sees an ad on TV for a product they’re interested in. The next thing they’ll probably do is grab their laptop or tablet and search for more information on it.

However, mobile devices tend to have different user behavior and search intent than desktop/tablets, making it prudent to tailor your CTA based on the device. Users who search for something on their desktop or tablet are typically still doing their research, and are not quite ready to commit. But users searching for something on their mobile phone are often looking for “instant gratification” or fast results.

Someone could be walking down the street when they see an ad on a moving bus, whip out their phone and quickly search for what they saw before it leaves their brain. Their search will also likely result in a phone call to complete the desired action, rather than browsing a website. My advice is to create a more phone call-centric CTA for your ads that appear on mobile devices. You could try something like “call now to get started” or “call us today for more information,” and that should help guide your target audience to take the action you want them to take.

There are two ways you can make this tactic even more effective:

Google gives you the ability to set a mobile preference for your ads, which allows you to designate certain ads to only appear for searches completed on mobile devices. With this option, you can focus your CTA on generating more phone calls.
You can also enable call extensions, which allow you to display your phone number alongside your ads. This option is available for all devices, and I strongly recommend that you take advantage of it, but Google automatically adjusts the way your call extensions are displayed on mobile searches. Instead of your number appearing, a small “Call” button will be displayed, allowing for one-touch dialing. This is what is known as Google’s “Click-to-Call” function.

6. Don’t be afraid to get a little creative

You must keep your CTA’s fresh, much like you should with your ad copy in general. A good, old-fashioned A/B test is a great way to identify which CTA’s bring you clicks, and which CTA’s bring you frowns. While your tried and true calls-to-action like the ones we’ve already discussed is always good to use, you really never know how they’ll perform in your account until you actually use them.

PPC is definitely a game of trial and error (which is why it can be frustrating!), and your calls-to-action are no exception to the rule. Something could look great on paper or may sound great when a colleague recommends it to you, but the only way you’ll absolutely know for sure if something will work for your account is if you test it out. Your target audience may not respond well to what could be considered a “surefire CTA,” which is enough to make you pull your hair out. I recommend not only testing different CTA’s but being creative with them too. If your target audience isn’t responding well to your ads, you might as well try to think outside the box a bit!

Elisa Gabbert shared some examples of creative CTAs in a blog post if you are looking for some additional inspiration, while Dan Shewan examined what makes some call-to-action examples so effective in a separate post, so do your research!

7. Use numbers when possible

We, consumers, respond well to seeing numbers such as pricing, discounts, promotions, incentives, etc. It helps us to determine whether or not it’s worth splurging on items we desperately want but probably aren’t essential to everyday life. So when the opportunity arises, why not appeal to your target audience that way?

I am always a big proponent of including pricing information in your ad copy in general, and that includes your CTA. If a user sees your pricing information in your ad and decides to click through to your site, then you know they are still interested in the product or service you are offering. Now you know you have yourself a valuable click and an increased chance at generating a conversion. But, if you don’t include your pricing information in your ads, someone may click through to your site, excited about your products/services, but then get scared off by your prices; now you have yourself in a less-than-desirable situation. This leads to the dreaded wasted spend in your account, and who wants to deal with that?

Try experimenting with your pricing information in your CTA, as well as any other applicable numerical information. A CTA such as “Shop today for TVs under $300!” not only shows a user how little they will pay for a TV, but it also hits on the FOMO element as well (pretty sneaky huh?). If you are running a special promotion for shipping, you could try something like “order by Sunday for 1-day shipping.” Maybe you are an auto body shop looking to incentivize your audience with a discount; your CTA might look something like “Book today! 15% off your next visit.”

Honorable mention: Use crappy language

This doesn’t make the top 7, as it can be a little risqué, but it can also be pretty effective in catching someone’s eye. I don’t always recommend trying this, as it can be tough to pull off, but sometimes using negative words can motivate a person to change something they are self-conscious about. For example, if I was on Google looking to lose weight and saw a call-to-action such as “end your crappy diet today,” I might just want to click. Sure, it’s a bit brash, which is why I recommend using this technique sparingly, but it definitely commands attention.

Another example might be if I was looking to fix the brown patches in my lawn. If I was perusing Google and saw an ad with a CTA like “your yard sucks, let us fix it,” not only would I probably chuckle, but I would also probably click – just to see exactly what that lawn company could do for me. You’re walking a fine line with this technique, but it can pay off.

Do you have a preferred call-to-action, or perhaps one that surprised you with how well it did? What about one that you were hoping would perform well but ended up bombing? I’d love to hear about it, so feel free to sound off below!

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