How To Write Compelling Call-to-Actions For Email

When you create email marketing Call-to-Actions, you will already have a goal in mind. This could be to get your audience to sign up for a service or to purchase goods. Whatever your goal, your copy needs to achieve it using compelling call-to-actions.

But what is compelling? Surely using a simple call-to-action such as “sign up” will suffice? It tells the audience what you want them to do and appeals to the primitive part of their minds that follow the crowd. But stop a minute. Did your audience wake up this morning and think mmm I need to sign up to something, or did they wake up with a problem or need?

Ah, lightbulb moment! The thing that really makes a call-to-action compelling is its solution to your audience’s problem or need. So keeping this in mind, we have put together 10 tips to mould your call-to-action into a truly compelling piece of copy magic.

1. Be action orientated – you do still want to appeal to that little voice inside your audience’s mind that wants to follow the crowd, so tell them to take action. Use verbs to encourage action such as “Download” or “Register”
2. Answer a problem – your audience thinks about themselves rather than your business. It is a very simple but painful fact. Appeal to this inward looking thought process by including how you solve a problem or need for them.
3. Tell users what they can expect – Another good tactic is to inform your audience exactly what they can expect when they click on your call-to-action. Being too vague with your call-to-action can put some people off from clicking.
4. Create time limits – You may actually have a time limit on your offering, but if not employ the scarcity tactic anyway and imply a time limit. Use words such as “now”, “limited” and “today”.
5. Get them motivated – Use words such as “get” which have been shown to motivate people into taking action. For example “Get ebook now”.
6. Use the first person (sometimes) – Remember your audience tends to think about themselves rather than your business. To try and tap into their psyche you can use the first person. For example: “Get my ebook”.
7. Keep it short – It is recommended that you keep your call-to-actions short. It keeps your messages concise and easy to read, but there are also practical reasons for this. If you keep your message between 2-3 words long it should fit onto mobile devices easier. Any longer and your button will either break across lines or be too small to read.
8. Think about the design – Ensure the entire email is visually striking and has copy that compels the audience to go to the Call-to-Action button. You can do this by using a contrasting colour and locating the button in an easy-to-find spot that follows the flow of the email.
9. Be mobile friendly – Make sure the button is large to make it easy for audiences using mobile devices to click on it.
10. Repeat – Finally, repeat your call-to-action in your headline and email copy. This trick is used by conversion copywriters all the time so it is worth trying in your emails as well. Test it out and see.

REMEMBER: Before you can even get to the call to action you need your audience to open your email. You can find out how to write awesome subject lines.

If you need help to create compelling calls-to-actions in your emails, then we would be more than happy to help. Give us a call on 01536 560 435.