How to Write a Call to Action

1 Use Active Language

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The first tip for writing motivating calls to action is to start with a commanding, active verb. Think about the most common calls to action you see online:

• Find out more
• Buy now
• Download for free
• Unlock your discount

All of these start with an active verb, and use imperative language – they’re telling the user exactly what to do. In fact, they sound almost bossy!

This makes it clear exactly what you want the user to do, removing any doubt that they might have about what they should do next. It also inspires action – imagine if you saw a call to action that read:

“A discount is available if you want.”

Does this language fire you up and make you want to click? Probably not – it’s not even clear how you should go about getting your hands on the discount! This also highlights the importance of being specific. You need to be crystal clear about what you want your visitors to do, and exactly what they’re going to get out of it.

By using active and specific language instead of doubtful, vague, or passive language, you’re setting the user up to take action themselves – and increasing your chances of getting clicks!

2 Be Direct and Personal

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Which call to action are you more likely to click on?

1. Get a discount
2. Unlock your discount

Hopefully, you’d rather choose the second one, because it’s key to our second step for writing winning calls to action. You should always directly address your users using words such as “you” and “your” – this helps people to feel a personal connection and sense of ownership over whatever you’re offering.

You should avoid general language or referring to your users in the third person – such as “People can get their discount here” – because this prevents your users from connecting with your call to action.

If you want to go a step further in connecting with your users, you can write them in first person – for example: “Claim My Discount!” This creates a much greater sense of ownership and makes users feel as though they have more control over the decision to click.

Unbounce found that changing button text from “you” to “me” resulted in a 90% uplift in conversions!

3 Focus On Benefits

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When you’re writing calls to action it can be easy to get caught up in what you want out of it. You want people to click, and convert, so that you can reap the benefits – whether that’s more people reading your ebook, or buying your products, or joining your newsletter.

The trouble is, most users don’t care what you get out of it – they want to know what they can get out of it!

This is why it’s important to write benefit-focused calls to action. The first step here is to identify and understand the problem that your users are facing, and how you can solve this problem. You then use this angle to lead your call to action copy.

For example, will your ebook help entrepreneurs double their sales? Or will your product last five times longer than your competitors’? These are the kinds of things to be thinking about when writing your calls to action.

Instant Gratification

Another tactic here is to make the most of people’s desire for instant gratification. This is simple enough to do, by using words such as:

• Now
• Today
• Instantly
• In seconds

And then make sure that you live up to your promise, so that your email or download is sent straight away. If you’re selling physical products, don’t promise that you can deliver instantly, but do send a confirmation email quickly along with delivery information.

Social Proof

Social proof is a phenomenon where people are more likely to do something if they see other people doing it first. It’s a classic case of kids wanting the same toys as they’re friends – as it turns out, none of us really grow out of that phase!

You can use social proof to highlight the benefits of whatever it is you’re promoting, while at the same time encouraging people to engage with your call to action. If you have data about how many people have downloaded your ebook, for example, shout about it in your call to action.

By telling people how many others have already signed up, used, or bought your product, it makes them more likely to trust and be interested in your business.

You can even get a real-life testimonial from a customer and incorporate it into your call to action – or place it nearby so that users see them both at the same time. Testimonials have been found to increase conversion rates on sales pages by 34% – so it’s worth a try!

Crazy Egg is a master of creating effective calls to action – this example combines many of the tactics we talk about in this guide, but its use of social proof and instant gratification particularly stand out:

Highlighting the word “instantly” in green plays on our need for instant gratification, and putting the number of websites using Crazy Egg is a prime example of leveraging social proof. This call to action also uses a first person button and clearly shows what the benefit to the user is – to make their website better!

4 Create Urgency and Curiosity

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Humans are pretty predictable when it comes to both urgency and curiosity.

When told not to look in a box, we can’t help but take a peek at the first chance. And whether it’s panic buying toilet rolls or rushing to the sales, we also have a strong fear of things selling out before we can get our hands on them.

While both Pandora’s Box and panic buying both have less than ideal effects on society, you can leverage both urgency and curiosity for good with your calls to action.

Creating Urgency

Now, when we say urgency we don’t mean strike fear and panic into the hearts of your audience. Instead, show that there’s a limited time or amount for customers to get their hands on, whatever it is you’re offering.

You can do this by having a countdown timer showing how long is left on the offer, or by actually showing the number of products left available. You should also use urgent language, such as:

• Limited time only
• Selling fast
• Don’t miss out
• Now
• Soon
• Hurry
• Sale ends soon

Be careful of being too pushy – you want to trigger people’s FOMO (fear of missing out) so that they want to get in on your offer. You don’t want to panic or overwhelm them so that they exit your website in a hurry!

Fostering Curiosity

Curiosity is a powerful way to capture attention, spice up your call to action, and boost conversions!

The key here is to use questions. Why are all your plants dying? How can you double your internet traffic? What is the secret to fitness success? Make your users want to know the answer, and make it clear what they need to do to find out, whether that’s downloading your free ebook or signing up to your newsletter.

5 Use Persuasive Language

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It’s time to get persuasive!

If you follow the steps we’ve already gone through, you’re already well on your way to creating a persuasive and powerful call to action. You can give it an extra edge by using some persuasive tactics – start off by using power words in your calls to action.

What are power words?

These are words that trigger an emotional response in your readers – you shouldn’t overuse them, but sprinkling them through your copy can have huge effects. Teespring added a few power words to its calls to action and saw a 12.7% increase in conversions!

There are hundreds of power words, but here are a few examples:

• Exclusive
• Savings
• Ultimate
• Sneak peek
• Unbelievable
• Free
• Simple
• Intriguing
• Forbidden
• Successful

You can see how these words could spice up an otherwise boring call to action and catch a reader’s immediate interest. Remember not to use them too much though, or you’ll sound salesy and sleazy.

OptinMonster give us a great example of how to use power words effectively with its homepage call to action:

Words such as “now”, “monetize”, “powerful” and “instantly” are all designed to trigger an emotional response in the reader – and the visual on the right supports this idea of action and change.