A call to action is a piece of text, often combined with visuals, which tells your prospects what to do next.

When written, designed, and placed strategically on your website, app, or email, a CTA will boost users’ interest in your brand and generate more conversions.

Here are a few steps to take to create an impeccable CTA.

Tell Customers how They will Benefit from Converting

Modern customers are tech-savvy. They know the internet like the back of their heads and they do not want to waste time on offers and deals that have nothing to do with them. No matter how amazing your email marketing software is if you CTA says “Subscribe now,” no one will feel intrigued to click on the link and buy it. To improve your SaaS conversion rate, you would need to come up with a CTA that directly emphasizes the benefits of your app for a user. For example, it could be something like this: “Let’s start creating beautiful emails together” or “Yes, I want to boost my email marketing strategy.”

Make CTAs more Relevant

The purpose of a call to action is to grab users’ attention, inspire them, and convince them to convert. The secret is in the wording you use.

The idea is to show your target audience that you share their goals and values. Above all, your CTA should clearly state what your prospects will get in exchange for their information.

Instead of using generic words like “submit,” “download,” or “purchase,” use more direct ones. Elevate Digital, an SEO Hong Kong-based company, keeps their CTA text straightforward, as in “Schedule time with us” or “Click to call us.”

Another way to humanize your calls-to-action is to use first-word phrasing. For example, instead of “Schedule your meeting,” you could write “Schedule my meeting.” Researchers tested two identical pages with different CTAs – one was written in the first person, while the second was in the second person. The first one received 90% of clicks more. 

Inject a Sense of Urgency

When creating a CTA, your main goal is to inspire prospects to take action right now and not later. That is why you choose the words that would trigger customers’ fear of missing out. That is the main idea behind the implementation of urgency marketing.

Generic phrases can often do more harm than good. Most brands use phrases like “Buy Now” or “Get Started.” However, such uniform messaging will not inspire them to click on the button to find out more. 

Instead, use direct, urgency verbs, such as “request,” “buy,” “get,” or “subscribe.” You should also add adverbs of time, such as “today,” “now,” “this week.” Consider using a countdown timer. Knowing that the offer will not last forever and not wanting to miss out on it, your prospects will convert faster. 

Show Social Proof

Customers do not focus on brand messaging anymore. Instead, they focus on the experiences of their peers. Research studies say that 88% of consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations. Moreover, they are eager to spend 31% more on businesses with excellent reviews.

That is why social proof is a fundamental aspect of your CTAs. It builds trust with your target audience. Seeing that consumers with similar needs or problems have converted, they will do the same. 

To create a CTA that builds trust, you could include a fresh statistic from your recent research. Let’s get back to the example of email marketing software. Instead of “Register for free,” you could write something like “Subscribe to learn why 9 out of 10 customers rate our email marketing software as helpful.”

Use Visuals

Visual cues grab user attention and entice them to click. Logically, searchers are attracted more to a call-to-action supported by a relevant image. 

Dropbox is a perfect example of how significant visual cues can be to your business. In the foreground, you can see the text of the CTA – “Good things happen when your stuff lives here.” In the background, there is an image of the sunset, mountains, a paper airplane, a tablet, and a laptop. When combined, the text and visuals of the CTA send us a straightforward message – no matter where you are, Dropbox will always be there for you.

A/B Test your CTAs

Once you create different versions of your call-to-action, it is time to assess their effectiveness. One of the most reliable ways to do that is to perform A/B tests. 

That means you should submit multiple varieties of your CTA to a sample of your target audience and test how the buttons resonate with them across various channels (website, social networks, email subjects, paid ads, etc.).

There are several variables to test. Some of them are:

• wording
• position
• size
• color

Remember that you should test one variable at a time. Above all, choose groups randomly to make sure that the feedback is unbiased.

Over to You

Create your calls to action strategically. To boost conversions, they need to be convincing, to create urgency, build trust with prospects. Make them aesthetically appealing to grab user attention and maximize clicks. Finally, always perform A/B tests and analyze different CTA elements to learn which ones convert.

I hope these tips will help you!