Write the perfect email call to action

Every word counts

You might be tempted to place your call to action, or CTA, at the very end of your email. But when you’re dealing in emails, keep in mind that every word counts. Most readers won’t delve too deeply into what you write, choosing instead to skim over your words to find only what interests them.

As a result, a one-line CTA at the end of an email might very well be ignored.

The best way to overcome this is to write each email with a single purpose in mind. Begin your email with a focused subject line, write targeted copy and present your call to action multiple times.

Pick a focus

It might be tempting, but you should always avoid covering multiple topics in one email. You might save a little time by bulking a few things together, but the time you save will cost you sales.

If your merchandise is toy cars, for instance, don’t announce a new product and a sale in the same email. Not only will it confuse customers (Is the new toy on sale? Is this an existing toy on sale? Why isn’t the new toy on sale if other things are? etc), it’ll divide their focus.

If the email is only half focused on promoting a new product and half focused on promoting a sale, it might not motivate customers enough to engage with either! And if they do click though, chances are they’ll pick between one or the other. 

Therefore, you should always narrow your focus when it comes to sending emails.

Decide on a game plan

Once you have decided what you want to achieve, you need to decide on a game plan.

Say you (as the toy car business) decide to write two separate emails.

In the first you focus on the new car toy. Most businesses would simply share a photo of the toy and say, ‘buy now’, but that’s hardly enticing.

You know your game plan is sell the new toy car. So now you have to work out how.

Your best bet is to get into the head of your customer. Why would they want to buy your product? What does your product, or sale, or exclusive offer give them that they can’t get anywhere else? What’s the benefit?

Try to think of who your target audience is and what they want. Here are some examples;

- A mattress company selling discounted blanket covers might write ‘stay clean’ instead of ‘buy now’, knowing that customers who buy from them are concerned about hygiene.

- A drinks company releasing a new, brightly coloured spirit might promote the product with a ‘special student price’, prompting its target customers to click through.

- The toy car company could write ‘start your engines’ instead of ‘learn more’, keeping its marketing fun and light.

How to design your Call-To-Action

If there’s only one thing you take away from this article, let it be this: ditch the generic, and look for unique.

If you want customers to remember you, or engage with you, you need to be memorable. Keep your focus sharp and clever.

If you want a call to action that works, keep these things in mind:

1. Don’t divide your readers. Each email should have an express purpose. Reflecting that, every call to action in a single email should link to the same thing. You can have multiple links and buttons, but keep the purpose of them identical.

2. Keep it simple! Even though you can embed multiple buttons and links in a single email, don’t go overboard.

3. When it comes to email layout, visual emails tend to work best with buttons, and text emails with in-text links. An in-text link text is one which shows up in bold text and is clickable.

4. Keep experimenting! You might find your audience reacts best to call to actions placed midway through your emails, or at the beginning and end.

5. When you design buttons or in-text links, always write actively with the intent to engage. Rather than writing ‘buy now’, write, ‘get yours’. Make it about the reader! Get our new bedsheets is more likely to receive a click than buy here is, especially when it comes to skim readers.

- Lena Klein