CTA writing

Five Essential Email CTA Writing Techniques

You want your email campaigns to generate more engagement and conversions? Of course you do. Don’t know where to start? Tweaking your call-to-action (CTA) writing techniques can make a dramatic impact. When you set up a landing page or write a transactional email for your eCommerce store, make sure your CTAs are worth clicking.

The purpose of a good email CTA

Call-to-actions are the cornerstone of digital marketing. They’re the most significant factor in assessing your ability to reach the goal you intended with your emails.

A powerful CTA tells a consumer what they should do next. Thus, it controls the flow of traffic and ultimately drives conversions. An effective CTA will encourage conversions like sign-ups, downloads, purchases, RSVPs, video views, social media follows, and donations.

Jean Whitehead, from BlazeReviews, says that compared to website CTAs, an email CTA has the extra task of convincing a subscriber to leave their email inbox. This could be a huge risk when it comes to less engaged email recipients or new subscribers who are not ready to put in the extra effort.

With a strong CTA, you can conquer this customer doubt by giving them something they can’t ignore.

This isn’t all easy and that’s why we’ve prepared some essentials to help you out. If you want to maximize your conversions, here are some email CTA writing techniques you should follow.

1. Select the appropriate placement

Some of the most effective email CTA buttons are placed above the fold, which is a prominent location. Whether your recipient is reading your email on a laptop, desktop, or mobile handset, placing your CTA right above the fold ensures they will see it. Furthermore, placing it close to an image will increase its chances of getting more clicks.

A good example is what Ally does by placing the “Learn More” call-to-action right above the fold and next to a shiny image of their credit card. The subscriber first sees a brief message, then an exciting image before seeing the CTA.

example of Ally ad online

Anyone who needs more information before proceeding to Ally’s website can scroll down before seeing the same CTA at the bottom. By using plain, easy-to-read font on a differently colored button, the call-to-action stands out in a manner that will most likely drive engagements.

2. Create a sense of urgency

If you’re advertising a product with a scarce inventory or a time-sensitive offer, always let your email recipients know. This will create a sense of urgency that can help drive instant action. You don’t want to turn subscribers off by promoting an incentive they can no longer take advantage of.

Use time-focused language to write the email CTA. This lets people know that your offer is a limited-time incentive they will leverage by taking action immediately. Besides, make sure you convey the information above the fold to make it more prominent. This way, you will provide instant clarity for your email subscribers, including those who are new on your list.

email call to action

3. Use action-oriented words

While a majority of companies choose to focus on the conventional “Learn More” or “Read More” CTAs, may others find great success using thrilling, action-oriented languages. A few examples? “Sign Me Up”, “Try for Free”, or “Get Exclusive Tips.” This diverse verbiage resonates properly with recipients since it is unusual, exciting, and now-focused.

If you run an eCommerce store, you could implement this approach by inspiring your emails with several action-oriented CTAs. The more popular calls-to-action, like “Find a Store” or “Shop Now,” could be paired with a phrase like “Get it Now” to give your CTA an actionable feel. Repeat these CTAs throughout the email and infuse value propositions to excite your recipients about shopping.

They are calls-to-action, so be sure to use striking and actionable text that will draw your readers in. Skip the monotonous words like “Enter,” “Submit” or “Click here” and use more compelling verbs. Then, couple them with text that relates to your specific offer.

4. Use colors wisely

Color psychology has become a big concept in web design and marketing. In the ocean of internet marketing, color can be the easiest way to stand out from your competition. This is what will get your audience to view and feel what you’d like them to feel, and to perform the actions you want them to.

Unfortunately, a poor color choice can have a negative impact on your message. Get your colors wrong and your subscribers won’t even take a glance at your content or email CTA. So, you have to make a careful selection of colors and juxtapose them effectively.

This draws the attention of your readers and encourages engagement. Calls-to-action which do not stand out among other images, background colors, or text will easily fail.

email

When it comes to color, you want to use something that is eye-catching without being distracting. Some colors seem to work better than others. However, the truth is that your color choices should align with your brand. In addition, contrasting color is the easiest way to ensure your CTAs stand out in your recipient’s inbox.

5. Use first person language

Some marketing specialists say it’s a more effective technique. Using first person language engages people and make them feel like they’re already part of your offer. As a result, your clicks and conversions increase.

On the other hand, it is important to note that such results depend on the offer and the personality of your subscribers. However, it’s definitely worth testing. Why not try it as well? Change your email CTA button to first person – Get my eBook! Reserve my spot!

Now that you’ve learned how to make clear the objectives of your emails as well as the essentials of writing CTAs, it is time to supercharge your email campaigns. Before you send your emails, though, check your list for accuracy. Running it through an email validator will help your campaigns reach the inbox and convert.

Feeling overwhelmed by spam? A tool like Cisdem can help you stop junk email and keep your inbox neatly organized.