Email Marketing Call To Action Best Practices

Once your subscriber has opened one of your emails, chances are you are looking for them to take action. This could be reading your latest blog article, or making a purchase from your website. The use of images, words and buttons in your emails are called a Call to Action or CTA, and in this article we’re going to give you three tips on how to best create them and what to consider.

• Write in the first person
• Tone of voice
• Call them to action

Call to Action in Email Campaigns

There’s a reason it’s “call to action” and not “make them act.” You have to invite them in. You have to pull, not push.

Here’s how to make your email’s CTAs work harder. A triple threat, if you like.

Write in the first person

From Jane Eyre to Game of Thrones, first person narrative is a useful technique for directly involving the reader within the story. You can apply this tool to your CTAs.

‍TAKE ME THERE, SIGN ME UP, I'M IN, I NEED A TREAT, TELL ME MORE

‍Put the person in the email. The promotion is meant for them, so include them in the excitement.

Tone of voice

As with all copy, you have to align your CTAs with the tone of your brand. If you're a fun, positive and energetic brand, a basic BUY NOW isn't going to reflect this. Get creative and inject a bit of personality into your CTAs.

‍JUST THE TICKET, SHOP TILL YOU DROP, STEP INTO SPRING, PSST... SNEAK PEEK HERE, TIME FOR TEA, DON'T MISS OUT

‍Although BOOK NOW gets straight to the point and is useful in certain circumstances, it can sometimes read as pushy and perhaps a little dull. Mixing up the CTAs within your emails will help create cohesiveness for your brand's tone and invite the recipient in.

Call them to action

Verbs are the bread and butter of CTAs. To get the person reading the email to act is the whole purpose for the campaign and verbs are another area you can have a free rein of creativity. BOOK, BUY, READ, SEE, LEARN are all useful verbs but if used a lot can render obsolete.

‍JUMP INTO SUMMER, DIVE ON IN, CHEERS TO YOU, CELEBRATE WITH US, TUCK IN, RE-FRESH YOUR LOOK, IMPRESS THEM, ROMANCE THEM, EXPLORE THE ISLAND

‍Again, these have to align with the tone of your brand but having a range of different verbs will entice the reader into clicking through. It will also set you apart from your competitors.

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Call to actions are an area of email which often get overlooked. CTAs are not just the functional button at the end of your offer. They are an exciting opportunity for creativity. They determine that final decision to click or not. By pulling the reader in rather than pushing them to act, your CTAs will have a higher success rate.CTAs should entice, tempt and invite, not push, make, or force.