Email marketing is still the no.1 marketing tactic out there.
If you do email marketing, then you probably know that, while getting people to open your emails is quite challenging. It is just half the battle. You also have to focus on making sure you convey the right message and convince the prospect to take action.
Several factors play a part in the success of your email campaigns, and one of the crucial elements here is the ‘email call to action.’
As per Wordstream, a single CTA button can increase your CTR by 371%!
Well-delivered email CTAs can help you get a higher click-through rate (CTR) and increase the success of your email marketing efforts to a great extent.
In this article, you get an idea of how you can use email call to action to get the maximum results.
We will cover different scenarios and provide several examples to help you plan CTAs for different types of email campaigns for your business.
So let’s dive in!
Compelling Email Call to Action Ideas To Get Better Results
When preparing your email, it is possible to use a call to action in various areas of your emails, such as the subject link, the copy, or the button.
Many even consider using a curated CTA just below the email signature, while others like to include multiple CTAs on the same email.
Let us look at each scenario along with some examples so that you can decide on a proper CTA for your next email campaign.
1. Email CTA Button
The most common form of email CTA is the button. You will notice that most marketing emails you get nowadays contain a button. That’s because a button can be easily customized to grab the attention of the reader.
You may use a contrasting color, attractive font, a suitable button shape & size, and good actionable button text. All of these together act as a single form of call to action.
However, the real challenge here is deciding on the button text, which really is the main CTA here. Since the button is supposed to stand out in the whole email, the action you want the reader to take depends a lot on what you ask him to do.
Let us look at a few examples to understand the various button CTAs you may use.
- Open Invitation CTA
Some emails are not directed to take a specific buying action. Rather they are sent to invite people to start taking action toward a decision. For example, you could ask a prospect to browse through your e-commerce shop with a CTA “Shop Now,” or you may invite a prospect to try out your new free software with a CTA “Get Started Now.” These will make the prospect curious, and most people will visit the page you want them to visit.
- Authority Gaining Email CTAs
You may want to give away a free resource or offer a free trial to your prospects for your products. The CTAs could be a basic “Download Now” or “Get Your Free Trial.”These are common CTAs used in software or digital product campaigns that are aimed at getting authority and trust from prospects.
- Committed Action CTA
When hosting events or launching some sort of program, you either want to invite more people or spread the news. So the button CTA for such emails will be as simple as “Register Now” or “RSVP Today,” which will directly tell the reader what to do. But, you can do more. These are CTAs that are asking for commitment-based actions. Hence, they will make the reader ask the questions “What” and “Why” they should take this action. As a result, they will read the email with more interest.
- Traffic Generation CTA
Suppose, you have an announcement post, a new blog, or a new video you just posted. You want your prospects to take a look. In this case, you want to send an email where you explain why the person should read or view your content. In such emails, the CTA’s will be straightforward, such as “Learn More” or “Discover Now.” The success of these CTA really depends more on the email copy.
- Discount offer Button CTA
If you are trying to offer a discount or a coupon to convince the buyer to make a purchase, then a CTA text such as “Claim Your Discount” or “Use Your Coupon Now” can be a good option. The idea is to request the user to claim his benefit, i.e., the discount, rather than asking him to make a purchase – a good psychological CTA.
There could be many other scenarios. Overall, the CTA button is a way to make the user feel that they should take action. But the important part here is for you to decide what you want the prospect to do after reading your email. Based on that, you should decide on the CTA button text for your emails.
2. CTA on Email Subject Lines
While CTAs within emails are great, you may often use CTAs don’t the email subject line to get a higher email open rate.
Let us look at some email CTA examples for subject lines.
- Ask to claim certain benefits
You may use CTA in the subject line where you ask the prospect to get the benefit you will offer. For example, “Grab the opportunity to lower your design costs.”
- FOMO on the subject line
It’s a simple marketing approach where you ask the prospect to take action so that he doesn’t miss something exciting. For example, “Only 10 spots left – Don’t miss the chance to join the Scrum Bootcamp.”
- Focus on discount
You may highlight the discount you are offering and ask the user to claim it right in the email subject line. For example, “Get the newest email marketing tool now at 50% off!”
- Curiosity-focused CTA
Some prospects often respond to curiosity-focused subject lines such as “Getting 10x sales with $100 only! Learn all about it now!” Here, I mentioned the end result to get the prospect curious about what could be in the email and then used a CTA to ask him to open the email and find out more.
Adding proper CTAs on the email subject line, if done right, can help improve email open rates significantly.
3. CTA on the email copy
While email buttons are obvious CTAs, you can also add other CTAs to the email copy. Depending on your achievement goal, You can add a CTA on the email headline, or as part of the text content in the email body.
Let us look at a few scenarios.
- The Nurturing Emails’ CTAs
Lead nurturing is an important part of well-planned funnels, and nurturing emails can be tricky. Most people tend to make the mistake of sending a nurturing email with a CTA similar to a promotional email. You have to realize that nurturing emails should not have any immediate action expectations from the prospects. Your goal is to give free value without any commitment from your prospects.
Remember, when sending nurturing emails, do not use any buttons. It will seriously lower the conversion rate of the whole campaign.
You may, however, add a soft CTA to drive them to a place where they can get more similar content. For example, if you shared a tactic on digital marketing in one of the emails, then you could end that email with a soft text CTA such as “Visit xyz.com for more unique digital marketing tactics…” Or, you can add a soft CTA to subscribe or follow your social channel, such as “Subscribe to my Youtube channel for more.” People will find these more humble and authoritative.
- The ‘Prove my worth’ email CTA
Often, you would like to give something the prospect a direct experience of your product/service for free. This is a marketing approach where you let the prospect decide if this is for him/her after getting a live experience. In such cases, a flashy CTA is not required. As long as you can convey the in the email that you want to prove your worth and that there is no obligation, prospects will respond positively. The CTAs for these will be direct such as “Here’s your free trial for 7 days” or “Book a free 30-minute session now.” You can simply keep these texts as the last sentence of your email before the signature in bold format and link them to the sign-up page.
- Helping CTA before the final call to action
When running discount campaigns or a limited offer of some sort, you can use a soft text CTA just before the button. It could be something like “Limited time offer – grab your own discount now!” or “Take advantage of this limited-time offer now.” This will set up the mindset of the prospect to click on the CTA button that you will use immediately after.
- Non-promotional Invitation
Often, a CTA Button may give the wrong idea to readers, who will think there is some promotion you will talk about in the email. In case you are willing to invite people to something that is not promotional but rather beneficial to the prospect, then you could rather use a text CTA. For example, if you want the prospect to join your social community, you could add a text CTA “Join our growing community,” or if you want him to join as a beta tester for your new software, then you may use “Join the beta testers’ list now.” The idea here is to avoid a vibe of promotion while inviting users to join a certain event or group.
- Appointment Booking CTA
If you are asking prospects to book an appointment, then the CTA would be straightforward, “Book your appointment today” or “Schedule an Appointment With Our Expert.” This could be plain text in bullet form at the end of the email copy. It is not necessary that this is a paid booking or a sales pitch. You could simply be asking the person to book a meeting with you when visiting a special event. In such cases, buttons are a big rejection factor.
These are just some scenarios where you may use a text CTA within the email copy. You simply have to understand the purpose of your emails. If it’s not a direct promotional email, then often, using a text CTA over a button can get you more results.
4. Image CTAs
Many large businesses tend to send fully custom-designed emails on special occasions and often rely on images to instigate email call to actions. And there are many creative ways to do that. First, you have to understand where you can use a CTA that will give more value. Because, often, a CTA in the wrong place can get the opposite result.
Let us look at a few scenarios where you may use an email CTA on an image.
- E-commerce promotion email header
It is natural for e-commerce shops to run promotional campaigns. Rather than relying on a long email copy, you could rather use a smart hero image on the email where you can convey the message and initiate a CTA. For example, the image could be structured in the following ways:
– There will be a text stating, “New Arrivals This Summer – 10% Off For This Week”
– Next, use an image to show several of the new products you are referring to.
– On the lower side of the image, add the CTA “Click here to shop now!”
– Link the image to your product category in question.
After the image, you can add a short email copy to convince the buyers further to take action.
- The attractive discount
This is the most commonly used image CTA for all online businesses. It is an image where the discount percentage/amount is shown in big text, along with images of some products that can be bought using this discount. And then, a CTA called “Grab The Discount Now.” If it’s a coupon discount, then the coupon can be mentioned as part of the CTA, such as, “Use Coupon BF20 to claim your discount!”
- The video CTA
We all know videos cannot be embedded in an email. But you can easily create a CTA to view the video using an image. Here’s how:
– Host the video on your website or on sites such as Youtube or Vimeo.
– Create an image of your video thumbnail with an overlay and a “Play Now” button in the center as if to click to play.
– Link the video to this image and set it to open in a new tab.
- Social growth CTA
In your email, you could use images to ask people to follow you on social media. A simple image that shows the icon of the social media, let’s say Facebook, and a text, “Follow me on Facebook,” can be a good way to increase followers. You will also find several Youtubers sending a custom image where the channel owner is pointing toward the “Subscribe button” while a text appears “Subscribe to my Youtube channel now.” In such cases, the whole image is linked to the social page/profile, which the reader can click to visit.
Image CTAs are quite effective during seasonal email campaigns or product launch campaigns.
5. Call to action with the email signature
Using CTAs at the signature is not always productive, but for certain campaigns, they can help with a soft push.
Let us look at a few scenarios.
- Book a call
If you are a trainer or a coach, or an expert that provides some sort of service, then you can ask the reader to book a call with you to talk about your services.
Let’s say you are running email campaigns with informative/actionable content. Then, at the email signature, below your name and designation, you may add a CTA “Need help with your SEO? Book a free call me and let me help you.” Once someone books a call, it’s then your job to use an elevator pitch and convince the prospect to take your service as a solution.
- Community invitation
In your email campaigns, you may invite readers to join your social community with an email signature. Simply add a direct invitation such as “Join the RankTank community and start learning about growth marketing!” If the reader trusts you with your emails, he/she may end up joining the community.
- New product launch
Let’s say you already have a product, and you just launched another new product. Then you may promote it using a CTA along with the email signature on the emails you send to your existing product users. Example: “Check out our newest tool to boost your SEO!” This approach is especially effective when used under support ticket replies and when running launch campaigns for digital products.
- Cross-promotion with discount
Suppose you have two products, Product A & Product B. And let’s say you are running a discount campaign for Product B at the moment. Then you can add a CTA for it with the email signature used for emails sent to the users of Product A. For example: “Get 50% off on Product B and boost your email marketing with AI.” This is a great way to continuously cross-promote discount campaigns without sending promotional emails about another product too many times to your users.
- Course promotion
If you are a course creator, then you may add a CTA to your email signature to promote any new course you have launched recently. E.g., “Earn 3x revenue in 6 months – Join the exclusive course.”
If done right, email signatures can help bring in clients from other email campaigns.
Few Industry-based Email CTA Examples
Now that you know various scenarios on how to use ‘call to action’ in your emails, let us look at a few industry-specific examples based on their email campaigns.
1. E-commerce Industry Campaigns
If you’re running an e-commerce campaign, there are a variety of CTAs you can use to boost sales and engagement.
i. Abandoned Cart Emails
Abandoned cart emails can be an effective way to recover your lost sales. In these emails, you can use a CTA that offers a discount or free shipping to encourage customers to complete their purchases.
Email CTA examples:
- Complete your purchase now and enjoy free shipping!
- Hurry! Only a few items left in your cart. Checkout now!
- Don’t miss out on your dream purchase. Click here to finish your order.
ii. Promotional Emails
Promotional emails include limited-time discounts or deals.
Email CTA examples:
- “Limited time offer: Get 20% off your purchase today!”
- “Shop our sale and save big on your favorite items.”
- “Exclusive deal for our loyal customers: Buy one, get one 50% off.”
iii. Review or Referal Request Emails
Post-purchase emails can be used to encourage customers to leave a review or refer a friend with CTAs that link to a review or referral page.
Email CTA examples:
- “Thanks for your purchase! Leave a review and get 10% off your next order.”
- “Here are some products you may be interested in based on your recent purchase.”
- “Refer a friend and get $20 off your next purchase.”
2. Service-Based Campaigns
If you’re in the service industry, your email CTAs can focus on getting clients to take specific actions.
i. Appointment reminder emails:
Appointment reminder emails may include a CTA to confirm the appointment or reschedule if your client needs it.
Email CTA examples:
- Confirm your appointment now
- Reschedule your appointment
- Click here to confirm your attendance
ii. Referral request emails
Referral request emails can encourage your current clients to refer friends or colleagues, with CTAs that provide incentives for successful referrals.
Email CTA examples:
- Refer a friend and get rewarded
- Share your experience with your network
- Invite your friends to join us!
iii. Customer satisfaction survey emails
Customer satisfaction survey emails should include a CTA that links to a survey or feedback form you’ve created for them.
Email CTA examples:
- Take the survey now!
- Let us know what you think.
- Click here to provide feedback.
3. Non-Profit Campaigns
For non-profit organizations, CTAs can focus on donations, events, and volunteer recruitment.
i. Donation request emails
Donation request emails can usually include a CTAs that links to a donation page or highlights a specific fundraising goal.
Email CTA examples:
- Donate now and make a difference
- Make a contribution today
- Help us reach our goal
ii. Fundraiser Event invitation emails:
Fundraiser Event invitation emails can have CTAs encouraging RSVPs or providing event details.
Email CTA examples:
- RSVP now to secure your spot
- Register for the Fundraiser Event
iii. Volunteer recruitment emails:
You must have the ink to a sign-up form or highlight specific volunteer opportunities for volunteer recruitment emails.
Email CTA examples:
- Sign up to volunteer today
- Join our team of volunteers
- Make a difference by volunteering
Overall, personalized and campaign-based CTAs can help you better engage with your email subscribers and achieve your marketing goals. Using effective CTAs in your campaigns can encourage more clicks and conversions, ultimately driving more success for your business or organization.
Bonus Tips
Apart from knowing how to use proper call to actions in your emails, there are a few more things you can do.
- Optimize your email writing using AI.
Nowadays, ChatGPT or any email tool with an integrated AI content generator, such as Mail Mint, is quite popular. If you are not using it yet, then you should start using it immediately, as you will be surprised how great the output you will get. But do remember, it’s still a machine. This means you have to be very specific with your instructions to generate expected email copies.
To get the right CTA, it’s best to mention in your instruction what type of CTA you want. For example, after instructing on what the email is about, include the sentence “Add a quick CTA on the email signature to join my Facebook community, SEORush.” Then the output will generate a good CTA below the email signature.
- Avoid too much text around the CTA
The CTA is supposed to draw the highest attention to the email body. Hence, avoid adding too much additional text around the CTA. Many people tend to add terms and conditions right below the CTA, which is not a good practice as it can often may the reader lose interest.
- Use UTMs on your CTAs
You may often require to add multiple CTAs in your email. At that point, it may get difficult to track which link performed well as most email clients will only give you analytics of how many times links were clicked in the email. Using UTM will allow you to track the performance of every CTA link you include in your emails via Google Analytics.
Final Thoughts
Effective email calls to action are a must for improving the engagement and conversion rates of your email campaigns. If you invest time in learning when to use which CTA, then your email campaigns can deliver more results in no time.
So go ahead and launch your next email campaign with the best suitable CTA and start getting more conversions easily.
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