Looking to improve your click through rate on your email campaign? Want to boost the efficiency of your landing page? You need to entice the recipient with an alluring Call to Action. You know the text on links and buttons? Things like “Get yours now!”, “Sign up here” or, god forbid, “Submit”. Today we’ll be covering how to get the most out of those. Luckily for you, the marketing world has done some seriously comprehensive research on the best wording for a CTA.

“Start Your CTA Learning Now!”

First things first: start your text with a verb, it puts people in an active frame of mind and more likely to act. Compare “Get your free trial!” with “Trial available here!” – one is a exhortation, the other simply an ad stating a fact. For the same reason, you most often want to invoke positive emotion – “Get your free trial” aims to make you feel excited and ready for action. On the other hand, certain products (fitness related ones for instance) can play effectively on reverse psychology with copy like “Don’t click this button if you’re lazy”.

Don’t leave people to assume about your product’s usefulness, make sure the copy before the CTA itself hammers home how and why it is indispensable so the CTA can land its knockout blow.

Conversely, brevity is key, so keep it snappy. Don’t drown your visitors in words. Succinctly explain to them why they want your product and let them at it. If that seems impossible, a parallel “How it works” CTA might be for you. A link leading to more in depth description can help boost interest from those who might otherwise feel bewildered or those who want the full spiel before committing.

“Make Your Audience Feel Included Today!”

Use personal language to make the reader feel included. Addressing them directly – “claim your free trial” rather than “claim a free trial” – makes the target feel that they are important to you rather than being a faceless number.

“Get Your Free Words Here!”

It may seem obvious but it bears repeating: “free” is always a crowd pleaser. If you are able to offer a trial of your product in some way you’re on to a winner. Folks love them some free stuff and the experience of your product may convince them they love that too. Now you have a new customer. Have you ever heard the storytelling advice “show, don’t tell”? A trial is that rule in action. No need to waste time talking up its pros if you can just let the consumer fiddle with it for a bit.

“Grab Yours Now – Only 1 Paragraph Remaining!”

Creating a sense of urgency, through either time constraints on an offer or scarcity of product, motivates your audience to respond immediately rather than sit and think about it. After all, no one likes to feel like they’re missing out. In a similar vein, a feeling of exclusivity or being privy to restricted info – “Sign up now to get exclusive offers!” – can also be a great motivator. It is worth pointing out however that relying on this one too frequently can backfire. If you always claim to be on a soon-to-end sale then the fear of missing out loses its clout and people start rolling their eyes.