How To Write Calls To Action For Campaign Websites, Emails, And Texts That Convert

The words you use to prompt a site visitor, email subscriber, or social media follower to become a supporter – the call to action – are the most important copy for your digital marketing effort. They make or break the effectiveness of your campaign’s website, emails and text messages.

Campaigns devote significant time, budget, and resources to designing websites, editing videos, writing emails, and targeting audiences, but the final step – the conversion – is unfortunately too often an afterthought. That’s like getting the ball all the way to the end zone without having a plan to score a touchdown.

Here are some principles to remember when writing your campaign’s calls to action. 

Empathize With Your Audience

Write with your intended audience in mind. Simply putting them first is a small change that pays big dividends. Instead of saying what you want them to do, you’ll explain how taking an action will benefit them. 

Use Active Language

These are calls to action, after all, so the text should reflect an action. The more specific your action, the more compelling the call to action. Avoid qualifying words like “please,” “consider,” or “if” and focus on direct, urgent responses. 

Always Be Testing

Small changes to your calls to action can mean big changes for your conversion rate. These don’t have to be formal tests, but keep changing up the copy to make it fresh.

Conclusion

Effective calls to action are the key to completing a supporter’s journey through your campaign’s conversion funnel. Capturing attention even for just a few seconds takes a lot of work in today’s crowded media environment, so don’t let a poorly written call to action get in the way of driving action.