A call to action in writing is the sentence that tells your reader what to do next. It’s the closing line of a persuasive essay that asks the reader to act, the last paragraph of an article that points to the next step, the line in an email that asks for a reply, and the short phrase in an ad or on a page that asks for a click.
Whatever the format, the job is the same: turn agreement into action. That takes the same persuasive writing skills you use everywhere else. Know what your reader wants, answer their objections before they raise them, and ask for one clear thing. Writers who tack a generic “Buy now” or “Learn more” onto the end of their copy leave most of that persuasion on the table.
CTA testing is paramount because it’s not always obvious what needs to happen for your business. Landing page platform Unbounce boosted conversion rates by 90% by changing their CTA copy from “Start your 30-day trial” to “Start my free 30-day trial.”
In this article, you’ll learn how to write a call to action that persuades, then see seven examples of CTA copy and what makes each one convincing. (Looking for marketing CTA buttons on landing pages and homepages instead? See our 22 call to action examples.)
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