- [Instructor] So by now, you've inspired your reader
to open the email, and you've held their interest.
It's time to get them to click.
A call to action or CTA has a big impact
on your ability to let your reader know
what the next step will be.
There are a number of ways to optimize
this very important part of your email.
Even when you make the next step as simple as clicking,
you're still asking the reader to do something,
and they need a reason to stop what they're doing
and interact with you instead.
They want to know what's in it for me?
Some research indicates that CTAs designed as buttons
get better click rates than links.
If you're curious about which works better
for your audience, I suggest trying a few emails
with A/B tests to see which gets better results.
Let's take a look
at how you can optimize your calls to action.
CTAs are a particularly sensitive place in email marketing.
You want to avoid words
that make your customers feel pushed,
or pressured, or just bored.
You want the next step to feel exciting and fun,
rather than daunting or expensive.
In general, people are more concerned
about avoiding loss with their day-to-day activities
than they are about gaining something.
Giving them a sense of ownership over their experience
can have a very powerful positive effect.
Make the link or button stand out from the rest of the copy.
One of the best ways to figure out how this works
is to test it on your friends and coworkers.
If you send them a test,
ask them if they can instantly spot the call to action.
If not, redesign it and try again.
Keep it short.
Ideally, two to three words at most,
but not more than five or six.
Use first person.
Studies have shown that changing calls to action
from second person to first person
results in 90% more clicks.
Creating a sense of urgency with your CTAs
can help your click through rates too,
even just adding the word now
builds a little urgency into your messaging.
Test your calls to action often,
because even small changes can have dramatic effects
on the results you're getting.
Plus, there's no ultimate one-size-fits-all option
that works 100% of the time for all time.