Why We Click Buttons: How to Write Better Calls to Action
Lil Key Takeaways: This Blog at a Glance
A CTA tells people what to do next, like "buy now" or "sign up."
They're super important, or people might just leave your site.
A good CTA combines the right words, design, and a bit of psychology to get clicks.
People expect to see a CTA, especially on websites or in emails, so don't leave them hanging.
Try stuff like asking a question and answering it with the CTA.
Use personal language like "Start my free trial" to make it feel more relatable.
Tease curiosity with lines like "Find out more."
Promise something right away, like "Get your guide now."
Create urgency with time-limited offers, like "Don’t miss out!"
Use action verbs like "Get" or "Claim" to make it clear what people need to do.
Always test different CTAs to see which ones work best.
If you’re a business owner staring at your website, sales page, or latest email and desperately asking yourself, “Why aren’t people clicking my CTA button??” – congratulations, you’re just like every other biz owner in the game.
I’m not saying this to make you feel bad (truly!)– I’m saying this so you know that you’re not alone out here in the world of CTA curiosity.
Here’s a little relief for you. Enticing someone to click your CTA button is not an exact science. Like most things in copywriting, marketing, and sales psychology, it’s a blend of art and experimentation.
We can’t control what people do, and we can’t always direct people to do the things we want them to. (And to be honest, as a human, I’m pretty glad about that)
But we can get better at testing and understanding what motivates them to do something.
So, the question remains: what makes someone more inclined to click one button than another?
What inspires, excites, or delights a person enough to get them to say, “That’s no ordinary button–that’s a button I’M CLICKING!”
As it turns out, a lot of different things–and most of ‘em are associated with copy that employs sales psychology.
Everything You Need to Know to Get Clicks on Your Calls to Action
What’s a CTA, Exactly?
CTA–as you probably already know–stands for call to action.
A call to action is anything that inspires your people to take a specific action.
(Buy from you! Book a call! Download your freebie!)
A CTA’s whole purpose is to move someone to take action ASAP. That means the words backing it up should be irresistible to click.
Maybe it’s a button, maybe it’s linked text, maybe it’s something entirely unique. Ultimately, it’s something that gives your people a clear next step so they can move closer to your desired action. (Attend your webinar! Join your list! Steal your strategy!)
For example, a CTA can look just like this:
But it can also be anchored text that’s linked to something else:
This is what a CTA looks like, too.
Typically, a CTA works best as a button (but we’ll get into the design part in a second).
TLDR: A CTA is the thing that inspires your people to take action and work their way down your sales funnel.
CTA Psychology–It’s Not Just About Words
Before we dive too far into this conversation, I want to be straight up: When we’re talking about CTA buttons, it’s a much bigger conversation than just the words on the button.
As a copywriter (and, spoiler alert, the world’s worst designer), I’m really only qualified to chatter away about the words on your CTAs–but I do have some resources listed below to help you get familiar with the visual cues and psychology behind how you design a CTA button.
This piece from Entrepreneur is sort of a 101 look at some of the basics of color, shape, size, and placement of a CTA button (they make a lil mention of compelling copy, too).
I liked this piece from CXL that focused on button colors–there’s some good info inside.
Instapage has a pretty interesting article about when you should place your CTA above or below the fold of your landing page, and there are a couple of case studies on Moz for my nerdy folks out there.
Why Should You Care About CTA’s?
I won’t bury the lead: you should care about CTAs because they tell your people what to do next. Book a call with you? CTA. Schedule a consult? CTA. Download your freebie? CTA.
Your people are smart–but they see so much in the digital rabbit hole every dang day they’re not going to waste their time searching out the next step. Your CTAs need to be the clear signpost that directs them toward what happens next, how to get in touch, or how to work with you.
Without a CTA, your audience is sitting there wondering what’s next–and trust me, if it’s not clear, only so many people are going to go out of their way to figure it out. (And honestly? I don’t really blame them).
How many times have you clicked on a sales page or a website, vibed with it, and then clicked out almost immediately because you couldn’t find a contact button? Calls to action are the next steps that take your people further into their connection with you.
Sure, it’s fabulous that they’re on your site or sales page–but you don’t just want them to read what you say and leave. Right?
You want your words to connect with them, inspire something in them, and encourage them to click their way directly toward an action.
Driving that action is what a CTA is all about.
BTW—Your People Expect CTAs
Before we go further, I want to throw one important fact out there–CTAs aren’t just important for some silly marketing reason–they’re important because our people expect them.
And that’s because of something called the Perceptual Set Theory.
Here’s the general idea behind the PST:
Our brains like patterns, and this is the name for what happens in our heads when our brains expect a pattern. So, we assume the next piece of info is part of the pattern.
Why does that matter for CTAs?
Over the last few decades, our brains have been tricked and trained into expecting a pattern – a sales page has a CTA, and an email has a CTA. Because of that, our brains are anticipating a CTA to get to the next piece of the puzzle.
No CTA on your website, sales page, or even in your latest email? That throws your people off the learned pattern – but not in a fun and surprising way.
It leaves your audience wondering, guessing, and itching for a way to find the next piece of information. Which ultimately leads them to bounce off your page and out of your life (a little drama for effect here).
Calls to Action Strategies Every Business Owner Should Try
A button isn’t just a button–it’s an opportunity for action.
OK, we get it–CTAs are super important for converting our customers. That might make you feel like the pressure is on when you’re writing the words on your must-click buttons.
Don’t fret. Remember, CTAs aren’t an exact science. And luckily, there are so many psych-backed ways we can encourage our people to click our CTAs (and take one step toward buying, booking, or investing in us). Here are a few examples of some must-try CTA strategies for your next lil button.
#1: Ask & Answer a Question
By design, our brains get a full-blown dopamine kick when we can answer a question that applies to us. Why? Because let’s face it–people are self-involved. I’ll say it–I kind of love it when something is all about me. But we also love it when we feel like we’re the ones in control of our purchasing decisions. This principle works really well with CTA buttons, where you ask a question before the button, and then the CTA button itself is the answer.
This strategy works incredibly well when you have a deep understanding of your people. What are their pain points? What emotions are they dealing with? What are their ideal desires? Knowing that and using that in your CTA copy is so powerful!
EXAMPLES OF ASK & ANSWER CTAs
Want an IG strategy that doesn’t glue you to your phone?
Never wanna miss another soccer game?
Need a go-to dinner plan that isn’t takeout?
#2: Make it About Them
I just mentioned how humans are sort of…self-focused, right? (Sorry, it’s true). With that in mind, it makes sense that your CTAs should do the most to put the focus back on them. Beyond just asking and answering questions, you should make sure the CTA is about them by using the right language.
A study found that there was a 90% better conversion rate when the CTA button used first-person language. Specifically, the study did a split test of buttons that said “Start my free trial” and “Start your free trial.”
Any guess which one performed better?
The button that said “Start MY free trial” got way better results.
And that’s because we’re creating a personal connection for them. People are wrapped up in their own experiences–if the language of a CTA button matches, we’re drawing the connection for them.
If you’re on the hunt for a designer, you don’t want to book a call with the designer–you want to book a call with my designer. Making it about them means making it intimate and personal.
EXAMPLES OF PERSONALIZED CTAs
#3 Pique Their Curiosity
Humans are naturally curious–that’s kind of our built-in little switch that prods us along to learn and get better at things.
Because of this, we’re already inherently curious about what happens next if we poke that button. It’s not just about curiosity, though–it’s about arousing that curiosity. Our brains love almost seeing, hearing, or interpreting something.
We love to be on the cusp of almost knowing something–then taking action to actually know something. But there are ways you can gently nudge that curiosity up a notch.
EXAMPLES OF CURIOSITY & AROUSAL-BASED CTAs
#4 Micro-Dose Instant Gratification
Remember how I just said that humans are naturally curious? It’s true–but we’re also on the hunt for instant gratification. (You’re doing great, sweetie).
By nature, a CTA is going to present an opportunity for curiosity and potential satisfaction. (What comes next behind that button? I bet if I click it, I find out…)
We already sort of inherently know our next step is going to satiate our curiosity. By adding a lil sprinkle of tongue-and-cheek instant gratification, we can assure the delivery of that satisfaction & add a little humor (if it makes sense).
EXAMPLES OF INSTANT-GRATIFICATION CTAs
#5 A Lil FOMO Never Hurt Nobody
A mini-lesson about human nature for you: we’re wired to act fast when something feels urgent or supplies seem scarce. Fear of missing out (or FOMO) is the psychological phenomenon that nudges us to take action to avoid the feeling of being left out.
FOMO stems from our instinct to secure valuable resources and opportunities before they disappear. That’s why people use countdown timers, talk about limited availability, or urge people to act fast.
Every business is different and has its own lil hot take on how they like to stir up FOMO.
At Boundless, we’re not big on panicky scarcity, so if we employ FOMO, we do our absolute best to avoid making it feel icky. For example, we’ll say, “Just one spot left!” – but only if there is actually one spot left.
There’s nothing wrong with creating a lil FOMO–just keep your intentions, ethics, and the feelings of your people in check before you throw words on a button.
EXAMPLES OF FOMO-INSPIRED CTAs
#6 Focus on Action & Specifics
Like most things in life, being passive ain’t the move. You want to drive action with your CTAs? Be active. Use words in the same family as start, get, or download. Energetic verbs usually drive more action. And don’t be afraid to get specific. Do you have an email hack freebie for your people? Instead of saying “click here,” try “Snag your copy of Email Tips.”
If you look at your CTA and you’re bored–your people are probably bored, too.
EXAMPLES OF ACTION-BASED CTAs
Words That Sell: A Must for Every Business Owner
The goal behind a great CTA is to drive action–but you also have to balance intrigue with clarity. You always want to entice your people to click. Of course, it’s crucial we’re not confusing them. How can you make sure you’re on the right CTA path?
First things first, experiment. There’s no shame in split testing (A/B testing) to see what button works best for you. I know we all want our CTA buttons to pop off ASAP, but there’s a learning curve to everything–including CTAs. Play with a few different versions and see what your audience is more inclined to click.
And secondly, know that Boundless is always here to help you tackle words that drive your audience to action–whether that’s on your sales pages, web copy, or even in your blogs.
Need help being clear, clever, and absolutely irresistible? Boundless has you covered.
