“Click Here”

Many email marketers believe that this is the ultimate call to action (CTA): it’s clear, concise, universally understood and specific in telling the email reader what to do. Just what you want, right? Alas, it’s wrong.

As a command, “click here” is beautiful in its simplicity but it falls far short as a call to action—the trigger to launch the customer on the complicated path to conversion—because it doesn’t tell your email readers what you really want them to do. Nor does it answer that universal question that drives so many actions: “What’s in it for me?”

In an email message, the call to action has three elements: the action you want the reader to take, the words you use to issue the call, and its physical appearance (text, image, location).

Here are eight strategies to help you cover your bases:

1.	Separate the Click from the Call: “Click Here” as a one-size fits all command doesn’t serve the needs of the call to action, which requires a custom fit varying with the sender, the recipient and the ultimate result. For retailers, the email message tells the customer “Buy now!” but the buying process doesn’t necessarily start when the reader clicks through to the website. Instead the link you provide will take the customer to a product page for more information. “Learn more” might actually more closely reflect what’s going on in the customer’s head. Newsletters usually contain article abstracts or introductory paragraphs. The action then becomes, “Read the full story.” Be realistic and clear about what actions you want your email message to inspire. This will help direct you to design an effective call to action.
2.	Express the CTA Clearly: Marketers whose email message generates a product or service purchase should match the CTA to the landing page where the email link will send clickers. If it’s a page of images showing differeNT varieties of the same product, the call could invite the reader to “See all 20 colors here.” Informational messages—newsletters, bulletins, updates—direct the reader to get the full story at the website. Tell the reader not only what to do, but what he can expect by doing it. “Learn more techniques to increase click-through rates” is both information and action-oriented, where “click here” falls flat.
3.	Sprinkle Links Generously: Obviously, the CTA must be a clickable link. But that cannot be your reader’s only path to the landing page. Readers will click on domains, product names, etc. within the body copy just as they’ll click on the CTA at the end of the copy. Giving readers more options will increase your click through rates (CTR).
4.	Use Text to Make CTAs Pop: Besides linking the product or service name to your landing page, you should also boldface it to help it catch the eye, especially if you rely on text more than images to tell your story. Boldface makes scanning so much easier. CTAs need to stand out, not blend in. Increase the font size of the CTA—don’t shrink it. Make it prominent and obnoxious. Use white space or hard returns to offset or highlight the CTA.
5.	Location, Location, Location: The most obvious place to drop a CTA is at the end of the copy. But readers jump around when they read. That’s another reason to boost the number of links to your landing page. But also drop the CTA higher up in the body copy, where appropriate.

The next three tips refer to ways to use images better:

6.	The Missing Link: readers click on logos, product shots and brand names, but often you see them not hyperlinked. If nothing happens when they click, they’ll assume the email is broken, delete it and be done with it and you.
7.	Image Blocking: It’s a big problem and one that’s going to get worse as more email programs block images by default as a way to protect users against spam and viruses. If your CTA is enclosed in an image, and if the image is not displayed, neither is your CTA. This is a no-brainer, yet I see it happening all the time.
8.	Image Maps: Image maps highlight a small region that restricts where the user can click. I see the “click here” text in offer-related images mapped so that only those words will drive the action, and not the full image. If you restrict where users can click, you make it more difficult for them to respond to your offer. That will depress your CTR. Use the text links for navigation and to get around preview pane and image blocking limits. Make the entire image clickable and include supporting text under the image and in the “alt” tag the reader can click if the image is disabled.

In a nutshell:

Adding more CTAs and using CTAs that are more clear and obvious will make your email messages more effective in driving conversions, no matter what that conversion might be.

Excerpted with permission from
Stefan Pollard, May 9, 2007
www.emailLabs.com

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