How to Craft Effective Calls to Action

Posted on:

Tell me if this sounds familiar. You’ve spent a lot of time putting together an informative ad with great visuals, but it’s not receiving the results you were looking for.

Nothing is more frustrating than seeing your carefully crafted ad fail to make an impact, but don’t throw your hands up in frustration quite yet. If your ads aren’t performing to your expectations, you might want to examine the calls to action you’re using to see if they’re effective.

What is a Call to Action?

When talking about advertising, a “call to action”, or CTA, refers to the part of the ad that is directing the viewer to take some kind of action. This could include a ‘Shop Now’ button on an ad which links to your online store or a headline urging your audience to ‘Subscribe now to receive this special offer’. The nature of the CTA can vary depending on the goal of the advertisement, but any portion of the ad that gives the reader or listener instructions to do something is a call to action.

How to Craft Effective Calls to Action

Calls to action might seem simple on the surface, but they’re a vitally important part of any advertisement. If your ad is well designed, it should draw the viewer in and spark an interest in your product or service, but it’s the call to action that pushes the viewer to take the next step and drives results. That’s why it’s important to ensure that you’re using CTAs that are going to inspire people to act.

Here are 4 Tips for Creating Effective Calls to Action



  • Be Clear & Specific

When it comes to CTA’s you want them to be simple and to the point so the viewer will know exactly what to do. It also helps to be specific. For example, if you want to receive more phone calls, it would be more effective to use the CTA ‘Call 123-456-7890’ instead of a more generic ‘Contact Us’. These may seem similar, but the first option tells the viewer exactly how they should contact you and gives them the information they need to do so immediately.

  • Ensure Your CTA is Visible

You may have a lot of information you want to convey in your ad, but make sure the call to action is large and visible. Don’t bury it inside a paragraph of text – separate it from the headline and primary text and use contrasting colors or a different font to make it pop.

  • Create a Sense of Urgency

A great call to action will inspire the viewer to take immediate action. Use language that creates a sense of exclusivity or stresses that an offer is only available for a limited time to push people to act now instead of waiting. E.g. Call Now to Take Advantage of this Limited Time Offer.

  • Test Variations

Sometimes the only way to know what call to action is going to be the most effective for your business is to try different options and see what resonates. Try creating various versions of your ad with unique calls to action and test them out. Track how the ads perform so you can compare results and determine what kinds of calls to action are clicking with your audience.




Ready to test your calls to action? Issues of Coffee News can be found in local restaurants, coffee shops and other businesses all over your community, making us the perfect publication for ensuring your ads get great exposure.

Call 780-220-6397 to learn how we can help you to achieve BIG RESULTS with your ads.