A powerful guide to creating call to action in sales emails [10+ examples]
Creating the perfect call to action (CTA) for your email can be tough. It can ruin your outreach efforts or skyrocket your conversion.
In other words, if your call to action isn’t compelling, clear enough, or doesn’t resonate with the overall email message, it will go over your prospect’s head. As a result, your lead won’t perform the desired action, and you will lose that lead or have to work twice as hard to convert them.
Thus, in this article, we are diving deep into the meaning and importance of CTAs in emails and showing you how to craft a perfect CTA. In addition, we will provide you with the call to action examples that you can use as inspiration for your outreach.
What is a call to action?
A call to action (CTA in short) is a phrase that serves as a directive for target groups or leads to perform the desired action.
As a motif used for sales and marketing efforts, a call to action usually shows up in the ads, emails, websites, and other types of content geared towards the target group. For example, you’ve probably seen the following phrases in the ads a thousand times by now:
- Watch;
- Shop Now;
- Buy;
- Download, etc.
Yup, those are all CTAs.
Now, a call to action can manifest in distinct forms, such as:
- A button on a landing page or ad;
- Hyperlinked text on a landing page or email;
- Long, plain text, often found in an email;
- As a short sentence that acts as a preface to another call to action.
A perfect call to action helps you capture leads, directly influences and improves conversion, and drives other desired actions depending on the goal.
However, if we talk about B2B sales emails, crafting the call to action is more complicated than B2C. Why? Because you cannot just link the word Buy at the end of the email and expect people to... Well, buy it. In other words, you need to take an entire buying experience (longer than B2C one), sales funnel, and your message into consideration.
And yes, catchy email subject lines and attention-grabbing opening lines will help you increase the open rate and get your emails to be read. Still, a call to action combined with a well-crafted message will directly impact your desired action.
Email call to action types
Before jumping into actionable tips that you can use to craft the call to action for your email, let’s first look at what email call to action types are at your disposal. Instead of analyzing B2C CTAs, we will focus only on B2B calls to action that salespeople can use in emails.
1. Sign up
This call to action type serves as a little nudge. It is often used for Freemium services, so leads can understand what the product is all about. The good news is that this type of action doesn’t cost a person anything, and it is easier to achieve than a demanding conversion, such as starting a subscription.
2. Resource
Using this CTA, you are offering your potential clients the resource you think they will benefit from the most. In addition, the resource is often free, and if you get them to open your email and if you hit the right pain point with your message, you can expect a high resource visit rate.
3. Discovery
From time to time, you will need to send more information about your product/service. Luckily, you, a well-skilled salesperson, already have a special landing page that your trusted marketing team created for you that you can send out.
4. Schedule a meeting/demo
This is a type of CTA that you can use after the lead has responded to your cold outreach.
5. Free trial
Responding to this call to action, leads will have the opportunity to test out your product or a service, before deciding whether or not you wish to commit.
6. Subscription started
After the leads have tested your product, you will try to nurture them to start the subscription. In this case, you will use said CTA.
7. Follow-up
This Call To Action type serves as a reminder to the prospect they didn’t respond to your email or didn’t do the necessary action.
8. Review
If you wish to ask your customers to leave a review on a listing website, you will use this CTA.
9. Event promotion
Using this call to action, you can gather attendees for the upcoming special event, such as webinars, training, courses and gatherings.
Call to action (CTA) performance metrics
Crafting and using the right Call To Action in your emails can be effective. However, how would you know if the certain CTA actually worked and brought you the results? Why, with your trusted metrics, of course.
In addition, depending on the type of conversion you wish to get, the metrics will differ. Thus, here is a table with metrics corresponding to the call to the action type.
| CTA Type: | Metrics: |
| Sign up | Number of signups; Signup rate per month |
| Resource | Number of reads/views |
| Discovery | Number of landing pages visits |
| Schedule A meeting/Demo | Number of meetings scheduled and held per month |
| Free Trial | Number of Free Trials started |
| Subscription Started | Number of subscriptions started, LTV, Churn rate |
| Follow up | Response rate |
| Review | Number of reviews given |
| Event Promotion | Number of attendees per event |
Finally, do not forget to use UTM parameters in your emails for the metrics that include website data.
Tips to create call to action
Like CTA in marketing, Calls To Action in sales emails need more thinking through, as well. In other words, they need to be easy on the eyes, clear, comfortable for the prospects to say yes to, and much more. Thus, here are the tips that will help you craft the best CTAs in emails that work.
1. Email message and call to action in synergy
We cannot talk about Call To Action and not mention your entire email message. Email messages and CTAs go hand in hand, and you cannot expect one to work without the other. After all, your email needs to help your prospect accomplish their goal or solve the problem.
So, you need to specify the pain point or goal you wish to address. Once defined, only then start crafting your CTA accordingly.
Example:
Let’s say you wish to book a meeting with the prospect and share how your service can help them precisely. Thus, your email and CTA can go something like this:
So don’t be the one who cannot see the forest from the trees and expect your CTA alone to work. Define your pain point message, and work on your Call To Action so they match.
Additional tip: You should always write your email message around your CTA. Let's say, for example, the idea is to book a meeting. Then you should write the email that gives the reason to the prospect to take that call.
2. Write call to action as a part of conversation
While we are still on the subject of an email message and CTA synergy, let’s glance at the previous example one more time.
Do you notice that we didn’t use a Call To Action such as Book A Meeting at the end of the email? Standard CTAs that you can find on landing pages or ads do not work well in sales emails as they create a sense of abruption in communication.
So we created Call To Action as a seamless part of communication. The reason is that these CTAs note better performance in sales emails. Why? The answer to this question is because of the social selling principles.
3. CTAs that are easy to say yes to
Sometimes getting the conversion is tough, and prospects often feel that you ask too much of them. This happens if we talk about conversions, such as starting a free trial or service subscription, in particular. So, the objective is to always craft your Call To Action as defined as possible.
Examples:
a. Does Thursday at 2 PM work for you?
b. Can you give me the contact information of a person who I can talk to about…?
c. If you are interested, just respond with “Yes” and I will send you the free audit of your business.
4. Use one clear call to action per email
Nowadays, we have a lot on our minds, and we process a large amount of information per day. So naturally, our attention span got shorter over the years. This goes with your prospects as well.
Thus, when writing an email, use only one Call To Action. Using multiple CTAs is one of the biggest email mistakes and can confuse your prospects. In addition, it can make them unaware of the next step and cost you the desired conversion.
5. The power of words
If, for example, we say I love your work, or I like your work, which one do you think is more effective? You are right - the first one is. You see, words alone bear meanings that can impact us emotionally and mentally. Therefore, choosing the spot-on words for your CTA can really make a difference in how your prospects feel.
So, to make your Call To Action more impactful, choose more uplifting words. In addition, always read your CTA and check how you feel afterward, as this way, you will get a sense of how your prospects will feel. Here are a couple of examples.
| Instead… | Use This. |
| Read how our clients managed to… | See how others in your position managed… |
| Join our webinar to learn about… | Seize the opportunity to pump up your SDR skills with our webinar. Join us! |
| If you are interested to… | If your answer is “Yes, I want it!”... |
6. Use first-person POV when possible
Personalization is everything when it comes to sales and marketing. If you are already personalizing your email outreach with variables such as name, occupation, or custom introduction, you might as well do it with your CTAs. Still unsure? Here is our leverage:
Company ContentVerve experienced a 90% increase in click-through rate by using the first-person point of view. They managed to do it by using the phrasing “Start MY free 30-day trial” instead of “Start YOUR free 30-day trial” *.
The reason why first-person point of view works is that your prospect will receive more personalized communication and will feel more connected to your brand.
7. A/B test your call to action
A/B testing is the only proof of outreach effectiveness, whether we talk about subject lines, messages, or opening lines. Thus, naturally, testing applies to the Call To Action as well.
In addition, if you use a sales engagement tool, such as Skylead, you can set up your email outreach testing as easily as 1, 2, and 3. Simply add your sequence steps, and message variants.
Once you launch the campaign and results start coming in, you'll see the step-by-step analytics showing which variant worked best.
Extra call to action examples
Now that you know how to craft your perfect Call To Action, let’s go over additional examples and reasons they work.
The one with the calendar
“What do you say? Would you be up for a quick chat? If your answer is “Yes”, here is a link to schedule the time that suits you best. I’ll be the one waiting with the coffee :)”
So, we have a couple of benefits here. Firstly, this type of call to action is an easy win since your prospects are one click away from scheduling a call when it suits them most. Secondly, the other perk is that there is no back and forth communication if either party is not available at the other one’s proposed date. Lastly, speaking of “the words that have power’ implying the answer, such as Yes, will give a more positive connotation to the email.
As mentioned before, just be sure to give them a valid reason why they need to take the meeting, so by the time they reach your Call To Action, they will actually wish to take the meeting with you.
Additional tip: This CTA simply calls for a personalized image or a GIF at the end of an email. In other words, you can place your image holding a coffee cup with your lead’s name on it.
Stir the CTA pot with a pinch of the theme
Everybody loves when they notice a specific theme woven into the email that is tailor-made just for them. Hence, the best way you can do it is to find the idiom or a topic and build your Call To Action around it.
As an example, here is our idea for salespeople:
"Are you still interested in our offer, or did Elvis leave the building? I hope not, as I sure want to sing with you after you experience the amazing benefits of our product."
In addition, this particular Call To Action can be a good idea for the follow-up when the prospects haven't responded yet, and belong in the Free Trial or Subscription pipeline stage.
Call to action examples that offers empathy
Sometimes prospects may not know what exactly they are looking for unless you point it out. By describing the actual pain point and offering a solution immediately, you show your prospects that you are here to help.
Here are the two CTA variations you can use to share a resource or schedule a call.
a. Sometimes sales people cannot concentrate on closing the deals because of spending too much time manually searching for the prospects.
If this is you, then this read will help you greatly.
Check out our article on 3 things you should automate in your outreach.
b. Sometimes sales people cannot concentrate on closing the deals because of spending too much time manually searching for the prospects.
If this resonated with you Debbie, then, we need to talk. I can share a couple of tips you can apply to reduce manual work.
Does Wednesday at noon work for you?
Short and precise call to action example
If for some reason, you do not have a meeting scheduler, this CTA is for you. It is short and detailed since it offers the exact date and time.
I’d love to hop on a meeting and chat about how we can work together. Does Tuesday at 1 PM sound good for a quick 20-minute call?
Specifying the exact CTA with time and date is always a win. However, there are two extra cherries on top of this CTA cake. Firstly, you show that you care about your partnership.
Secondly, there is any indication, a promise if you will, of how long the meeting will last. In other words, everyone likes short calls, especially the decision-makers. Also, if the future meeting lasts longer than 15 minutes, well then, things are looking up to close that deal.
Checking the status CTA
If you wish to throw a ball in your prospect’s courtyard, you can do so by asking them what is the next step on their behalf. As opposed to asking whether they will do something, you are asking them what they are going to do. Here are the examples:
a. Will your next action be {{Action}}? Or did I get that wrong? Just wanted to check if there is anything else I can help you with.
b. I wish to make the process super easy for you. Is there anything I can do so you can fully make the transition to our product?
By responding, the prospects keep you in the loop, and the conversation will move on. Furthermore, this example is the perfect idea for figuring out what stops them from starting the subscription process. In addition, this can be an example of the conversation-starting CTA as a part of the follow up email after you received no response.
Value exchange call to action example
If, for example, you have churned customers or the leads that never converted, you might want to think about offering a limited-time discount. In this case, you can use CTA such as:
Nothing feels more like Christmas than family, friends, and gifts. So, accordingly, we’ve prepared a special gift for you. Let’s unwrap it together. 👉 Claim My 10% Discount
This Call To Action is motivating for a couple of reasons. Yes, you are offering a discount which can be alluring, but you are also personalizing with a first-person point of view. In addition, by choosing the word Claim and implying friendship, you show that something belongs to them. And it won’t take long until they take it.
Furthermore, you can create a similar Call To Action if you wish to ask your customers to write a review for your website or leave it on a listing website. It can go, for example, like this:
We value your opinion, and it would be amazing to hear your voice in the form of a review.
As a small gesture for your effort, we have prepared a $25 Amazon gift card that you can spend on your friends and family.
What do you say?
Would you be up for it? 👉 Write My Review
In conclusion
It is important to look at your Call To Action as a part of the bigger picture. For example, the composition of still life entirely depends on beautifully painted fruits, flowers, and glasses. Thus the effectiveness of the entire email is decided by its subject, opening line, message, and CTA and can influence your overall lead generation. When perfectly crafted together, conversion is imminent.
Once you understand this, you can easily follow the tips for writing the perfect Call To Action:
- Write Email messages and Call To Action in synergy;
- Weave CTA as part of the conversation;
- Create Call To Action that is easy to say Yes to;
- Use one and clear Call To Action;
- Choose your words in CTA carefully;
- Use the first-person point of view where possible;
- A/B test everything.
With these tips and examples mentioned above, your Call To Action will point out what is the most important to your prospects. In addition, your CTA will give your prospects the reason for conversion.
Now, go ahead and create your amazing CTAs!
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