Call to Action (CTA)

A call to action is a marketing term for a design element or prompt that’s designed to encourage an immediate response and push somebody to carry out the desired action, such as subscribing to a newsletter or completing a sale. A call to action is usually written as a command or action phrase, such as ‘Sign Up’ or ‘Buy Now’ and generally takes the form of a button or hyperlink.

A call to action makes it clear to a user which action they should take next and helps remove friction from sales funnels by guiding them through it. For example, if a user finishes reading a blog post and there is no clear call to action at the end, they are more likely to leave the site or move on to something else without carrying out the desired action. On the other hand, if there’s a call to action asking them to sign up for a free trial of a software tool, for instance, then this encourages further interaction.

CTA Examples: