How to Boost Your Email Marketing Results With an Effective Call to Action
Although it seems trivial, defining the color of the button or Call to action (CTA) in digital marketing involves analyzing psychological and UX design aspects. When creating an Email Marketing campaign, whatever it may be, it is necessary first of all to have a clear objective: What do we want our subscribers to do with the information we send them?
A call to action (CTA) with a direct text, which highlights the action we want to promote, such as buying a product, subscribing to a newsletter, creating a new account, submitting a form or downloading the latest version of a package software, it is half of the efforts to improve the conversion rate.The other 50% is based on translating this goal into a design that makes our readers respond to our call to action in a timely manner. Remember that the call to action must be aligned with the stage of the sales process.
The issue that interests us at the moment is especially the design and color of the call to action button. We wrote earlier about the design elements of an efficient mailing. That is why in this post we will delve into the elements that will be key to make our button convert.
A clear call to action is better than a magnet
Using action buttons helps significantly to improve campaign results. First, because we are beings of habit. That is, in our experience, we are conditioned to "click" every time we see a button. It would mean a great effort not to do it if we had one in front of us that said "Do not press", because we would be tempted to do just the opposite: press it. Here comes the psychological analysis behind the science of the button in digital marketing. The responsibility to easily understand what is behind the call to action does not lie with the consumer but with the designer.CTAs can attract people to your offers or posts, like a magnet. However, interest is not captured in the same way for all actions to be achieved. Marketing efforts will be in vain if the target audience is not reached.
Conversion secret: understanding the psychology behind color
As another detail of the psychology behind the color of the button, our brain understands pure colors more quickly. As a recommendation, then, favor these colors for the CTA and use the gradients only as a complement.For example, if you want to promote a new product, you must be clear about it, without causing false expectations. In this way, those who click the button will be the real interested parties and will most likely qualify to enter the sales process.
To add a button that achieves our goal, we must consider the following factors:
Easy to identify:
Our brain is programmed to press a button, not a logo or an image. So the “Call to Action” (CTA) buttons should have a clear button shape and be located in strategic places, following the path that the eye naturally takes. They are buttons and as such should appear "clickable".
Action-driven text:
Thanks to the primary brain, our eye is highly attracted to the button. However, our intelligent brain needs a text that complements it. It should have a phrase that calls to action, that tells the user that something will find after pressing the button. According to the style of the brand and some studies, thinking about putting an action verb or in the first person such as “I want to register”, can be effective. A small rule, although in Spanish it is complex: limit yourself to 3 words.
Size:
If there are several calls to action, it should be ranked according to importance, helping us with factors such as size and color. The main button should be large enough to attract attention.
Define the Color:
Ideally, use a color that is contrasting and fits the visual hierarchy of the website or email campaign. Some will prefer to adapt the color according to the palette of their brand image, others according to the design of the mailing, and some will even prefer to try totally contrasting colors. There is no better color than another. It is neither green, red, blue, orange, yellow, nor gray.The best color for call-to-action buttons is the one that works best based on tests performed.
A / B or A / X testing is the real magic ingredient
Marketing is based on testing which things work better than others. To achieve a good effectiveness of the call to action, it is necessary to know what details can be improved. Perhaps the color does not attract enough attention, suddenly the size of the button is so small that it is lost in the design or the chosen font is difficult to read for our customer segment.As part of the strategy, it is recommended to perform an A / B test with different call-to-action buttons: different colors, fonts, texts and shapes. After a trial period, stick with the one with the best conversions.In addition to the tests that can be done and the many recommendations that we want to follow, there are certain trends that can be rescued.
Yellow: Optimistic and jovial. Used to captivate attention
Red: Energy, increases the heartbeat, creating a feeling of urgency. Often used for stock clearance and sales.
Blue: Creates a sense of confidence and security. Often used by banks and businesses.
Green: Associated with wealth. It is the easiest color for the eye to process. Often used in stores to enhance relaxation.
Orange: Aggressive. Create a call to action to subscribe, buy or sell.
Pink: Romantic and feminine. Often used to sell products to women and girls.
Black: Powerful and neat. Used to promote luxury products.
Purple: Used to soothe and calm. Often used in beauty or anti-aging products.
In conclusion, the success of a call to action is based on the psychology of color, but also on constant testing. To conclude with a curious fact, remember in what context (social, cultural, etc.) the marketing campaign is carried out. In China, white is a color associated with mourning. For its part, yellow is associated with the sacred in India.