Marketing your business is essentially about convincing your customers to take specific actions. When you’re trying to grow your email list, you want them to subscribe. If you’re promoting a sale via email, you want them to browse those sale items. Then, once you’ve got them looking through your inventory, you want customers to buy your products.
Each of these steps is facilitated by a call to action (CTA). Call-to-action buttons tell customers what to do next and link directly to the page or form where they can carry out that action.
Read on to learn more about CTA button functions, the characteristics that make them effective, and call-to-action button examples from successful Shopify merchants.
What is a call-to-action button?
A call-to-action button is a clickable graphic that displays action words to guide consumers through different tasks along the customer journey. Call-to-action buttons link to resources and pages where customers can complete desired actions. One common example is the Buy Now button featured in marketing emails, social media ad campaigns, and product pages. Customers click this to add products to their cart and make a purchase.
Call-to-action buttons also have other functions, such as email capture, appointment bookings, click-throughs, and lead generation (the identification of potential customers and collection of their contact information).
Characteristics of effective CTA buttons
Keep these four elements in mind when you’re creating CTA buttons to maximize their potential for conversion. In addition, you can A/B test your CTA buttons to see whether certain colors, shapes, phrases, or placements perform better than others.
Concise language
Use as few words as possible in your CTA text so the text on the button is large enough to draw attention. CTA copy is often two to four words long. This brevity makes it possible for readers to scan the information quickly and decide whether they want to click. Most users leave a webpage just 10 to 20 seconds after landing on it, so the quicker you can communicate your message, the better.
Clear objective
Clearly state the action you want your target audience to take. Whether you’re trying to make a sale, offer product information, or grow your email list, ensure people understand what you are trying to accomplish—and what they stand to gain—with their clicks.
Jacob Sappington, director of email strategy at growth agency Homestead Studio, highlights the importance of keeping your thoughts cohesive when marketing to customers. “There’s this thought in the email marketing community of one email, one objective, one CTA,” Jacob says on an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast. “The idea being that you shouldn’t go from ’Shop this collection’ to ’Check out our charity work’ to ’Check out what our founders are doing.’”
This doesn’t mean you’re limited to just one actual button. Rather, it’s about keeping the focus narrow. For example, your email’s primary CTA button might highlight bestsellers, and the secondary CTA button might guide viewers to the larger collection, but both CTAs are sales-directed.
Distinct design
Use your brand colors or colors that are compatible with the scheme of your website or content. Choose contrasting colors for the background of the button and the text, and ensure the base color stands out against the background of your webpage or email. You can also use textural details to give the buttons a 3D effect.
Shopify offers several helpful resources for creating CTA buttons. You can customize buttons on your Shopify theme or create Buy Buttons after adding the Buy Buttons sales channel in Shopify admin. Shopify also makes it easy to add accelerated checkout buttons through Shop Pay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay for added convenience. For email marketing, you can use Shopify Messaging to add customizable CTA buttons.
Strategic placement
CTA buttons above the fold (before readers need to scroll down a page), aim to capture readers immediately; those toward the end of a page capture high-intent shoppers who have read all the way through. Webpages and emails often have two or more CTAs, to capitalize on both strategies.
Whether up top, below, or somewhere in the middle, place your call-to-action button in an uncluttered area where customers can easily see it. If you’re placing a CTA button on top of a visual ad or graphic image, lay it over a more neutral section of the image so that your button isn’t competing with the subject. Generally, you want CTA buttons to be easily spotted and to avoid having them blend in with the materials around them.
For example, if you have a large carousel photo with text next to it on the homepage of your online store, distance your call-to-action button enough from the other elements so that it stands out as its own attribute.
For marketing emails, it can be helpful to place one CTA at the bottom, so customers who read all the way through know what to do next. You can also place one or more buttons nearer to the top, depending on the length of your email, but multiple CTA buttons close together can clutter up an email, so try to limit how many you add.
For product pages, it helps to place checkout CTA buttons right beside your product photos so that customers don’t have to scroll around to figure out how to make a purchase.
7 call-to-action button examples
After learning about the common traits of effective CTA buttons, it can be helpful to see them in action. Here are seven call-to-action examples from Shopify brands.
Masienda
In this example from artisanal masa purveyor Masienda, a pop-up CTA on the website encourages customers to join their email list in exchange for a 10% discount on their first order. The CTA button has a dark burgundy base, which stands out against the off-white backdrop and contrasts with the bright blue tortilla press in the photo beside it. The word “Subscribe” makes the desired action clear, and the all-caps lettering creates urgency.
Craighill
Craighill specializes in well-designed everyday objects, and their website echoes the same sleek feel. The homepage CTA button for purchasing this playing card case breaks some of the rules—the color of the button is the same gray as the image behind it, and very similar to the silver card holder. But the negative space makes the button easy to spot and easy to read. The CTA language, “Deal yourself in,” though unusual, is nonetheless clear in what it wants the reader to do.
Graza
Olive oil brand Graza also takes a non-traditional approach to CTA buttons. On an episode ofShopify Masters, founder Andrew Benin shared, “Our CTAs can be really hard to see, so maybe people won’t click on them as much, but people that do click on them probably have a higher intention of purchase.” While the second CTA in this email—“Get Graza”—is easy to spot, the first CTA almost blends in with everything around it. Labeled “Fresh as Heck,” the first button looks more like a blurb than a CTA, but users who do click arrive at a page titled “A Shopper’s Guide to Buying Fresh Olive Oil.” Because the button merges with the background and text around it, consumers have to really be curious to click it.
Ojai Rancho Inn
If your business provides a scheduled service to customers, call-to-action buttons can be a great way to easily guide users to book an appointment or reservation. This example from the Ojai Rancho Inn, a boutique hotel that uses Shopify to sell its merchandise, shows how to use CTA buttons for booking. The button’s rust color and convenient placement at the top of the page draw your attention, and the action-based text encourages engagement. Placing this CTA button in the static taskbar makes it easy for users to find, and maintains gentle sales pressure, no matter which page of the website they are on.
Slip
Silk accessory retailer Slip features two CTA buttons on this product page for different purchasing needs. The “Add To Bag” button allows customers to add the product to their carts, while a “Get it Today” button includes a location pin and links to an app that can display a list of nearby brick-and-mortar stockists. Both buttons feature a black base to contrast with the white background of Slip’s website, and both feature succinct language that distinguishes between their different purposes. These CTA buttons provide options so customers can shop in the way that suits them best.
Fishwife
Tinned fish brand Fishwife’s website includes a page for buying products in a bundle. The simple CTA, “Pick Your Favorites,” emphasizes that shoppers can customize the order to their individual taste. The CTA button is high on the page and uses a deep yellow, consistent across the website, which stands out against the tan backdrop.
Years
Non-alcoholic beer maker Years uses a CTA button to encourage customers to join its loyalty program. The text uses the single word “Join” to take users directly to a sign-up form. Using the color orange helps this button stand out against the graphic designed to look like a vintage beer label. The surrounding text gives viewers the necessary context to understand what they are joining.
Call-to-action button examples FAQ
What is a call to action?
A call to action is a word or phrase businesses use to direct customers to the next step, such as a click-through or purchase. It’s often found in the form of a button on product pages, emails, opt-in forms, and informational materials.
How do I create a call-to-action button?
If you’re on the Shopify platform, you can easily create CTA buttons on your website and customize the shape, color, and wording to complement your brand kit. Supplement these with Accelerated Checkout Buttons that can be activated within Shopify Themes. You can also easily incorporate CTA buttons into your email marketing through Shopify Messaging.
What makes a good CTA?
A good CTA uses direct, concise language and stands out visually. Phrases such as “sign up,” “buy now,” or “add to cart” are standards that customers easily recognize. You can also use more creative wording, like “claim your prize” or “join the club,” as long as customers understand exactly what they need to do and why that’s a good idea.
