Lesson 2: Writing perfect button copy

All about CTA buttons

Mar 01, 2023

Perry Marshall, in taking the Pareto Principle to its limits, talks about “small hinges that swing big doors.” In your funnel, one of those small hinges is your call to action (CTA).

Along with headlines, calls to action are critical “hinges” for the success of your landing pages — and thus your overall sequence.

This is especially true on shorter pages, where often your prospect, Sam, will simply scan the major page elements before deciding whether to act.

This means your CTA basically needs to be as strong as your headline, because it might be the only other thing Sam bothers to read.

But don’t worry; we’re not going to start with a high-pressure situation where your CTA is that important.

We are going to start at the very end of your sequence — with your sales page.

Specifically, we are going to write 3 lines of copy this week. I know, it sounds like very little. But they are important lines, and they will teach you a lot.

One sentence to sit above the CTA
One line of main button copy (this lesson)
One line of supporting copy

The most important element of the CTA is the text on the button itself, so this is what we’ll start with today.

How to write button copy

When you spend hours on funnels, objectives, sequences and timings, it’s natural to start thinking in terms of what Sam must do to trigger the events we have planned. That’s why we talk about the “call to action” in the first place — we are asking our prospects to do something.

Unfortunately this is exactly backwards. You need to reframe your call to action from a demand that you make, into a demand that Sam makes.

Sam wants to know what he gets — not what you want him to do. So rather than calling him to take an action, you want to be offering him a payoff.

In other words, your job is to emphasize what you will do for him; not what he must do to get it.

For example, the default text when you create a button in HTML — “Submit” — is a terrible CTA. In case this slipped by you before, go look up “submit” in the dictionary and think about whether it carries the kinds of connotations that make for the best relationships with customers. But of course, even if you’re not making this mistake, you may well find that you can improve your button copy by reframing it.

Demand to Sam      Demand from Sam
---------------------------------------
Submit             Send me my free tips
Sign up            Sign me up
Join               Enroll me
Subscribe          Give me access

Okay, so this looks fairly simple, but let me lay out some basic rules for actually writing button copy like this...

1. Start with a verb

By starting with a verb (an action word), you cue Sam in to the fact that he can do something here. This is psychologically very important — people want to be given clear directions; they want you to help them take actions.

To get an idea of this, consider that one of the best books on web design out there is called Don’t Make Me Think.

So you want to avoid futzing around with cutesy but long-winded lead-ins before you get to the verb. Put it right out in front.

E.g.:

Not this: Yes please, I’m all ears — sign me up now
But this: Sign me up now — I’m all ears

2. Emphasize what Sam gets

Be as specific and helpful as possible. There are actually two critical questions to ask here:

What will he have after clicking your button that he didn’t have before?
Utterly non-negotiable: What will happen when he clicks the button?

You want to imply a promise (item 1), that lines up with the thinking you did about value in the last lesson.

But most important of all, you must be clear about how that promise is going to be delivered (item 2). This is because if Sam isn’t sure about what will happen when he clicks, he won’t click.

You may have heard of “Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt” (FUD). Well, it sounds almost silly, but on the web, doubt leads to uncertainty, uncertainty leads to fear, and fear, as you have probably heard from Yoda, leads to the dark side of the back button.

As I said last time, anxiety is the conversion killer — and anxiety is ruled by the evil triumvirate of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.

E.g.:

Not this: Discover the top 5 tricks for perfect cakes every time
This is less than ideal because although Sam certainly wants to discover these tricks, he doesn’t have clarity about how he will discover them. What will happen when he clicks this button, exactly? Even the slightest uncertainty or doubt leads to anxiety and inaction.
But this: Get your free 5-part “perfect cakes” email course
Although the benefits here are toned down, the clarity as to what will happen when he clicks — how he will discover the top 5 tricks for perfect cakes — is much greater. There is no doubt any more. Clarity trumps persuasion.

Think of your CTA as supplemental to your headline. If Sam only reads the headline and CTA, he should be well-situated to make a decision — even if not a fully informed one.

If in doubt, start with the word “get”...and then just add whatever it is you’re offering him, using whatever words he would use.

3. Use the first person

This seems potentially confusing; after all, one of the cardinal rules of writing is not to mix your perspectives or tenses. But copywriting ain’t grammar school, cupcake, and Sam isn’t as easily confused as you think.

Testing shows that referring to Sam at all in the CTA copy works very well (as you’d expect) — but that doing it in the first person works best.

In other words, by phrasing the action in the first person, you are prompting him to “own” the payoff you’re offering. Instead of your CTA merely being a neutral offer, it becomes a demand from Sam himself. So your button seems to speak on his behalf. That endears it to him!

E.g.:

Not this: Get your free ticket now
But this: Give me my free ticket now

In case you’re wondering how important this can really be, here’s a real life example from ContentVerve:

Not this: Start your free trial now
But this: Start my free trial now

The second button got a 90% conversion lift. In other words, it nearly doubled trial subscriptions. Your mileage may vary, but it’s not an isolated case. Small hinge. Big door.

4. Start long and pare down

As a rule, you’re not going to be looking at more than 10 words for a CTA.

People tend to read the first and last 3–4 words of any copy that particularly stands out (text on a good CTA button will stand out...because it’s on a big bright button). As such, we can approximate the ideal length of copy here as 6–8 words, where “ideal” just means “copy that will almost certainly get read.”

Every word therefore has to count, which makes it not only acceptable, but often advisable, to play fast and loose with your grammar. It is wise to omit words in buttons that you would ordinarily include in other copy. Sam doesn’t care if you sound stilted, provided it helps him grasp your point and make a decision quickly.

That said, it is very difficult to write extremely short copy right off the bat. So don’t try. Instead, follow a sequence that develops your natural copy into something tighter:

Write your CTA as long as you need to.
Identify the core words that cannot be removed.
Gradually remove as many other words as you can.
Try to identify synonyms or ways to rephrase an idea that will make it shorter.

For example, if you only had space for a single-line CTA:

Draft: Sign me up for this online course on how to increase my conversions by 15% in 6 weeks
Final: Enroll to increase my conversions 15% in 6 weeks

Draft: I’ll return your money if you can’t bake the perfect cake within 5 hours of starting this course
Final: Bake perfect cakes within 5 hours (or your money back)

Homework

Today you get to start writing. Referring back to this page, write out as many possible calls to action for your offer as you can come up with.

Emphasize what Sam gets. Do this not only by writing in the first person, but also by referring back to your notes from lesson 1 — what hidden costs can you defuse, or what hidden rewards can you hint at? For example, emphasizing speed or ease is often helpful.
Make your calls to action as long as you need to, then carefully rewrite them to be shorter and shorter. Show your working, because you don’t want to lose the originals. Sometimes you will have to cut out stuff that seems important. This is okay — in lesson 5 you will learn how to reuse that in copy directly above and below the button.
Start each CTA with a verb.

Note: You don’t have to pick a CTA to use yet — write a few different ones, going through the process outlined above. In upcoming lessons you will learn one of the “4 Cs” to help you assess which CTA is best.