20 Call to Action Examples That Drive Customer Engagement

The difference between a passive viewer and an engaged customer often comes down to a compelling call to action (CTA). A well-crafted CTA not only prompts a response but also boosts interactions, turning interest into action.

Whether you're looking to enhance newsletter sign-ups, increase downloads, increase lead generation or boost sales, the right CTA can dramatically elevate your engagement rates.

In this article, we explore 20 proven CTA examples that have mastered the art of capturing attention and driving customer engagement.

From the simplicity of 'Shop Now' to the urgency of 'Offer Ends Soon', learn how to craft messages that resonate with your audience and motivate them to take the next step.

A call to action is a text prompt designed to prompt an immediate response or encourage an immediate sale. They are a standout feature, often strategically placed to draw attention.

The main purpose of a CTA is to drive potential customers towards a particular action such as sign up, purchase, download or comment.

Phrases like “Buy Now” and “Get a free demo” are excellent call to action examples.

CTAs are short and simple, but they’re also easy to mess up. They can be used on any online content and anywhere on a page.

Here’s how and when you should use calls to action.

This means that you need to understand at which stage of the funnel your lead is in before targeting them with CTAs. To maximize conversions, you need to match CTAs with the lead’s “temperature” or their level of readiness to engage with your brand.

If a lead wants to know more about a product, they may respond better to a “Download this case study” CTA better than a “Buy Now” CTA. Study your funnels and lead journeys to understand what customers would want at each stage. Then place appropriate CTAs on your lead funnel content.

When leads are confronted with an imposing CTA that asks them for a lot of information, they may be put off. A better way to improve conversions using CTAs is known as the breadcrumb method.

The breadcrumb technique in calls to action (CTAs) is a strategic method used to guide users through a sequence of steps or actions, leading them progressively towards a more significant or final action. It's much like leaving a trail of breadcrumbs; each CTA leads to the next, building engagement and commitment at each step.

Begin with a CTA that requires minimal effort or commitment from the user. This could be something as simple as "Watch Video," or "Read More,". The idea is to ease users into interacting without feeling pressured. Once users have taken the initial step, present them with CTAs that gradually increase in commitment.

Limit CTAs to one per content piece. This helps keep leads more focused by reducing the number of options that they have.

If you must add another CTA, make sure that this secondary CTA is less prominent than the primary CTA.

A primary CTA urges leads to take the desired action whereas a secondary CTA presents an alternative action or additional information to complete the primary CTA. With two CTAs at different levels of prominence, you can also target leads at different stages of the lead funnel.

For example, “Buy Now” should be the primary CTA as it leads to the most positive outcome for your brand. A secondary CTA - “Talk to our expert”, targets prospects who are hesitant to buy. The aim is to direct them back to the primary CTA once they’ve spoken to your experts.

Words like “Click Here”, “Submit” and “Subscribe” have been over-used.
Why should the lead “Subscribe” or “Click” somewhere? What do they gain from following such CTAs?

Make your CTAs more benefit-driven, so leads know exactly what they’ll get from answering your call to action. For example, if your “Click Here” CTA leads a visitor to a demo video, it’s best to reword it as “Watch our demo”.

This is also where you get to be creative. Replace these boring CTAs with words and phrases that match your brand voice.

Use color theory to make the call to action easily distinguishable from the rest of the page. Firstly, make sure that the CTA button color is a complementary color to the background color. For example, if the background color is green, your CTA button should be red.

Secondly, make sure that the CTA text is legible. It is best to choose white or similar light colors for text if the background is a dark shade. Keep in mind that even if the text color is light, certain color combinations can reduce the readability of the entire page. There are numerous color wheels, landing page templates, and web design palettes on the Internet to guide you on color theory.

Lastly, make sure that the font size is big enough and the CTA is placed where it can be easily seen.

This can be easily done by using action words at the start of the CTA phrase. Here are a few examples - “Buy this”, “Download The eBook Now!”, “Register Here”, and “Add to Cart”.

An easy formula to provoke action is to add a subject or an adverb after the verb/action word. You can add both if you can maintain the succinctness of the CTA.

For instance, “Buy Now” is a great example of the verb + adverb formula. Similarly, “Start your Free Trial” is a good example of the verb + subject formula. If you add the word “Now”, the resulting CTA - “Start Your Free Trial Now” would have both the adverb and subject. You need to find the right balance between the length of the phrase and the above formulas.

Leverage your leads' fear of missing out (FOMO) by incorporating countdown timers, announcing limited quantities, and promoting time-sensitive offers.
Emphasize the numbers prominently as they effectively capture attention and drive action.

Use dynamic visuals and urgent language to enhance the sense of immediacy and scarcity.

Bear in mind that your overall lead conversion strategy should be to inform so that leads can make decisions that are best for them. Don’t try to oversell products or push leads to take certain actions. This can be off-putting and give the impression that your brand is desperate to make sales.

Limit the number of CTAs, tone down the language, and remove exaggerations of value propositions. If you don’t, then you risk the chance of prospects eyeing your brand with distaste and mistrust.

You’ve read the content on how to create good calls to action. Now, let’s look at the call-to-action examples of brands that have succeeded in this area.

OptimizePress offers a wealth of WordPress tools to help businesses build WordPress sites, checkout pages, and sales and lead funnels. 

Instead of overwhelming web visitors with CTAs for each of their services, they have opted for a simple, yet effective two-word CTA.

“Get Started” invites leads to get to know their pricing plans and choose the one that’s most appropriate for them.

The brand has also placed a more discreet secondary CTA that states “Watch our Demo”. This is for prospects who are still looking to learn more about OptimizePress and its products.

Take note of the color scheme of the landing page. The page is in black and white so the blue CTAs immediately stand out.

CTA - Different languages as CTA buttons

Babbel is an app that allows users to learn languages, wherever they want and whenever they want. They’ve taken a unique and creative approach with their calls to action.

Instead of having action words on their CTA buttons, they’ve gone ahead and added the different languages that they offer. It works because Babbel offers one singular service - language learning.

The CTA buttons highlight the value propositions of the app. It tells users where to go to learn the language of their choice. 

The landing page has no other text apart from the headline and the CTA buttons. This helps keep the page clean and removes any distractions from the CTAs.

CTA - Save Now!

Theirs is a benefit-driven CTA that also has an enticing action word - “Save”. The company has also been able to create a sense of urgency by telling visitors that they can save money now.

They’ve also been able to implement the breadcrumb method. The calculator on the landing page allows visitors to answer smaller questions like “Service type”, “Service provider” and estimated bill amount before they click on the CTA button. 

This type of breadcrumbing is apt for a brand that helps customers negotiate and save on bills.

CTA - Get them both/Get all three

The internet is crowded with OTT providers and users often have to subscribe to multiple streaming platforms to watch their favorite shows. 

Service providers are becoming aware of this issue and Hulu has stepped up to offer users subscription plans that offer access to bundles with two or more OTT platforms.

Hulu and Disney Plus have the same parent company and users can now subscribe to a single monthly plan to watch shows from both platforms. Sports fans can get access to ESPN+ too for a higher fee.

Note that the colorful CTA buttons are hard to miss against the dark and sparse background.

CTA - Shop OLIPOP

OLIPOP is a beverage brand that creates healthy sodas. Their CTA is a spin on the well-worn “Shop X” phrase.

Lucky for them, their brand name rhymes with the word shop, which makes their CTA fun and memorable. It also goes well with the overall theme of their website, which is fun and youthful.

Even though their web pages are very colorful, they’ve kept a monochromatic background for their CTA and headline. This highlights the dark green CTA and accompanying text.

CTA - Get Yours

Touchland is a company that offers one simple product - a hand sanitizer. Yet, they’ve been able to create a compelling CTA to get customers to buy it.

The landing page headline alludes to the mental checklist that we all follow when we leave the house - keys, wallet, and phone. 

The brand has added Touchland to this checklist, positioning the hand sanitizer as an essential item.

The CTA then tells customers to get their own bottle of this essential product. “Get Yours” as a CTA also evokes an emotional response to urge shoppers to buy what others already have.

CTA - Read the blog

Tableau is an analytics platform that allows users to make sense of data through beautiful data visualizations. Tableau Pulse is the company’s latest offering that offers AI-powered data analytics.

As it’s a new software, the company is aware that most visitors would want to learn more about Tableau Pulse rather than buy the software right away. 

Taking lead temperature into account, their primary CTA asks visitors to “Read the blog”.

CTA - Request a demo

Tracksuit is a marketing analytics company that helps brands measure their brand awareness and gauge brand perception. 

One of their main offerings is their attractive, simple, and effective dashboards that make it easy to present metrics.

“Request a demo” is a classic call to action for companies that offer software services and solutions. Leads want to know how an application works before paying for it.

With this CTA, Tracksuit is telling leads that they are willing to show you how their product works so you can see for yourself how great their product is.

CTA - Start Reading

Medium is an online publishing platform that attracts journalists, subject matter experts, and amateur bloggers who write on a wide variety of topics.

Readers have to sign up for one of their plans to access member-only content and to read more than the monthly limit of free articles. The CTA “Start Reading” is very on-brand for Medium.

They could have gone with “Get Started” but that would be too vague. Also, the black CTA button contrasts beautifully with the bright yellow background.

CTA - Start your free two-week trial today

Unlike the other examples shown before, here the landing page headline acts as the primary call to action. 

The message is emphasized by the CTA button that informs visitors that they can try out Wrike for free if they share their business email address.

Wrike is a project management platform that helps streamline workflows. As a software product, the brand has added the correct CTA to match lead temperature.

CTA - Try It Free

Apple products have always been known for their iconic, minimalistic designs. Their web pages are no different.

The website for Apple Music is almost bare and the eye-catching, red CTA button brings in a welcome burst of color.

The call to action invites music enthusiasts to try this music streaming platform for free. Users can test all its features before they purchase an Apple Music subscription.

CTA - Get your free report

This is a great twist on the “Request a demo” CTA that is popular with SaaS companies. Wordstream specializes in keyword analysis and Google Ad performance tools.

“Get your free report” doesn’t refer to just any random report. The body of the landing page text provides context that this report is actually the end result of their Google Ads Performance Grader demo.

Prospective leads can get a free report on the performance of their Google Ads while also testing the features of the tool.

CTA - Hell Yes

This is probably the most creative and “devilish” call to action in the entire list. Their core product is the humble bottle/can of water yet their branding is anything but. 

One could say that the brand is way more popular than its products.

LiquidDeath relies heavily on themes related to heavy metal, death, and gore. Yet, they’ve taken a humorous approach to such topics and all their CTAs match their brand voice.

Customers who are interested in their collaboration with ELF cosmetics are greeted with an enthusiastic “Hell Yes”. A simple “Buy Now” was too boring for them.

CTA - Contact sales

Square is a well-known payment processor that helps businesses accept credit card payments. They provide both hardware and software to satisfy all the payment processing needs of small businesses.

On their website, the “Contact sales” CTA is more prominent than the “Get started” CTA. 

This is because leads that Square attracts would want to customize Square’s services to match their unique requirements. Hence, it’s very likely that they’d want to contact Square’s sales team first to discuss Square’s services.

Here, “Shop Now” as a CTA would make no sense. “Contact sales” is much more appropriate on Square’s website.

CTA - Download

WhatsApp is the most popular messaging platform around the world, excluding China.

In their case, a one-word CTA works well as the landing page headline highlights the most important benefit of this messaging app.

It is also a good example of how bright colors can be used to make the CTA button stand out.

CTA - Find Strawberry Near You

Whipshots is a celebrity-owned brand with a unique product - alcohol-infused, flavored whipped cream.

Although they sell products via their online store, retail stores are an essential sales channel. 

The Whipshots website allows customers to find the nearest store that stocks the flavored whipped cream.

They just launched their much-awaited strawberry flavor and instead of going with a bland “Locate Store” CTA, they chose to make it playful. 

“Find Strawberry Near You” is creative and has a clear message - click on this button to find where you can buy Whipshots’ latest strawberry-flavored whipped cream.

CTA: Watch Film

Plenty is an innovative company looking to disrupt the farming industry. They want to make farming dirt-free and pesticide-free by growing crops indoors on vertical structures.

Educating people about their one-of-a-kind products and services can be daunting. This is why their landing page CTA directs people to watch a film that explains it all. “Watch Film” is the perfect CTA for the readiness level of leads at this stage.

CTA - Book a demo

As a company that offers tax solutions to businesses, Exactera knows that offering demos is the best way to convert leads. 

Their landing page has two CTAs - each catering to leads who are in different stages of the lead funnel.

“Book a demo” works best for bigger customers who are serious about implementing Exactera solutions in their businesses. “See the Overview” leads to a simplified demo video of the product for leads that are at the top of the funnel.

CTA - Listen Again

Here’s an example of a CTA in a highly customized email. Spotify collects large amounts of user data - especially data on user behavior on the platform. 

By accessing data unique to each customer, they can create highly targeted, and effective email marketing campaigns.

The image above shows an email received by a Spotify user. Spotify reminds the user that it has been a year since they started listening to a particular band. The CTA is the perfect finishing touch as it prompts the user to listen to the band again.

CTA - Register with Google/Register with Email

Kaggle is a Google-owned platform for experienced and amateur data scientists to practice their skills and join competitions. 

It caters to a niche community and it aims to attract data science enthusiasts from around the world.

The company has two CTAs on its website that offer users two alternative ways to join the Kaggle community - by registering with a Google account or another email account. The directive is straightforward.

Study the call-to-action examples described in this article before you craft or edit your CTAs. 

Remember to experiment with different styles and formats to find what resonates best with your audience and don’t forget to continually test and refine your approach to stay ahead

Calls to action are so common because they are so effective. They are key in getting prospects to take action and converting curious visitors into interested leads and even paying customers. 

Strategically placed, prominent, and clear CTAs have the potential to boost your conversion rates, and thereby, your business revenue.