A call to action (CTA) is an essential element of any advertising campaign, and Google Ads is no exception. A CTA is a statement or phrase that encourages the viewer to take a specific action, such as visiting a website, making a purchase, or filling out a form. Using the right call-to-action in your ad copy can enhance your ad performance and could lead to more clicks or even more conversions. The aim here is to select the right CTA for the type of action your business requires.
Clarity
Without a clear goal, your ads may fall short. Your CTA must reflect your desired outcome, whether that’s aiming for more clicks, sign-ups, purchases etc.
Visibility
The key is to make CTAs visible within your headlines and descriptions and making sure they’re prominent, whether that’s pinning a specific headline or attaching the CTA at the end of a description as long as they fit within the character limits. With that said, long gone are the days of using short CTAs like “sign up now”, “learn more” or “buy now”. Capturing the attention and intent of your audience has become more complex and requires more creativity to acquire that important click.
Here are 15 examples of effective CTAs for Google Ads:
‘Sign up for exclusive access’ or ‘sign up to receive personalised recommendations’
This CTA is straightforward and encourages the viewer to take immediate action for exclusivity or for tailored solutions. This is good if you’re providing something to your customers, this could be a newsletter, a subscription or a document such as a whitepaper etc.
‘Start your free trial – cancel anytime.’
Offering a free trial can be a great way to get people to try your product or service; however, telling your target audience that they can cancel anytime can give them a persuasive nudge in the right direction by knowing that they’re not locked in for X amount of time.
‘Explore new arrivals – limited stock available’
Where previously ‘buy now’ would have worked, this CTA could be seen as pushy or aggressive and may force your audience away. Giving your audience a chance to explore before they buy combined with ‘limited stock’ adds a sense or urgency to your brand and products.
‘Shop our best sellers’
This CTA works well for e-commerce ads and encourages the viewer to start shopping. We recommend testing this alongside ‘explore new arrivals’ and see what works better for your business.
‘Start exploring’
Where ‘learn more’ would have performed well in the past, it has become quite generic. ‘Start exploring’ is great for informational or educational ads and encourages the viewer to continue learning/exploring about the product or service. This is another CTA that should be tested against other CTAs.
‘Discover how it works and why thousands trust us’
This CTA is similar to ‘start exploring’ but adds a sense of curiosity as well as credibility.
‘Limited spaces available, reserve your spot’
This CTA is great for ads that offer a service that encourages quick bookings. It offers scarcity and urgency.
‘Join for free, start your journey today’
This CTA works well for membership-based services or communities and promotes motivational and personal growth.
‘Instant access with no waiting’
This CTA adds immediacy and encourages the user to try the product or service right away.
‘Get your free quote in under a minute’
This CTA is great for ads that offer a service or product with customizable options. It also reduces friction, highlighting the speed and ease of obtaining a quote.
‘Request a call back’
This CTA is great for flipping the script. This reduces user effort and can lead to a higher volume of leads based on the user’s availability.
‘Speak to an expert – book a call today’
Similar to ‘request a call back’ this CTA works well for leads over the phone; however, ‘expert’ adds authority and ‘today’ adds immediacy.
‘Claim your exclusive offer before it’s gone’
Offering a free offer or gift can be a great way to entice the viewer to take action and it also creates the fear of missing out. Adding urgency and exclusivity.
‘Sign up for weekly insights’
This CTA is great for businesses that want to build their email list as well as setting clear expectations about value and frequency, which in turn builds trust.
‘Save now for early access’
This CTA works well for ads that offer a sale or discount and encourages the viewer to take advantage of the offer at a later date.
Be specific
To write the perfect CTA for your Google Ads, there are a few things you should keep in mind. Always make your CTA specific and actionable.
- The CTA should clearly state what action you want the viewer to take and be particular about it.
- Using ‘Join now’ to then drive users to an e-commerce website isn’t ideal and will appear irrelevant. Using this in an ad might make your ads appear lower quality and could harm your results, so it’s always a good idea to make them as accurate as possible.
- E-commerce websites should use urgency to entice your audience about limited offers and stock. Give your users the fear of missing out, as this can generate more clicks which could convert better.
Use strong and persuasive language
Use words like “now,” “free,” and “limited time” to encourage potential customers to take action and also keep it short and to the point, CTAs should be concise and easy to understand. The last thing you need is to confuse your customers. The more specific, the better.
Testing
Lastly, test multiple CTAs. Try using different CTAs to see which one performs the best for your ad. You might find that ‘discover’ adds a layer of intrigue and entices users to click through. ‘Buy now’ can sometimes appear a bit assertive but we recommend testing different CTAs against each other and finding the winning one. By following these tips and using these examples as inspiration, you can use or create effective and compelling CTAs for your Google Ads that will encourage viewers to take action and potentially convert. For more info and help on Google Ads, read through our other articles.
Leave a Reply