TIPS 21-25:
CTAs

Make your call to action seem like the easiest decision they've ever made

#21 FOMO

Fear of missing out (FOMO) is the social phenomenon where people feel afraid that they'll miss out on something if they don't take immediate action. You can create this in your CTAs by highlighting limited-time offers by using words like "going fast", "last chance", or "now".

This works so effectively because of the scarcity principle: the rarer or more difficult to obtain a product, offer, or piece of content is, the more valuable it becomes. A study made people choose between two jars of cookies. One jar had only two cookies in it, the other had many. When asked which one they preferred, the majority of subjects chose the jar with fewer cookies. Psychologically, people assume that if there is less of something, it must be in higher demand and is therefore of higher value.

#22 Exclusivity

Everyone wants to feel special. You can construct CTAs that use this behavior to your advantage. By making something sound like it's not just for anyone, your readers will be more likely to join. Instead of "subscribe" or "buy", try "Be the first to hear about it" or "Get it before anyone else". This is particularly effective for gated content where you can use CTAs like "Get this exclusive content" or "Unlock now" to capture contact information.

One brand that uses this particularly well is Google. For many of its products, you have to "Request your invitation" to join, where you input your email address and wait for a supposedly "exclusive" invite from the company, or you can be invited by an existing customer. This not only piques curiosity but it also encourages social sharing.

#23 Risk aversion

Humans naturally tend to avoid risk. Even if an offer seems completely risk-free to you, many people will need CTAs that actively downplay the risk of your offer. You can do this by offering a free trial or a money-back guarantee which lowers their defenses enough for them to see the value in whatever you're selling.

A study offered participants a choice between two chocolates: a Hershey Kiss for 1 cent or a Lindt truffle for 15 cents. In this case, 73% chose the Lindt truffle because it's "superior". However, when both chocolates were made 1 cent cheaper for another group (making the Hershey Kiss free), 69% went for the free option, despite its lower quality. Although the price and quality difference remained exactly the same, people chose the option with less risk.

#24 Freedom of choice

When you give people a way out and remind them that it is ultimately their choice to make, they're actually more likely to be persuaded by you than if you use a more direct approach. If you frame your CTA with something like "It's up to you..." or "You can decide...", you reduce psychological reactance.

A study in 2000 asked people on the street to donate money. They found that just by including the phrase "but you are free to accept or refuse" they quadrupled the number of people who complied. When you give people more freedom, you encourage a stronger genuine desire to complete your call to action.

#25 Less is more

It's very important to limit your CTAs to just one. It's okay to follow up your initial CTA with a secondary one like "share on social" but your primary call to action should be the only natural next step on the page. This is so that you avoid giving your readers "decision paralysis" - the more options they have, the less likely they are to make a decision.

Two psychologists ran a study on consumers in a market. On day one, the shoppers saw a display table with 24 varieties of gourmet jam. Those who sampled the spreads received a coupon for $1 off any jam. The next day, shoppers saw a similar table, except that only six varieties of the jam were on display. The large display attracted more interest than the small one. However, people who saw the large display were one-tenth as likely to buy as people who saw the small display.