#3 Your CTA-CTR-KPI is Crappy
Every email should present some sort of call to action (CTA) to the recipient. To know if your CTAs are performing within an acceptable range for your market or to improve performance you first need to know your the CTR (click to open rate).
According to CXL, a marketing education resource, “an average CTR is a good indicator of performance. If you have a low CTR, for example, it may be an indicator that your copy or headline isn’t effective or that you are targeting the wrong audience, reaching the wrong demographics, or spending money on the wrong keywords.”
Note: CXL’s point of reference is for all channels, such as Google search, PPC, Facebook, etc including email. For this post the focus is on CTAs in email.
Here's an excellent summary of email CTR by industry provided by Smart Insights
If your CTA-CTR-KPI is in or near the Lower Range you could focus on the multitude of creative elements inherent in CTA creations. However, the most basic CTA creative element is what you ask. Focus on this first.
Adespresso has compiled a good chart of action-oriented CTA verbs clustered by purpose. These action verbs are clear in what they want the contact to do depending upon the email’s tactical purpose.
Action Item 1: Review the Buyer's Journey/Sales Cycle Infographic in #2 of 7 and apply it to your next email.
Action Item 2: Create an A/B test between two of the CTAs above in your next email.