CTA Best Practices: Crafting Calls-to-Action That Actually Convert

Related Read: Content Marketing for Startups: 4 Ways to Gain a Competitive Advantage

Here are a few of the recurring CTA mistakes I’ve seen that are costing businesses conversions every day. 

• The “Book a Demo” Bombardment: For many brands, the only CTA on their site is to book a demo with sales. Your cold traffic is still trying to figure out if they understand their problem and how brands like yours fit into the picture—they’re not looking to spend 30 minutes in a demo call. 

• The “Marriage Proposal”: Many brands stumble with their CTAs by proposing marriage on the first date. What do we mean? High-commitment CTAs. If your CTAs are things like, "Sign up for our annual plan!" "Join our exclusive program!" you’re driving away all but the hottest of traffic and leads. 

• The Missing Middle Ground: Another mistake I see often is brands that have options on both sides of the spectrum ( a “book a demo” offer and a “subscribe to our newsletter” offer, for example) but neglect to promote a CTA or offer for something in the middle. Your warm traffic needs a middle-ground offer to convert on. 

• “Me, Me, Me” Syndrome: If all your CTAs focus on your company rather than the value you can provide your user, you’re missing a major opportunity. Instead of “Download Our Whitepaper,” you might want to say “Get Your Critical Industry Insights.”

Now that we know what to avoid, stay tuned for our next section, where we'll explore actionable best practices for creating CTAs that convert like crazy.

Let’s get started. 

Match Your CTA to the Customer Journey Stage

First and foremost, you need to match your CTA with the customer journey stage a customer is likely to be at when they encounter that CTA. If you want high conversion rates, you need to match your ask to where your visitor is in their journey. 

For example, on pages like your homepage, blog posts, and other very cold-traffic-centered pages, you’ll want to focus on value-first CTAs that help them solve immediate problems. This might mean offering a practical guide, an insightful checklist, or a helpful template. Resources at this stage in the funnel should drive interest and build trust, not directly lead to a conversation with sales… yet.

As visitors move into the evaluation stage, digging into warmer pages on your website or engaging with newsletter content, they're ready for more substantial engagement. This is where comparison tools, detailed case studies, or product tours make sense. Your visitors in this category are invested enough to spend time understanding your solution but might not be ready for a sales conversation.

Related Read: Customer Acquisition Funnel Guide

Save those high-commitment CTAs — like demo requests and consultation calls — for visitors showing clear buying signals. These might be return visitors, people who've engaged with multiple resources, or those actively viewing pricing pages. By this point, you've earned the right to ask for a more significant commitment.

Speak Your Customer's Language

The most effective CTAs don't sound like they were written by a marketing committee — they sound like they came straight from your customers' mouths. 

Easier said than done, I know. 

Thankfully, you already know what your customers sound like — or, at least, your CRM data should. 

Related Read: Pipedrive vs HubSpot: Choosing the Right CRM for Growth

Dive into your customer support tickets and sales call transcripts and review feedback. Look for patterns in how customers describe their challenges and desired outcomes. When they talk about what convinced them to buy, what words do they use? These insights are gold for crafting CTA copy that resonates.

For example, instead of "Request a Demo," you might discover your customers respond better to "See How It Works for Your Team.” Dig through your data, speak to your sales team, and interview existing and previous customers. Learn the verbiage they use to discuss their businesses, their problems, and their goals. Then, skip the fancy industry jargon and speak in terms your customers actually use.

Make the Next Step Crystal Clear

Confusion is a conversion killer. 

As a result, if you want your CTAs to crush it, they should leave absolutely no doubt about what happens at every stage in the conversion and engagement process. But how can you make your CTAs crystal clear at every step?

Instead of vague button text like "Submit" or "Click Here," use action-oriented language that describes exactly what the visitor gets: "Download Your Free Template" or "Start Your Custom Report." Better yet, tell them what happens after they click: "Get the Guide — Sent Straight to Your Inbox."

This clarity extends to your page design, too. 

Your CTA should be the obvious next step, don’t make it compete with five other buttons on your page. Use visual hierarchy and white space to naturally guide visitors toward conversion. On mobile, make sure buttons are large enough to tap easily and positioned where they're impossible to miss. 

Just adding these elements of clarity to the equation can help build trust with your audience and boost conversions. 

Related Read: 10 Visual Content Marketing Statistics You Must Know

Capitalize on Conversion Momentum

Last but not least, let’s talk about one of the biggest missed opportunities on most companies’ websites: the lead magnet post-conversion “Thank You” page. 

The moment immediately after someone converts is pure gold. Your audience is engaged, interested, and thinking about your brand. Don’t let that moment pass by. Instead, use it as an opportunity to deepen your relationship with your new lead. 

Sure, thank them and give them a confirmation message to reinforce their good decision of converting on your offer. But don’t leave it at that! Guide them toward a logical next step. 

If they've downloaded a beginner's guide, offer them an intermediate resource on the same topic. If they've signed up for a free trial, show them a quick-start video to ensure their success.

Include social proof on these pages, too — testimonials from others who've taken similar actions and achieved success. This reassures them they're in good company and builds anticipation for their own results.

Putting These CTA Best Practices Into Play

Armed with these four simple best practices, you have the blueprint for creating CTAs that don't just catch eyes but also capture clicks and conversions. By matching your CTAs to the customer journey, speaking your audience's language, and maintaining momentum through each interaction, you're well on your way to higher conversion rates.

But here's something crucial to remember: even the most compelling CTA is just one piece of your marketing puzzle. To truly transform your conversion rates, you need all your marketing elements working in harmony — from your initial messaging to your follow-up sequences and everything in between.

Ready to take your entire marketing strategy to the next level? We've distilled years of testing and optimization into our comprehensive Growth Playbook. It's packed with proven frameworks, templates, and strategies that help you create not just better CTAs, but better marketing campaigns across the board.

Check out our Growth Playbook for free and start leveling up your marketing efforts today.