CTA stands for call to action, and is the final part of an ad or piece of communication — today we’ll be discussing them in search ads, specifically — calling users to click and interact further. “Call today,” “buy now,” “learn more,” are all examples of common (albeit generic) CTAs. 

Most often, search ads are designed to appear in high-intent queries which, just as the name sounds, are queries where the user has a deliberate, high level of intention in mind. 

So, when creating search ads for this purpose, you know people are looking for a reason to click on results — ad or organic — that show a high likelihood of providing solutions for the “problem” suggested by their query. We put problem in quotes because anything that one needs or wants but does not have could be considered a problem for this purpose. At the same time, a literal problem fills that same space.  “I want a new scent of perfume and I do not have it” exists, effectively, in the same space as “My vegetable garden is being overrun by aphids and slugs and I need to fix this.” 

Yet too often, CTAs are treated as an afterthought. In reality, they are the closing, final pitch convincing people that you can help with what they’re looking for, and in the process compelling them to click and see. Good CTAs tilt the scale and drive conversions by encouraging the user to act. 

Let’s explore: 

Relevance and why it’s key for conversions 

At its most basic level, the answer to this is obvious. Of course nobody will convert — whether that’s make a purchase, form fill, or whatever — on something that’s irrelevant to them. If I’ve never cared about basketball and live in a condo, why would I buy a full court home installation and hoops? 

Same goes for everything, really; an ad (or its associated product or service) that’s not relevant to a user and their search intent won’t convert. 

On the flip side, when a user displaying high intent is shown an ad that’s very relevant to their search, they’re far more likely to engage with it and potentially convert. And one component that can help better communicate your relevance to a user is the CTA. 

Image Source: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2022/10/03/how-to-write-exceptional-ppc-ad-copy  

Improving your CTAs to increase relevance 

To begin, consider your product or service being advertised — to whom is it most relevant? Who’s your ideal person, where your offering is made for them? 

Now, why? 

What are they looking for that your offering addresses? How so? 

The best CTAs will address this, whether explicitly or allusively. 

Part of that is addressing what stage this person is in in the purchasing journey (or marketing funnel, however you prefer to think of it). Often — but not always — search ads focus on the bottom of the funnel, in which case CTAs should encourage the appropriate actions that are generally based on sales, or are at least sales-adjacent. Are people clicking to “learn more,” or “buy now”? 

But of course, “Buy now” or “learn more” are messages that people are bombarded with every day — whether explicitly or implicitly — and towards which they are understandably varying levels of numb. So, what’s specific about your product or service and how it brings value to the person viewing this ad? How can you incorporate that into your messaging? “Sign up” doesn’t convey much. “Get exclusive offers on America’s biggest selection of hockey sticks” is much more compelling. 

Which, as you saw in that example: Be specific. Tailor your CTAs to your product, your service, and what that brings to your audience. What are their pain points where what you offer will improve their quality of life? Essentially “Ya know that specific problem you have? We can solve it.” (“Can’t find that rare spec you prefer in your hockey stick? Guess who has that in stock?”) 

Take the time to brainstorm different options addressing the specifics of what you offer to your audience (and potentially the circumstances around that). “Find your perfect fit,” “Schedule consultation with our experts,” “Start your new year right,” “Let’s create your dream space” — these examples are good starting points for how, with just a couple words, you can start to convey so much more to the users seeing your ads. And of course, these are all still just quite generic, off the cuff examples for hypothetical offers — when you actually have the specifics of your product or service down, you can give people something much more compelling. 

Testing your CTAs 

Now comes the part we always harp on at Fujisan Marketing no matter what the topic at hand. Don’t just set and forget — test! 

Yes of course, there’s nothing stopping you from writing whatever you want as your CTA and then just sending it out into the world without a second thought, but you’ll be missing out on an opportunity to learn and improve if you do that. 

Luckily, this is simple. All you have to do is run an A/B test on two ads where all else is held constant but each have different CTAs. After a period of time where you’ve accumulated a significant enough sample size, you’ll be able to see which resonates more with your target audience and is subsequently most effective. 

The insight you gain from your A/B tests can then be used to further refine and improve your future CTAs and even just your general ad copy, as the results will have implications for that as well. 

A/B testing is pretty easy to do. If you’re unfamiliar however, we wrote a post all about it a while back that goes more in-depth on the process and setting it up. 

In the end, CTAs are the closing line in what is essentially a digital elevator pitch to potential customers. You already put all this effort into showing them that you have something valuable to offer — why wouldn’t you finish it off with a strong closer? 

By understanding the specifics of your offer and how it relates to your audience, you can craft CTAs that showcase your value, increase your relevance, and together drive more engagement as people see how you can help with what they want.