How to Write an Effective Call to Action in Emails – Expandi

The point of any marketing message is to get a response, and ideally, to convert a lead into a client.

Without a proper call to action, most of your emails will flop and get no response from your leads.

Even if you have the strongest subject line, a proven offer relevant to your target audience, and the most personalized email info, it’ll be hard to get a response if you’re not telling them what you want them to do next.

A call-to-action (CTA) is a small, simple phrase that usually appears at the end of your email and asks the other person to do something to move the deal forward.

Usually, it’s getting on a call with you or replying to express their interest.

And a sales email is only successful if your lead follows through with what you asked them to do in your call to action.

In this guide, we’ll focus on outreach email and sales marketing and not newsletter email marketing.

And below, we’ll teach you what should go in your email CTA and some proven email marketing techniques to improve your marketing performance.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• What’s In A Good Email Call to Action (CTA Types And Examples)
• How To End An Email: Top 5 Best Practices
• Top 5 Sales Email CTA Examples and Templates

Email Marketing and Sales Outreach Recap

Now, one crucial thing about email marketing and sales outreach is that your CTAs don’t exist in a vacuum.

Trying to sign up people for a free trial and aiming to warm up your leads with outreach are entirely different approaches.

Your CTA should set the expectation right away from the start.

If you want your call-to-action to land, you also need to take into consideration:

• Your subject line, so your email gets opened in the first place.
• Who you’re targeting and how. Sales Navigator can help with finding your target audience on LinkedIn.
• How you start your email, so you capture your target audience’s attention and get them to read all the way through.
• Personalization, your value proposal, and email follow-ups.
• Your general email sequence flow
• And more.

If you want to take it up a notch though, you might also want to consider including dynamic GIFs in your email to accomplish all of the following.

In a world where most sales emails look the same, this is a clever way to stand out and stay memorable.

And the best part is they’re really easy to set up and can be automated to include your prospect’s name, company name, or other info on autopilot.

Here’s what that looks like:

Then, you can go even beyond that and dial in an omnichannel outreach strategy.

This way, you’re not targeting your leads only on email but also on LinkedIn.

And yes, this is automated as well.

So, the order might be:

1. Your prospect receives your LinkedIn connection request.
2. They receive an automated email with their profile picture or first name in it.
3. If they respond to the email, the flow ends there.
4. If not, they also get an automated LinkedIn InMail follow-up.
5. If they still don’t reply, they get another email message, and so on.

The flow can be adjusted, but you get the point.

If you’re interested in skyrocketing your reply rates up to 55%, check out our complete guide to hyper-personalized email outreach here, which includes a step-by-step guide to all of the above.

This is a great way to dial in your automated omnichannel sales outreach and stand out.

Which, in turn, makes your leads much more likely to reply to your CTAs.

Now, assuming you’ve already found someone’s email address and you’re just wondering how to end your email effectively, let’s take a look at CTAs more specifically.

What’s In A Good Email Call to Action (CTA Types And Examples)

As mentioned above, if the point of your email is to get a reply to your CTA, then the rest of your email should be constructed to get the prospect to do just that.

This includes your subject line, body text, and so on.

The most common email CTAs you’ll come across are probably about asking your lead to get on a call with you.

But that’s not the only method you’ll see in email marketing.

So, let’s first take a look at some different types of email CTA and examples:

#1 Getting on a call

This is the single most common email CTA, whether you’re using email or LinkedIn.

It’s straightforward and the prospect knows what they agree to.

Of course, the email around the CTA should make it clear what the call will include (is it a sales pitch? Value exchange? Asking questions?)

Another essential thing to consider here is agreeing on a time for the call.

You may offer your lead’s a simple choice on what time works for them best. However, this has its pros and cons.

When busy people are faced with a choice between two options, you might often pick neither.

On the other hand, giving them a choice can be a great way to frame the situation. You’re not pushing them, but at the same time, you’re giving them the power while still doing what you want.

Offering a choice can be an excellent option for some prospects and bad for others.

Let’s say you’re emailing a Fortune 500 CEO, chances are, their calendar is pretty full, and negotiating on simply deciding a time slot that works for them would be incredibly inconvenient.

The other option here is to include your calendar link (Calendly, etc.) and remove the stress and difficulty from your end of the process.

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. The best thing to do is simply test this and see which option works better in your target market.

Getting on a call email CTA examples can include:

• Let me know if you have time for a quick call at any point this Tuesday or Thursday?
• Let me know if the times in my calendar work for you? [URL]
• Do you have a scheduling link I can book a quick meeting with?

#2 Video audit

This is another simple but effective way to end your email.

And unlike asking to get on a call with you, this can be a more subtle way to charm your leads.

With this CTA, you’re simply asking them if they’d like to receive a free, personalized video audit – containing information on how they can improve their operations (based on your service or product).

They’re far more likely to say “yes” as well, as you’re going out of your way to make it less risky for them.

However, this does have one obvious downside.

Even if they say “yes” to your CTA, they’re not guaranteeing they will work with you.

And the worst case will be to implement your audit suggestions without you.

So, this depends on the quality of your leads and how you phrase the audit.

One way to approach this would be not to reveal all of your secrets in the audit so that they have a reason to work with you.

Here are some email CTA examples for this method:

• I’ve prepared a free 3-minute audit for (company). Would you like me to send over a video?
• Would you like me to send over a video guide?
• Let me know if you want me to send you a video?

#3 Qualifying interest or getting a reply

Finally, one simple way to qualify leads would be to ask a simple yes or no question at the end of your email.

The idea here is that replying to these simple emails will be less effort than jumping into a sales call directly.

And ideally, these qualifying question CTAs should be related to your main offer or proposal.

This type of CTAs will work if you have a very tempting offer but think your leads aren’t ready to get on a call yet.

For example:

• Just wondering if you’re using Klaviyo to manage your email and SMS marketing subscriptions?
• Wanted to ask if you’re focusing on providing an omnichannel custom experience at the moment at (company)?
• Would love to talk to you about this in more detail, is that something you’d be interested in?

Keep in mind there are also other ways you can end your email and this is by no means a definitive list.

It’s just that many emails are very contextual within their industry.

So, with your CTAs, you might also be asking your leads to:

• Check out your SaaS free trial.
• Get on a “value-exchange” call with you.
• Work with you.
• Exchange SEO backlinks.
• Simply network, and more.

We’ll cover some more examples and templates below.

But until then, let’s take a look at some more email CTA best practices to make sure your cold emails land.

How To End An Email: Top 5 Best Practices

As a rule of thumb, your emails should have a clear value proposition that makes your leads say “Yes!”.

And have an easy and fast CTA with no friction between them going from your email to a Zoom meeting with you.

In general, if a lead has to go out of their way to book a call with you, they might not have the patience to jump through all the hoops.

Now, let’s cover some best practices to enhance your CTAs.

  1. Use action-oriented text

It’s called a call-to-action. So, you need to be using striking and actionable text to draw your leads in.

Many people commit one common mistake of leaving things on an open-end or ending with a vague question.

So, if you end your email with a “What do you think?” or simply have no actionable CTA, your leads might just get confused and drop off.

Because, chances are, they get up to 100s of cold emails per day, depending on the industry.

And if they have to go out of their way to re-read your email or figure out what the next course of action is themselves, your emails are probably not going to cut it.

  2. Keep it short and straightforward

Another outreach sin is an email that goes on for too long.

Do not open a cold email with paragraphs of fluff, only to end by asking for 15 minutes of their time.

Your email should address your lead’s business challenges, then explain how your offer is uniquely positioned to help them.

While some templates can help you out, if you’re blindly following them, they might not work as well.

Each industry is different.

So, instead of re-using email outreach templates, you should be modifying them, so they work for you specifically.

  3. Create urgency

Creating a sense of urgency in your CTAs can help you vastly boost your click-through rates. Even simply adding the word “now” adds some urgency.

Another way to add urgency is to highlight that what you offer is not for everyone or that your availability is limited.

You can also give a time frame of how long it usually takes for your clients to see the returns of working with you.

Then, if you combine that with your CTA, you might get something like:

• Let me know if you’d be open to taking on 14+ sales calls per week? I’d be glad to send over a 3-minute video explaining our process.
• We help our clients implement a tried-and-tested email appointment setting system that works on autopilot and we’re open to taking on only three clients this month. Let me know if that sounds like something you’d be interested in?

  4. Focus on the benefit / them

As with most of your marketing messages, your email CTAs should focus on your leads and not be about you.

Keep it benefit-driven and try to incorporate “You” in your email endings.

No one will be interested in your sales pitch unless there’s something in it for them too. Focus on what’s in store for your buyer and what they get out of the transaction.

This will largely depend on your ideal customer persona and some of the outcomes they want to achieve.

Then, to highlight this point, you can use 1-2 sentence case studies to highlight your expertise.

When you’re talking about the benefits of your offer, you’re being buyer-centric.

Check out our complete guide to email sequence outreach for more info on this as well as how to structure the rest of your email.

  5. Follow a natural progression

Finally, the last thing you’ll want to keep in mind when doing outreach is that your emails should be following a natural progression leading up to your CTAs.

In other words, when a lead reads your CTA, they should be interested in getting on a call with you.

This can be achieved through:

• A robust email hook.
• Personalization info.
• Relevant value proposal.
• 1-2 sentence case study or other ways to highlight your expertise.
• And finally, a strong CTA.

This will also depend on what the buyer’s journey looks like in your industry when you’re taking the lead from point A to point B.

Don’t promise your leads the moon, especially in a cold email when you haven’t even gotten on a call with them.

Keep this in mind when you’re building out your sales pipeline, classify your leads accordingly, and you should be well on your way to sending out highly converting cold emails in your next campaign!

Now that we’ve covered just about everything you need to keep in mind when writing your email CTAs let’s take a look at some email templates and examples you can use in your next campaign.

Top 5 Sales Email CTA Examples and Templates

We’ve covered some templates and cold message examples before, mainly for LinkedIn.

Below, we’ll be combining all of the above best practices and how-to to and show you templates that get it right.

  1. Congratulations sales message

Subject line: Congratulations!

Email text:

“Hey {first_name},

Congratulations on your new role as VP of marketing!

Based on your LinkedIn profile, it seems you’ve done a fantastic job in your career at {company_name}.

Just wondering if you have an SEO or content person on your team?

I’ve helped scale SaaS companies like yours from 10k traffic per month up to 90k, and I might have a few ideas how {company_name} could scale with organic traffic as well.

Cheers,

(Your name).”

Wondering how to filter for job change alerts to find the right leads?

Check out our guide to using LinkedIn Sales Navigator for more info on this and other ways to find relevant leads with LinkedIn premium.

  2. Providing value upfront email

Subject line: Quick question

Email text:

“Hey {first_name}.

Love your website design at {company_name}. Can tell you really care about driving conversions and enhancing your message with those unique illustrations.

I noticed one mistake with your SEO, though, mainly with the headings and meta description.

Don’t worry, this is pretty common and I’ve helped many agencies like yours fix it.

Would you like me to write it up so you can share it with your web team?

If it’s a priority, I can also get on a quick 5-minute call.”

  3. Mutual interest email connection

Subject line: About (event name)

Email text:

“Hey {first_name},

I saw you were also planning to attend (event name) hosted by (creator) - me too!

We help B2B marketing agencies interested in email outreach utilize LinkedIn as part of their omnichannel sales sequence.

If you’re interested in the latest email marketing outreach trends, I thought this would be relevant to you too.

Want me to send over a quick article on how this works?”

You can also use this tactic to connect with your prospects directly on LinkedIn. And this is a great way to assume the interests of your leads.

If the event is about LinkedIn outreach, chances are, the attendees are probably also interested in growth-hacking and lead generation tools.

Check out our guide to scraping LinkedIn events for a step-by-step guide on this.

  4. Mutual group connection email

Subject line: Saw you in (group name)!

Email text:

“Hey {first_name}!

I noticed your profile and wanted to reach out as I saw we were both members of the same (group name).

Guess we have growth in common!

I wanted to reach out and let you know about a much safer LinkedIn automation tool than (competitor name). And I tried to find people who’d be open to helping me by sharing their thoughts.

Does this sound interesting enough to justify a short conversation?

Let me know what you think, {first_name}.”

This is a great way to get some constructive feedback or insights if you’re building your own SaaS tool.

And the best part is you can scrape LinkedIn groups and Facebook groups!

We did just that and got a 72% acceptance rate and 49% response to follow-ups on LinkedIn.

Check out how to scrape LinkedIn groups with Expandi for more info.

  5. Webinar attendants email outreach

Subject line: Hi from (your company)!

Email text:

“Hey {first_name},

Just had to pop open the champagne when I saw your name on the list of attendees for our next (your company) live demo!

Before I see you in the webinar, I wanted to ask if I can help you with anything before the demo.

Are you running some campaigns already?

Glad to share my insights or answer any questions you might have!

This is a great way to build rapport with your attendees if you’re hosting a live webinar.

And the best part is that this can be fully automated, down to your follow-up messages.

Check out our complete guide to LinkedIn webinar attendance to learn how to set up automated email campaigns that work with Zoom and create similar dynamic GIFs like the one you see above.

Conclusion

Now, to recap, let’s go over some of the essentials of email call-to-actions:

• What is a call to action examples?

You can swipe many different email CTA examples, but they’re too contextual to provide one simple example. For B2B sales outreach, here are a few different types of email examples you can use:

• Let me know if you have time for a quick call at any point this Tuesday or Thursday?
• I’ve prepared a free 3-minute audit for (company). Would you like me to send over a video?
• Wanted to ask if you’re focusing on providing an omnichannel custom experience at the moment at (company)?

• How do you write a call to action?

Here are some of the top best practices you should keep in mind when writing a call to action:

1. Use action-oriented text.
2. Keep it short and straightforward.
3. Create urgency.
4. Focus on the benefit of your lead.
5. Follow a natural progression in your emails.

• What is a good call to action statement?

A good CTA statement provides your leads value while minimizing risk for them. While, at the same time, also giving them a clear insight on what is the next step you want them to take. Use persuasive writing and focus on what your leads want to gain and how you can help them.

 

Ready to start sending our highly converting cold emails for your target audience?

With Expandi, you can automate your entire marketing funnel – your email campaigns and your LinkedIn outreach, at the same time.

For more info on how to improve your sales and marketing performance, get started with a live demo or a free, 7-day Expandi trial now!