Some thoughts on calls to action

As I have been dealing a lot with creatives recently I realized there are two perceptions on calls to action. No doubts that a call to action encourages people to click. There are plenty of studies proving it. However, due to recent experiences I figured there are different perceptions on how a call to action button should look like.

The way I see it a lot of people still believe that a call to action should dominate the creatives including oversized and ugly buttons shouting out click here (sometimes even followed by a number of exclamation marks) or cheap offers here! Also, it appears to me that people like to choose the star-button in a bright red colour to make sure, it cannot be missed.
However, I do believe that if you have an appealing product and a clear message you want to communicate your call to action button can be integrated in a creative, appealing and yet demanding way.

A very good example I’d like to refer is the Tourism New Zealand recent German campaign. The message „Reisender, deine Träume erwarten dich“ (traveller, your dreams are waiting for you) are supported by strong emotional slogans and pictures and the final slide ends with a simple button and the invitation„Beginne deine Reise“ (start your journey).

When I wanted to create something similar I’ve been told that this won’t work. Why? I asked. Because people won’t click, it’s not demanding enough. I disagreed, simply because I believe that if someone is interested in the product and the overall messages appeals to me I’m more than willing to click. At the same time I’m a high quality visitor because I was attracted to the product without an aggressive call to action button. Maybe there are more clicks generated if there is a more aggressive button, but the question that remains is: is this the user who’s really interested in my product or is this a user who simply follows a natural instinct to click on anything that’s bright and big?