Have you ever seen a button you can’t get out of your mind? 

I have. 

I especially love vintage buttons that have different shapes and sizes.

You know, the ones with a lot of texture that you can rub your fingers on as you button up your dress. 

I could even buy a dress just for the buttons alone.

(Actually, I bought a dress for the buttons alone once. 🙈)

And as it is with great buttons on clothing, so it is with great buttons in emails. 

The irony of today’s review is that I am reviewing two fashion brands that regularly send emails using buttons that don’t elicit a strong enough reaction like certain vintage buttons would. 

The brands, Aday and Alunuko make quality designs that are eye-catching and quite interesting.

I originally subscribed to their email lists because I fell in love with the style. I loved the elegance as well. 

Watch the email audit here: 

Unlike my usual division into goodies and uglies, I will highlight two benefits and two features of great CTA buttons.

Benefits of Great CTA buttons

1. Buttons make decision-making faster and easier.

Imagine your reader opening your email. They are accustomed to clicking buttons. They are also in scan mode and interested in the product highlighted in the email, but not for long.

They don’t know it yet, but they are scanning for a button. They can’t find it, so they click on the product image or close the email.

We don’t know what is going on in your reader’s life when they open the email, we can only make educated guesses. But what we do know is that you can increase the chances of a clickthrough for your reader.

Buttons increase those chances. It persuades our readers to take the desired action. Yes, the image is great and they may click on it. There are also chances that they wouldn’t. A great button lowers those chances.

2. Buttons close loops.

When you tick the checkbox on your to-do list and see that strikethrough line split your completed task in half, the pleasant feeling that goes through you, that hard-earned dopamine? Buttons do that too.

They provide psychological closure and give your readers that same feeling of fulfillment of completing a task, helping them. close a loop.

And that is another reason why they are so effective.

When you don’t offer obvious buttons in your email, you are depriving prospective buyers/clients of that sweet release.

Two features of great buttons

1. Their design is different from the rest of the email.

Buttons that encourage action usually provide contrast between the background (the color of the email) and themselves.

You could employ the use of color theory to choose a color that fits your brand style but is also strong enough to catch the reader’s attention.

2. The CTA copy encourages action.

While subtle copy is great in certain scenarios, they aren’t advisable for CTA buttons. Phrasal verbs for CTA buttons are good.

Common examples of those include “Sign Up,” “Shop Now,” and “Join Us.” However, you can get creative with your copy as long as it encourages immediate action and states this action clearly.

CTA copy for buttons are usually a chance to showcase brand voice and uniqueness. They could be quirky or curt. Whatever floats your boat. You can stylize them (please test) add little emojis and animations (check out my home page buttons) and so on.

Conclusion

Sometimes, less is more. Other times, less is actually less.

Test buttons to see which ones have higher clickthrough rates. And don’t worry —you buttons have a lesser chance of alienating your buyers.