While many businesses are using email marketing software to get their messages in front of their target markets and captive audiences, savvy email marketers know that a good 'call to action' can take their results to the next level.

A call to action is a standard marketing term that spans all media. Its definition is essentially word usage that encourages a reader or viewer to take action. For example, "Click here to register for the free seminar." or "Quickly signup for our free trial!" Regardless of whether marketers are talking about an email marketing campaign, radio ad, television spot, or out-of-home (billboard) ad, a good call to action is always ready in their arsenal.

The reason calls to action are so effective is because they are direct and to the point. They tell the reader, as explicitly as possible, "This is what I want you to do next". Even though, intuitively, we may think that the reader will figure out what to do next, sometimes they don't come to that conclusion as quickly as we might expect. Sometimes, a customer may be thinking, "Do I call them to buy this product?", "Do I email them to buy this product?" or "Do I click on a link to buy this product?". If those are the questions your email marketing recipient is asking, then rest assured that having a big call to action that reads "Click Here To Buy This Product Now" will swiftly lead them to your desired answer.

Since your email marketing campaign may have a variety of information, it's even more important to have clear calls to action because it's easy for your reader to get lost. This is especially true if your email marketing campaign has multiple links in it, and clicking a link is your desired outcome. Your objective is to make it as obvious as possible which link to click, so your recipient doesn't get stuck clicking a 'learn more' link when they really want a 'buy now' link.

Most email marketing software solutions will let you track the links that are being clicked. This is very useful, because you can analyze reports that will clearly show you whether your recipients are clicking on your call to action link.

It's important to note that a call to action does not only apply to links. Many email marketers include calls to action such as "Call Us Quickly To Secure Your Spot", where the desired outcome is a phone call, or "Reply To This Email Immediately For Your Free Gift", where the desired outcome is an email reply.

The key towards using calls to action effectively with your email marketing software is to ask yourself this important question: What, specifically, do I want my reader to do next? Once you have the answer to that question, you can begin formatting the perfect call to action for your email marketing campaign that will assist in achieving your objective.

Remember that you won't become the ultimate email marketing guru over night, but with the right email marketing software and some careful thought about the calls to action you want to include, you will be able to rapidly boost your results.