---
name: cta-formula
description: "Write or review a call to action so it is clear, names the exact next step, and gives a true reason to act now, then place the asks so each one is earned. Use for the end of ads, posts, emails, landing pages and sales pages, or when someone says CTA, call to action, nobody clicks, or the ask is weak."
metadata:
  category: marketing
  credit: "Built on frameworks from Alex Hormozi (acquisition.com), written by the ApexGenius team."
---

# Write a call to action with a reason to act now

People who ask more often get more yeses, and most marketing asks once or not
at all. The limit is goodwill: an ask with nothing around it teaches people to
stop listening. So ask often, and put real value between the asks.

## The formula

1. **Clear, not clever.** Say exactly what to do, verb first: "Start free",
   "Book a 20-minute call". No wordplay.
2. **The exact next step.** What happens when they click: which page opens,
   what they do first, what they get. Walk them one step, not the whole path.
3. **A reason to do it now.** Urgency, scarcity, or both when you have them.
   When you do not, any honest reason still beats no reason. A light reason is
   enough for a small ask like a free trial; a big ask like a sales call or a
   paid plan needs a reason that holds up.

## Truth rules for the reason

- Deadlines and limits must be real. No invented deadlines, fake seat counts,
  or countdowns that reset.
- A service business has real capacity. A small firm can only take a few new
  clients at a time, and buyers assume you are bigger than you are, so say the
  true number. A larger firm can start clients in weekly cohorts and state that
  limit.
- A self-serve product has no capacity limit, so borrow the buyer's own
  deadline: month-end reports, the client call this week, the quarterly
  review. A real offer window, like the length of a free trial, also counts.
- A true occasion works too: a launch, an anniversary, a season.

## Place the asks

- **Short ad**: one ask, at the end.
- **Organic post that already performs**: add a short ask at the end and run
  it as an ad. A long ask up front hurts the post.
- **Landing page, email sequence or content series**: ask again after each
  stretch of real value.
- Put the cost of saying yes beside the button when it is low, such as the
  length of a free trial and whether a card is needed.

## Review mode

For each ask in a draft, check four things: is it clear, is the next step
exact, is the reason true, and did real value come before it? Rewrite the ones
that fail.

## Output

The button label, the next-step line, the reason-now line, and where each ask
goes.

## Pairs with

- `ad-hooks` for the opening.
- `four-angle-persuasion` for the middle.