rogerd - 10:14 pm on Feb 4, 2004 (gmt 0)

If you search the web for "call to action copy" or similar, you'll find all kinds of definitions and approaches. One I liked combines an action button/link with a few persuasive reasons to act and, perhaps, an indication that the offer will be withdrawn if the user fails to act.

One of the more interesting approaches for a "call to action" is the Amazon Gold Box. If you are a registered shopper, you'll see a treasure box icon with some one-time offers in it. These offers are literally one-time deals - if you click to go the the next one, you can't go back; it's gone for good, or at least until they recycle it again. I don't know how well this works overall for Amazon, but the idea is fairly compelling. My own experience has been (on the few times I tried it) that I was presented with stuff that didn't really interest me. If I hit something I was thinking of buying, though, I'd definitely consider buying if the deal was better than normal pricing. (Hmmm... Amazon would certainly have the technology to remember what I browsed yesterday and offer that to me today if I hadn't already bought; no evidence of that level of smarts yet, though, at least for me.)