Pick the call to action that matches the next real step in your buying process, not the one that sounds most enthusiastic. In the Hello Radio archive, a live archive of real ads from more than 300 brands refreshed every morning, Shop now appears on 46.7 percent of all ads and Learn more on 23.5 percent. Together they account for seven of every ten ads. Measured August 2026 across more than 90,000 ads.
The more useful finding is how sharply the choice splits by category. Categories agree with themselves far more than they agree with each other, which tells you the decision is structural rather than stylistic.
The full distribution
| Call to action | Share of all ads |
|---|---|
| Shop now | 46.7% |
| Learn more | 23.5% |
| Sign up | 7.0% |
| Order now | 5.9% |
| Book now | 4.9% |
| Get offer | 3.3% |
| Get quote | 2.1% |
| See details | 1.0% |
| Install now | 0.8% |
| Watch more | 0.6% |
| Download | 0.5% |
| Apply now | 0.4% |
Everything below that is under half a percent.
Categories agree with themselves
| Category | Leading call to action | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Apparel | Shop now | 98.0% |
| Home and furnishing | Shop now | 91.8% |
| Beauty | Shop now | 77.6% |
| Pets | Shop now | 77.6% |
| Retail | Shop now | 77.2% |
| Telecom | Learn more | 72.7% |
| Footwear | Shop now | 70.6% |
| Software | Learn more | 68.3% |
| Restaurants | Order now | 57.7% |
| Travel | Book now | 55.4% |
| Streaming | Sign up | 55.3% |
| Fitness | Sign up | 52.4% |
| Auto | Learn more | 45.1% |
| Finance | Learn more | 43.6% |
Apparel at 98 percent is effectively unanimous. Finance splits between Learn more at 43.6 percent and Get quote at 36.4 percent, which together account for 80 percent of the category.
The rule the data implies
Look at what the categories with high agreement have in common.
Categories that use Shop now sell things the buyer already understands. Nobody needs a jacket, a sofa, or a lipstick explained. The ad's job is to make the item desirable and get the person to it.
Categories that use Learn more sell things that require a decision before a transaction. Software, telecommunications plans, vehicles, financial products. The purchase is consequential, comparison is involved, and asking for a sale in the feed would be asking too early.
Categories that use a specific verb have a specific next step. Order now for restaurants, Book now for travel, Sign up for streaming and gyms, Get quote for insurance. When the next step has a name, use its name.
So the rule is: name the actual next step. If the next step is buying, say Shop now. If it is understanding, say Learn more. If it has a specific name in your business, use that.
The two common mistakes
Asking for too much too early. Using Shop now for something people never buy on a first exposure. The click still costs you, and the person who was not ready is gone. This is why auto sits at 45.1 percent Learn more despite selling a product with an obvious transaction.
Asking for too little. Using Learn more for something people are perfectly willing to buy now. Every unnecessary step loses people. Apparel figured this out and stopped hedging.
Where Get offer belongs
Get offer sits at 3.3 percent overall but 14.8 percent in beauty and 11.2 percent in auto. Both are categories where the offer is genuinely the reason to act: a promotional discount in one, a lease or finance program in the other.
Everywhere else it is rare, and that is informative. Even in retail, a heavily promotional category, only 5.3 percent of ads lead with the offer while 77.2 percent lead with the product. The discount is a reason to act now. It is usually not the reason to care.
Does the button change performance?
Less than the creative around it. The call to action sets the expectation for what happens after the click, and mismatched expectations cost you. But no button rescues a weak ad, and the difference between two reasonable choices is small compared to the difference between two creative angles.
Treat it as a correctness decision rather than an optimization one. Get it right, then spend your effort on the parts that carry the result. See what makes a good Facebook ad.
Common questions
Should I use Shop now or Learn more?
Use Shop now when people can reasonably buy on first exposure, which is why 98 percent of apparel ads use it. Use Learn more when the purchase requires a decision first, which is why software and auto lean on it.
Does the call to action button affect ad costs?
Indirectly. It sets expectations for the click, and mismatched expectations produce worse post-click behavior, which delivery accounts for over time. The effect is much smaller than creative quality.
What call to action works best for lead generation?
The one that names the step. Get quote, Book now, Sign up, or Apply now, depending on what actually happens next. Generic choices underperform specific ones when the next step has a name.
Is Get offer a good call to action?
In categories where the offer is the reason to act, yes. It appears on 14.8 percent of beauty ads and 11.2 percent of auto ads. Elsewhere it is rare, because most categories lead with the product and use the discount as support.