A short time ago, I walked through my strategy for building a winning marketing campaign – one that accomplishes your goals and delivers the results you need.
During this three-part blog series, I walked through some of today’s best practices for setting goals, establishing ideal customers, crafting target audiences, writing powerful headlines, and creating calls to action that compel.
This can be a long and tedious process! The good news is, at the end of all of it, you’ll have a truly successful and rewarding marketing strategy – which is priceless.
But, there’s one thing, one step, that I didn’t walkthrough.
And, if you miss it, you won’t gain any of the results you worked so hard to reach.
You don’t want to overlook your landing pages.
No matter how perfectly you’ve crafted your marketing strategy, if you overlook today’s top best practices for landing pages, you will never achieve the goals you’ve set.
5. Consider Audience Relevance
Your landing page must align with the marketing that got them to this point in your marketing strategy.
If the final landing page and call-to-action (CTA) does not match what drove the audience to this point in the first place, you will lose their trust and their business.
In addition, a landing page that doesn’t align with previous marketing can cause confusion!
Your audience must know that they’re on the right track to gaining the offers your previous marketing has promised.
Otherwise, they might doubt that they’ve been sent to the right page and leave – never to return!
For example, if your audience searches for Honda service near them – you want your answer to align directly to their search, from the paid search ad to the landing page they’re sent to!
By aligning your landing pages with the rest of your marketing, you’ll reduce your visitors’ bounce rates and increase your quality scores. So, you’ll get more leads for less money!
4. Be Clear & Concise
The more clear your message is, the better.
Just like your marketing, you don’t want to overload your reader with information.
You want to present the information necessary to them as simply as possible and keep your writing as compelling as possible. Remove any unnecessary information and only provide the information that they need to know to gain the benefits your marketing has promised up to this point.
Keeping your readers engaged is the key to a successful landing page and, when you’re writing to readers with a smaller attention span than goldfish (around 8 seconds), you don’t want to overload them with unnecessary and uncompelling copy.
This landing page is a great example. It clearly explains to the audience what they will gain and what they need to do in order to access the promised benefits.
If your visitor can’t figure out what you’re offering in less than five seconds, they’ll bounce. Consider this with every landing page you create and make sure the actions are clear!
3. Have Compelling Headlines
For every one person that reads the copy on your landing page, almost six additional people read the headline.
If your headline can’t effectively sell your offer, you’re losing countless engagement opportunities and potential sales.
The only purpose of your headline is to grab the attention of your prospect or customer and convince them to continue reading or take action.
Anyone who visits your landing page will determine whether to stay or go based on your headline.
It should explain what’s in it for them!
2. Have Clear Calls-to-Action
Rule number one with CTAs is: Don’t be passive! There is nothing wrong with asking someone to do something – even with brand advertising.
You’ll want to use actionable words and phrases to compel your audience to do what you want.
Tell them what you want them to do and make sure you focus on what’s in it for them – that’s all they care about.
Again – Keep it simple. People need to know how you want them to respond.
In the same way, it’s important to observe that where you write matters just as much as what you write.
Readers quickly move from reading to scanning (it only takes about eight seconds) and if your marketing isn’t drawing their eyes to specific offers, incentives, and CTAs, it will be tossed aside and forgotten.
Keep your Call-to-Action buttons above the fold and consider mobile first! Make sure your CTA is within easy reach of your thumb.
Bounce rates increase when visitors need to scroll, so give them a chance to take action without scrolling – like the mobile-friendly landing page above.
1. Don’t Get Too Elaborate
The last thing you want is for your visitors to get overwhelmed by the process.
Consider removing the navigation on your page so your visitors aren’t distracted by your own navigation options. Otherwise, you run the risk of people leaving your landing page without converting.
In addition, the more you move customers from one landing page to the next (as they complete CTAs), the more distrust is created.
Make the process simple, clear and linear. Streamline your audience from your marketing to your landing page to your “Thank-You” page and avoid bouncing them around from one area to the next.
This will increase their confidence in your process and, ultimately, deliver a better customer experience and higher conversions.
Lastly, don’t ask for more than you need. If you’re asking visitors to fill out a form, don’t get too demanding. The less you ask for, the more conversions you will gain.
If you only plan to follow up via email, just ask for a name and email! Less IS more when it comes to forms.
In Conclusion…
There is an endless assortment of tips, tricks, and tools for creating landing pages that convert, but these five secrets are the most practical, achievable, and effective that I know.
If you want us to show you how to effectively increase your brand awareness and sales, you can reach out to us at learn@jandlmarketing.com or just schedule a meeting.
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