If you’re looking for more conversions on your landing pages, then we got some ideas that’ll keep them looking, clicking and depositing and coming back for more.
One thing about our industry and I’m sure in a lot of industries, we are too concerned with the bonus number, the percentage and the promotional offer. It seems that we take ourselves too seriously and try too hard to impress and press that infamous “reaction button” relying only on the bonus. Then there is the actual offer, which can be so complicated with rules and terms and conditions that all the fun is taken away and we are just selling numbers to the viewer. After all, we know in the end it is all about numbers, but you don’t need to be so obvious about it to the viewer. We tend to forget we are in the “entertainment” business, and that people want to be “entertained” right from the start, even if it’s a simple landing page. In this world today, we all need something to make us smile, even if it’s a few seconds on your landing page.
Usually, the landing page is the next stop after the viewer clicks on after reading your newsletter and seeks out more information. Most advertisers make the mistake of offering too much information here and get into this “telling” not “selling” their promotional offer…boring!
Here are some points to start with when creating a good landing page:
1) Come up with a great creative conceptual design or a big idea, including a theme or hook that will really interest the viewer and they will want to read more.
2) Write a great creative headline. This is really important because if you do not captivate your viewer here, in the first 5 seconds you may have lost him. They won’t keep reading if they aren’t really interested. If you can’t come up with a great creative concept and captivating copy, then hire someone, it’ll pay for itself in the long run!
3) Keep the headline “benefit” oriented and write about the viewer’s needs not yours. Think about your unique selling proposition here. It’s very important not to say “we this, we that”, etc. Consumers don’t really care about your company…sorry but it’s true; they care only about what you can do for them, or what they get out of your landing page/offer/company and why they should keep reading on and clicking through. If your company won some big award that will add to credibility and the viewer can trust you’re real, that’s fine, but keep it short.
4) Keep your landing page simple and keep within the creative concept. Stay inside of your single concept or message, don’t go off on another tangent even if its terms and conditions related. You can do that at the bottom of the landing page or on your site. You don’t need to fill every space of the page, not necessary on the landing page. Space draws the viewer’s eyes to the important parts.
5) The elements: Keep it simple and keep it to the headline, subhead, maybe a second subhead, then some short body copy (keeping inside the concept), wrap it into the bonus offer (cash, bonus percentage, prize, tournament etc) and then go right to the CALL TO ACTION! Your cash bonus offer is still important on the page, if that is your promotional strategy. If you want to sell the brand more and put that as your key message even better. Remember, people like to attach themselves to brands not just to weekly offers.
6) Make sure you wrap your content around the image or photo you incorporate. This is part of the creative concept. For example, have the content and image related conceptually, tie them together. You can even have some fun, be clever, poke fun at something, or entice the viewer laugh a little. Spark some interest in the viewer; get them genuinely interested, the mechanics of the landing page will follow. If you have a branded character as your hero, make sure he is there too.
7) Make the message short. Get right to the point, have minimum copy and ask for the call to action or the click through. Once they get the idea, which (believe me) will be quickly, they will or will not click through. Remember, to ask yourself: “What do they get out of it…or how does this improve their lives?” This will determine if it will be a successful click and deposit.
8)Consistency in your branding is key. Make sure that the fonts, images, logo, colors, angle, tag line, backgrounds and execution are in sync with your overall brand from the newsletter, to the landing page and on to the site. Sure, if you’re doing a Christmas themed promotion there will be some deviations on the look and feel, but if you have some common denominators in your overall corporate design and message as your brand style guide dictated, people will know when they click over to your sign up page or login, that it is indeed the same company at all the touch points.
Finally, make sure all the right practical information is there so they can contact you. Include the phone number, email address, and the company’s web site URL is there on the landing page, even if it’s on the lower part the real estate. Finally, keep the most important information at the top of the fold on the page. You can still have your logo at the top, that’s fine, but remember to have the viewer’s “benefit” as the most prominent message. You never know, that’s all it might take for them to click through to your site, look at how great you really are, sign up and make the all important deposit or come back for more…your loyal customer just keeps getting what he wants from his/her favorite brand.