As you might have detected from our many blog posts, the idea of one-size-fits-all marketing strategies have no place with our team at Campfire. Just as each one of you and your businesses are unique, so should be your advertising – as far as a budget will allow, of course! This same tenet holds true with the elusive Landing Page. For the uninitiated, a landing page is the section of a website you arrive at upon clicking a hyperlink on a separate web page or app., Typically, this is the website’s home page, and its purpose is then to convert the visitor according to a predetermined goal. This could be something as simple as learning more about the brand, registering an email address, or even going all the way to a purchase.
No two landing pages are ever alike, because every brand has a different voice and a different mission. There’s no inviolable set of rules to work to, but here are five top tips to get your landing page to capture the attention of your visitors, and lead them towards a conversion.
The Headline is Everything
Since humans started selling newspapers, they have been creating headlines that latch to the imaginations of their readers. Your headline has to tell a viewer exactly what they’re about to read, at a single glance. Write the headline you have in mind, and then find a way to cut it in half. Read research on the words our eyes gravitate towards. Pose the headline as a question to pique interest. Make it so that the most recent visitor to your landing page cannot carry on with their life until they have read what you have to say.
A Picture Says A Thousand Words
And if that’s true, imagine the story you can tell with a video! As old as this adage is, it still rings true, and the bar has never been set higher for photo quality. Posting a video? Choose the thumbnail that tells the most about the video, without giving away the plot. If you need inspiration, look at any News website for the way they curate their images and match their headlines. Make sure that, after the headline, this photo is enhancing the story they already have forming in their mind. Selling a service? Have the photo demonstrate the product in action. Supporting a cause? Choose an image that reacts on an emotional level with the broadest spectrum of human beings.
Explain, But Don’t Bore
You now get to tell your story to this new visitor, but in this day and age, you don’t have long. Our standard for quality content is high, and if unless you write like Shakespeare, keep your explanations concise. Don’t give all the details of your product away upfront; you want to inform them, but leave them with curiosity and follow-up questions. Tell your story in a maximum of three paragraphs – only the most important details. You will lose your reader if they start to think there’s no end to the scrolling text on screen. Make sure that this completes the mission started by the headline and your photos.
What Will They Lose By Leaving?
Too many sales pitches put emphasis on what a potential customer would gain from your product, when in reality it should focus on what would be lost should they steer away from this opportunity. Testimonials help reinforce this; the struggles a customer went through before finding this solution. Anyone who has been to a casino knows that losing X dollars at the Blackjack table is twice as painful as gaining X dollars at the very same game. Then, insert your product as the solution to these woes. You’ve created a problem, to which you now offer the perfect antidote.
Convert. Convert. Convert.
This is it- the moment you’ve been waiting for. You’ve brought them this far, and now you need to make your ask. Is it their email address your after? Do you want them make a purchase? You’ve made your pitch, now make sure the next step is as seamless as possible. Put your email signup directly below the last line of text. Make sure there are as few steps possible between the landing page, and a purchase confirmation. Studies have shown that the large majority of customers will swipe away from a page if it takes longer than three seconds to load. How much patience to you think they’ll have if it’s a labyrinth to the checkout page?
These five tips should give you a solid head start to creating your first landing page – that hook that you can use to reel in new customers. Remember, they can always improve, always be updated. Create, assess, and create again. Find out where you can streamline, which words may be more effective, which photo may grab more interest. Keep it as fluid and flexible as your elevator pitch, and don’t be afraid to toss it out and start again if it’s not working. Above all, keep it punchy, keep it brief, and don’t give them a reason to move onto your competitor!
Have you already made it this far, and want to take your landing pages to the next level? Give us a call, or write us below to find out how we can help you make that next step!
