In the marketing world, a landing page acts as a standalone page, often disparate from any other page on the website and aims to serve an individual purpose = conversions. It’s the next step in securing a user and transforming them into a customer, allowing you to express any relevant information, special offers or trades in return for providing contact details.
There are different types of landing pages depending on what you want to achieve. Landing pages can serve as a click-through page to your e-commerce site or focus on lead generation, which usually promotes offers such as free trials, webinar registrations or downloadable content like an eBook.
For a landing page to do its job, the offering needs to have a good enough impact on persuading users to part with their valuable information. You don’t have to stick with just one landing page either, you can utilise multiple to target segmented groups of potential customers to get the best results.
The landing page process – how does it work?
The process is simple. A person will click a call to action, something along the lines of ‘buy now’ or ‘find out more’ where they are then directed to a landing page with a form. Hopefully, your landing page will gain enough interest for the person to fill out the form, converting them from just a visitor into a warm lead.
You can then store any information from the form into the software you use for lead generation, marketing the lead based on the details provided. Depending on the software used, it may offer features such as viewing where the lead came from and any further interactions they have taken on your site. This can help you in the nurturing process to better target leads and turn them into customers.
Value is essential. Customers are more likely to hand over their information if they receive something of value in return. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to provide all of your marketing secrets for free, just a little useful snippet that makes them consider coming back for more.
Preparation for creation
Before you dive into creating your landing page, you need to think about the dedicated research that goes into it, otherwise, you risk missing out on valuable conversions. To craft the perfect conversion solution, here are a few pointers to get started:
Tap into your ideal customer
To tap into your ideal customer, you need to create a partially fictional representation based on what you would want in a consumer. Researching market behaviours and analysing current data is the first step in defining who you want to target. Delving deeper into the customer’s brain can help you refine your content in a way they would find interesting.
The beauty of a landing page is that you can create multiple to suit each one of your ideal customers. The mistake a lot of businesses make is trying to fit every preference into one landing page, making it confusing, misleading and, in some parts, irrelevant depending on each persona reading it – limiting the number of conversions you are aiming for.
Focusing on one landing page at a time and tailoring them to specific and more focused segments of your audience will help increase the chance of conversions. Don’t try to appeal to the masses because the results won’t be as far-reaching!
Decide what to give
The offer will encourage users to purchase from you, and although many of us are partial to a free sample. It has to be worthwhile to gain traction. This could include a free webinar, eBook or anything that provides information relevant to your business and is equally easily digestible and downloadable.
The steps to a buyer’s journey
Awareness, consideration and decision making all go hand in hand during the buying process. Different types of content are required to separate these sections to help push potential buyers to progress to each stage
The awareness stage is where a website visitor will be searching for something without knowing 100% what it is they need. During this stage, the consumer will be heavily researching. At this point, you should offer eBooks or guides.
When visitors are at the consideration stage, they have most likely discovered what they are looking for and now want to know more. The content that works best in the consideration stage are videos, webinars and detailed white papers.
The decision stage is also known as the intent stage. At this point, the person recognises the next steps in their approach. Here, they will be comparing which business will work best with their strategy. At this stage, provide examples of case studies and any product or service information.
Tips for an unforgettable landing page:
Researching is just the beginning. When you create a landing page, it’s important to follow a pattern for success.
- Capture the readers’ attention with a snappy, clever headline. This is the first thing users will see when they land on the page, so make sure it is worth reading!
- What are you offering? With attention spans at an all-time low, you must make it clear to communicate the value of this page from the get-go to encourage conversions.
- The form on your landing page is responsible for gathering the information you need. The first step is to collate data such as a name and email address. As users get further down the funnel, you can create a more in-depth form asking for more information at the decision stage to discover how much you need to sell or promote.
- Include relevant but also attractive imagery to engage users further. A page without imagery can be difficult to read.
- The proof is in the pudding. Try to add fitting testimonials that confirm how good your services or products are.
Are you looking to create an unforgettable landing page? The first steps can sometimes feel tricky. Get in touch with us today to find out how we can help.