2021 is approaching very fast. It will be here before you know it and the big question is, are you and your business prepared? It’s Kiera here, Marketing Executive at LPG and I want to help you in 2021.
A big way your business can prepare is with a landing page/multiple landing pages!
With the pandemic and lockdowns happening worldwide people are spending so much more time online, a lot more people are shopping online… and this is why you need a landing page!
COVID has pushed people online, even myself, someone that never shopped online has done all of my christmas shopping online – because of this reason, businesses are now changing their marketing strategies to weight more heavily on digital marketing.
The businesses that have made these changes are thriving because in marketing it’s important to not be stuck in your ways, change is important and can make or break your business.
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. – George Bernard Shaw
Your online customers need steering and guiding… you need a landing page! Without one, you are MISSING OUT on sales/leads. You may think that you do not need a landing page because you have a website, but landing pages do what your website can not by focusing on one dedicated conversion goal.
At landing page guys, we don’t want you to miss out on sales/leads so here’s our guide on how you can crush 2021 with a landing page.
What can a landing page do for my business?
Landing pages are pages designed with a very specific goal in mind and everything on the page effectively flows to ensure the user takes that desired action and completes that goal.
The goal could be that you want to make a sale, collect a lead, get an email address etc. The overall goal of a landing page is to get that user to convert. If you can get your landing page to convert highly and correctly then you’re looking at marketing dollars back in your pocket. If you’re spending money per click (PPC) then each click is very important.
A higher conversion rate means more sales, more leads, more happy customers and more money for your company! At Landing Page Guys, we specialise in creating landing pages that convert!
When creating a Landing Page it is important to have your goal in mind so you can write your copy, CTA and pick the correct landing page for your goal.
There are many different types of landing page and they include:
Direct Response Sales Page,
Sales Funnels,
Ecommerce Stores,
Single Step Lead Gen,
Multi-Step Lead Gen,
Advertorials,
Minisites and even Websites!
The landing page you need will depend on what your goal is, contact us by clicking the button at the end of this blog and we will give you all the advice you need and a quote so you can start your 2021 the way it’s meant to be.
So now you know which landing page you need and you know your goal and how a landing page can benefit your company, it’s time to start 2021 with successful landing page!
Before creating your landing page
Before creating your landing page, there’s a few things you need to do:
Define your core audience
Knowing who you are targeting is imperative to the success of any marketing campaign, and that doesn’t change here. If you don’t know who you’re trying to reach, then you’re 10 steps behind before you even get started, so get clear on it.
Set a clear goal for the page
We’ve mentioned this above but it is SO IMPORTANT. This is as simple as knowing what you want to achieve from the audience, whether it be a lead capture, sale, click through, subscription to a newsletter, app download or similar.
Keep this simple. Decide ONE goal for the page to keep the focus narrow, this will help you to write the perfect CTA.
Consider where you’ll be sending traffic from
The source of your traffic can have an impact on the performance of your landing page in many ways, including how it’s viewed and interacted with but also (and more importantly) the intent of the visitor at the time of viewing, their mindset and whether they’re pre-qualified and warmed to your offering.
How a user acts on a landing page from an Instagram ad will differ greatly from someone who is viewing from a long tail search term on PPC advert where the intent is stronger and the stage of the buying circle is further advanced.
If your visitor is a ‘cold visitor’ there’s going to need to be more attention paid to educating them on the problem they’re facing, the benefit of your solution, the solution you’re offering as well as why they should trust you.
This would involve a longer form landing page that leads the visitor through the full journey from awareness through to action.
Contrast this to a visitor who has found you via a very specific search that implies that they know who you are and/or what you’re offering, or even through an advertorial or pre-sell which has already convinced them that they need what you have to offer.
This visitor isn’t going to want to have to filter through the how’s, why’s and what’s to get to the end product, they just simply want to take action.
Don’t forget to optimise for mobile!
What does my landing page need to be successful?
It needs to follow the AIDA Principle!
Regardless of industry, goal or marketing plan, your landing page will generally take on a fairly similar foundation that includes critical elements to encourage your visitors to take action.
The first principle you can use is the AIDA principle.
AIDA is an acronym that stands for:
So what do each of these mean?
Attention
(Include 4 critical elements above the fold)
You have a matter of seconds to capture your users attention, gain their trust and pull them into your journey, so it’s important to keep things simple and include only necessities above the fold.
What are these critical elements?
- Bold Clear Headline (talk about benefits here, not features)
- Bullet points (An odd amount, not even… it converts better. Trust us!)
- A photograph or video of your product/service
- A clear call-to-action aka CTA (based on your goal)
Critical elements are… well, critically essential on your page!
Interest
You need to pique your customers interest.
Adding visuals to your landing pages increases conversions by 94%. Visuals meaning a photograph or video of your product/service.
Us humans are very visual, we tend to look first and then ask questions later. Essentially, this means our brains focus on the imagery before reading the wording on a website.
So getting the imagery right is just as important as the words, if not more! It’s been proven that images register faster in our brains than words do… obviously you need words to rank in Search Engines and to sell your product but with only a few seconds to make the right first impression, it’s the images that users will tend to look at first.
This could be the decider as to whether they leave your page or continue to read on.
Now, to peak your customers interest you need to outline in this section how EASY it is for your customer to get your product/service and what it will do for them/how it BENEFITS them.
If you decide to use a video, don’t forget to compress it. Last thing you need is a video slowing your load speed down. Another way to show benefits as well as using a video is doing a
’step 1, step 2, step 3’ (seen below)
In this section position your content to talk about a benefit and not the features.
The copy throughout your landing page should focus on the pain points of your target audience, appealing to them emotionally.
How can your product or service help them? You shouldn’t be pushing your product or service… benefits over features!
We really want your landing page to convert so we will give you an extra tip… an odd amount of bullet points converts better than an even! It may sound crazy but it’s true!
Desire
Your customer is interested now, it’s time to bring them in with some social proof and trust proof.
It’s extremely important to have Social Proof and Trust Proof. Any potential customer will 9 times out of 10 go and do some research on your product. They will go on google and type ‘review’ and your company name.
You DO NOT want them to do this! You need to provide this social proof on your landing page.
NEVER GIVE THE CUSTOMER AN EXCUSE TO LEAVE YOUR PAGE.
Make your ’social proof’, readily available to them.
A testimonial with 5 colours stars and a real photograph is what we recommend.
People trust people, so reviews/testimonials with real photographs are essential.
If you do not have a testimonial from one of your customers, with real photographs like the example below then you’re losing customers because people WILL leave your page to look for social proof.
Next up, trust proof. What is trust proof? It’s giving people a reason to trust you.
This can be done through using well known SSL and security seals on your forms such as Paypal, VISA etc. See an example below:
Action
Your customer by this point has come so far on your landing page journey but none of it matters if they don’t take action, therefore it’s imperative to make taking action as simple as you possibly can.
Here we are, as mentioned earlier it’s the all so important call to action, the thing that could be the maker or breaker for your page. Firstly, stick with ONE call to action.
Don’t confuse the message of your page.
For example: if you want people to fill out a form so you can capture a lead, don’t confuse your message by also asking them to add things to their cart.
Your CTA button can be the maker or breaker of your page.
There is a great blog we’ve found by Neil Patel on how to write the perfect CTA,
check it out here.
Below are some simple tips that will get your call to action up to the highest standard:
Your CTA is one of the most important parts of your landing page (if not the most important). It should be on brand, actionable, unique and should include an emoji.
You may find your winning CTA straight away, or more thorough testing may be required.
We recommend staying clear of generic CTA’s such as “sign up” or “click here”, try more personalised phrases such as “get mine now,” “claim my free e-book”.
It may sound like a simple change, but it makes all the difference.
For example:
If your call-to-action requires your user to fill out a form then this can be another make-or-break element on your landing page.
Follow best practices for your form, make it as easy as possible to complete, do not have too many questions, do not ask for unnecessary information.
Another tip is to include a progress bar, so they know that they are 60% through the form as an example.
Shorter forms have been proven to see higher completion rates, so only ask for what you need.
Don’t forget that testing your forms is the best way to see what works, try A/B testing, split testing etc and see what resonates with your audience.
So we’ve gone through our first acronym AIDA with you, now you need to consider the KISS acronym throughout your page. KISS stands for KEEP – IT – SIMPLE – STUPID.
We promise we are not calling you stupid, it’s just an acronym!
But, what does it mean?
There are a few things you can to Keep It Simple:
- Remove any traffic leaks or distractions such as navigation, social media sharing links, irrelevant products and so on
- Leverage white space and directional cues to guide your user to where you want them without confusion
- Use clear, concise and simple language and action phrases to direct them to action
Remember that your CTA button should be the only thing that captures your customers attention. Keep it simple.
What else can I do to ensure my business crushes 2021?
Your landing page isn’t complete yet, don’t forget to do these things:
Mobile Optimisation / Cross-Browser Compatibility
You can have a landing page designed by the best team ever, but if it looks a mess on mobile or other browsers, then it’s not fully optimised and you are going to be losing conversions.
We recommend you test your landing page to make sure it displays properly on a variety of mobile devices and browsers before setting it live to the world.
Thank your customers
After your customer has completed your desired action you want to improve the chances of repeat business and great reviews, you want your customer to have the best experience possible so send a thank-you message via a web page or email explaining what will happen next.
For example if your CTA was to buy a service, you can say “Thank you for buying ****, we are so happy to have you onboard, our Project Manager James will contact you within 24 hours”
You have ended their journey on a positive note, they know what will happen next so when they next need a product or service that you are offering, who will they come to. You! Because they had an amazing experience with you.
It’s up to you now
We’ve given you everything you need for your business to crush 2021. To stand out in 2021 a standard website is not going to cut it, to get a higher conversion rate and better ROI in 2021 you NEED a landing page.
To get a quote for a landing page/multiple pages contact our team by clicking the button below, we look forward to helping you in the new year!
/
