Great!
But before you do, make sure that the pages you are going to send people to are ready to support the traffic you are going to send there.
A decent media buying agency will do a digital marketing audit and evaluate your landing pages before creating or launching ads.
Much like a reputable contractor will refuse to build a third story addition when they see that the foundation and structure of a home won’t be able to adequately support it, a reputable agency will give you the straight goods on what needs to happen before you can achieve ROI marketing payoff.
If you are new to digital advertising and do not yet have a proven funnel and the media buyer asks for more or tells you that you need the landing page needs work, it’s because they have integrity.
They don’t want to see you building a third story addition that’s a waste of money and materials because it falls down in 90 days as a result of a foundation unable to support it.
Running ads to a landing page with a poor conversion rate is a waste of money.
Take it as a compliment that the media buying agency respects you and your business to not take your money then shrug when you fire them because “it didn’t work out”. (We see this more than you would think)
Remember the job of the ad is not to create a sale, it is to drive traffic. The landing page is where a sale is made (or not!). Your website is ground zero for ROI driven digital marketing.
If you’ve run ads in the past and it sent a whole whack of people to your site but resulted in few sales – it’s a landing page issue. Not an advertising issue.
So what should a good landing page have?
Here’s a 10 point checklist, based on data-driven marketing.
1. ONE PRIMARY CALL TO ACTION
Don’t make visitors work to figure out what to do once they’ve found your site. It must be clear, easy to identify and powerful.
A confused mind does not buy,
The call to action should be on a button with contrasting colours so that it stands out from the rest of the page.
2. LEAD CAPTURE FORM
A simple (don’t want to ask too much! Having to type in too much information can be a turn-off for potential customers.) form to gather visitors’ contact information. This helps you maximize the chance that a visitor will convert into a customer — or, with any luck, a repeat customer.
Remember, this is like asking for their number to maybe go out on a date. If you start asking for address and mothers’ maiden name you are moving way too fast.
3. VALUE PROPOSITION
Why should they buy from YOU and not someone else? How is what you offer different from others?
Don’t be afraid to say this in multiple places in multiple ways. Try to include it in your sub-headline if possible.
4. HEADLINE
Think of your copy as a relay team. Your goal is to grab the reader’s attention and get them to read the sub-headline. The headline is the first leg of your relay team passing the baton — the visitor — to your sub-headline.
Keep it short. Consider 10-20 words.
5. SUB-HEADLINE
Your sub-headline can offer a bit more info, but it still shouldn’t be too wordy. You’re explaining more of what you promised the headline
Be clear about the benefit of what you are offering. What will the visitor get out of doing business with you?
But make it about them, not you. You don’t want to come across as needy on that first date!
6. BULLET POINTS
People don’t like reading large blocks of text, especially online. Our eyes jump from one line to another when there’s lots of white space.
Write key information in bullet points to make sure that people are reading — and processing — the information on your landing page. Even if they’re just scanning they will know and remember the important points.
It’s also way more readable for mobile users.
Shoot for 3-5 bullet points with no more than three hundred words of copy.
7. INTEGRATION
Make sure the info you are capturing with your form goes somewhere useful. Push it into a system you already have, ideally CRM software. At a minimum, added to an email newsletter list you are communicating with regularly.
8. CONTENT
Best practice is always to focus on the potential benefit to your customers. Let them know the ways that their life will be better after working with you.
Understanding your ideal customer and their pain points is really helpful here.
What might a potential customer already be unhappy with? What has failed them in the past that your product or service promises to fix?
9. HERO IMAGE/ VIDEO
All text and no images make Jack a dull boy… think boring textbooks…
Images are powerful. They can communicate huge volumes of meaning at a glance, and video can communicate even more.
Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared with 10% when reading it in text.
Whether you use an image or video the images should help your visitor envision what their life would look like after working with you.
Images that evoke emotions work the best here.
10. TRUST BUILDERS
If you’ve followed the above steps by this point your visitor should start to be convinced. Now they’ll be looking for a reason to trust you — or not to trust you.
Trust icons – awards, certifications, or anything that shows that you’ve been recognized by the industry at large and are reputable.
This could also be a statement about your beliefs or a moral/ethical stand you wish to communicate through your work.
Make it viewable at a glance to help build trust in your brand – don’t make them go to an about page to get it.
Interested in an audit of your site? Contact us for more info.
