Landing pages are a great marketing tool to help keep people's attention on one thing—usually that means focused on the goal of getting them to purchase something or get into one of your marketing funnels.
When creating a marketing funnel or running a Google or social media advertisement, the call to action (CTA) should send people to a landing page that provides specific information about a single offer. This is why landing pages convert more people than other pages on a standard website. By design, a landing page's function is to convert visitors into customers. Why are landing pages so good at this? It's simple—they eliminate the additional clicks a potential customer would experience if they landed on your website's home page. Once they hit your landing page, they get the information they need and the purchase button is right in front of them (and really not much else). Now that’s efficient!
Types of landing pages
Lead Capture - A landing page can also be used primarily as a lead capture page with a form asking for a name and email address. This type of landing page is generally positioned at the top or middle of a sales funnel, and it uses a “request and reward” model. That means when someone completes your request for their contact information, you reward them with something like a discount code, free brochure, or helpful PDF download (read: a lead magnet, opt-in, or freebie).
Sales Capture- This is typically a landing page at the bottom of a sales funnel. This type of page goes beyond lead/email capture and is designed to get people to buy. This is where you put your detailed pitch that truly shows the value of your product and service and the benefit it will provide to your potential customer. This landing page often has different sections showcasing the product itself, customer testimonials, and even a brand or product video. The goal is to close the sale by showing the viewer how your product or service will help or benefit them.
Click Through - These types of landing pages are most effective if you are selling a product directly from an advertisement. For example, you see a pair of cool running shoes on Instagram, you click through and it takes you right to the shopping cart.This type of landing page isn’t messing around - it’s going right for the sale without the middleman! You most likely won’t be using this kind of landing page unless you are a product-based business.
Tips for building your landing page
Building a landing page is like building a website on a much smaller, more focused scale. It requires some basic design and copywriting skills, so if that’s not your cup of tea, this is an area worth investing some money. Get a freelancer or small agency to build your landing page and make sure it’s on-brand (you can send them the brand guide you created in Enji). It should have the same look and feel (think: brand colors, logo, font) as your business' main website so there is quick recognition and consistency.
When building your landing page remember these important tips:
- Focus on your offer, not your business - This is your opportunity to sell some product or fill your pipeline with leads. Make sure all the content on the landing page works toward showing your potential customer the value and benefits they will receive if you purchase from or hire you.
- Simple forms - If your landing page is for lead/email capture, don’t ask for too much. Three fields of information (name, email, and maybe phone number) should be everything you need. Sometimes you can ask what kind of product or service they’re interested in as well. But remember, people run for the hills if asked to give up too much information. Oh— and make sure a “thank you” email is generated after they complete the form. It’s definitely the best practice.
- One CTA - Your landing page should have one goal so make sure you have a single call to action (CTA) to keep your customer focused. Also, it’s wise to make the CTA a button that is colorful and easy to find. Also, repeating the CTA more than once on the landing page is encouraged.
- Above the fold - Make sure your headlines, main message, and the CTA is "above the fold" meaning on the screen before they have to scroll at all. It's also a good idea to keep messaging and overall copy on the shorter side—unless you’re building out the page specifically for SEO.
- Design for mobile - Don’t forget more than half of your customers will hit your landing page on a mobile device, so make sure your landing page design and functionality works for people on phones and tablets.
Whether your goal is getting more leads or converting more customers, a landing page is a great marketing tool that can help you achieve these goals faster. It’s all about focus, focus, focus—focusing your core message on why your customer should choose you over anyone else. Go get ‘em!