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By Alethea Jimison
Alethea is a Copywriter, Poet, and Author passionate about authentic expression through writing. You can learn more about her services here. You can also learn more about her poetry and blogging at www.aj-thewordsmith.com.
Why do you need a landing page if you already have an amazing website? Have you ever asked that question? Some clients have asked if they could just use their home page as the landing page.
I am going to share with you the difference between your home page and a landing page, and then I want to give you clear direction for creating a lead converting landing page.
While using the same strategy on your home page as a landing page is possible, a landing page differs from your home page because it is the page you set up to manage a sales campaign.
Your homepage is your public relations page. It’s where people are directed when they want to know more about you and your business.
The landing page is your go-to strategy for converting an interested lead into a client. This page is the one you use to promote and convert your cold leads to warm leads or opportunities. You are proposing a direct offer for a target audience.
You should intend to get an email address at the very least and a new client at the most. I like to give examples in my blogs because I’m visual and I think it helps to do a show-n-tell.
I will use a website called Coach Pony by Christie Mims. I love her website. She is hilarious and has amazing business system tools in place for lead conversion.
Landing PageTop 10 List
- The Headline
- The Hook
- The Problem
- The Offer
- The Benefits
- Social Proof
- Scarcity
- Risk Reversal
- Call to Action
- Secondary Call to Action
The Headline
The average attention span of a website visitor is 30 seconds. This is why having a strong headline is vital to the success of creating a lead-converting landing page. Headlines are short, attention-grabbing statements that make a person curious enough to read on.
On the Coach Pony website sample, Christie’s headline is direct and effective;
“Ready to start your coaching business?”
It’s clear that her target audience is new coaches. She has an amazing follow-up hook.
The Hook
The Hook is a small statement that follows the headline with an elaboration. The hook needs to connect to the reader on an emotional level. It must be personal to your target audience. The hook is the statement that makes this person think, “You’re talking about me.” It is also what keeps them reading.
The Coach Pony’s hook statement is;
“Even if you have no idea what you are doing and feel terrified. We’ve got you covered!”
This hook has an amazing emotional pull. Who isn’t terrified when starting their own business?
The Problem
What problem are you trying to solve? I call this the empathy section. You want to communicate to your potential client that you personally understand what they are going through and you can help.
Christie understands new coaches struggle to make money because of a lack of knowledge on getting new clients. Understanding the problem that you can solve and communicating it on your landing page brings you a step closer to creating a lead converting landing page that is effective in reaching your target audience.
The Offer
Here is the solution. You need to communicate clearly how you can help. The language needs to be persuasive and compelling.
This is where the magic of words help. You are the answer to the problem. Make sure that the value exceeds the price.
You should know through your market research what people will pay for the services you offer. Consider this:
Price= Value
How do you make your value irresistible in order to convert leads from your landing page? You need to make a deal. This is why you see so many other businesses offer either a discount or premium feature(s) during a campaign. This is when you see language like:
The regular value for this amazing premium package is $gazillion! For you today, it’s only $azillion. That means you get $trazillon off of the regular price if you act now!
In the website sample, Christie offers the visitor a free 26-page guide on “the unexpected things you must do to build your coaching business…so you actually* make money.*”
This free offer allows her to get the lead’s contact information so that she can make the real offer which will have a cost.
The Benefits
The benefit is the motivating factor. This is when you tell the customer why they need your services. This section should be crafted to overcome any objections. You can list all the benefits of your offer here in concise language.
Bullet points, summary statements, and images are good strategies. Another tool you can use is video embedding. You can supplement the written benefits with a video in which you tell your clients exactly why they need your product or service.
While listing your benefits is important, you want to make sure you offer an immediate benefit in alignment with your promotion like Christie did with her free guide.
This allows the customer to feel they are getting something now vs. waiting for the end of an extended time period for results. Some service providers offer free copies of ebooks. For example, if you’re a holistic nutritional coach; you can offer an immediate download to your food diary and recipe ebook to get started.
Social Proof
Social proof is important. Coach Pony has a strong testimonials page as well as a few testimonials on several website pages. We are community-oriented and more likely to try something when someone else has tried it first and has something positive to say. As with your homepage, you want to make sure that you have the same format for social proof.
- A picture of the person who gave the testimonial
- The quoted testimonial
- The service you provided
You can screenshot any shout-outs (comments) from Facebook or other social media platforms or ask for testimonials from former clients you can share on your website. Don’t forget to ask for permission to use their image.
If you can get someone to give you a one-minute video testimonial — you are rocking it!
Scarcity
Scarcity is a common tactic used to keep the buyer from talking themselves out of buying something. As consumers, we know we want it, but we try hard to convince ourselves that maybe we should wait.
We try to think about prioritizing what we need to spend our money on first. We may think we’re going to buy it later, but then spend our money elsewhere and forget what we wanted in the first place.
Don’t wait for your client to come up with excuses on why they need to wait to buy your product or service. One time I wanted to buy an online course that was normally $299.00, which was out of my perceived value budget.
I received an offer to buy within 24 hours for only $16.00. I hesitated and missed the offer. The next offer I received like that guaranteed that I bought it immediately.
I’ve had scarcity regret, and I don’t miss out anymore. If a potential client sees the value of your product or service, using scarcity is an amazing tool for creating a lead converting opportunity on your landing page.
Examples of scarcity offers are:
- Buy now and receive additional bonus material and this one-time price of $299.00. After today, the price will be $499.00 without the bonus material.
- Seats are filling up rapidly, with only two more spots left in this program. Buy now before it’s gone!
Whatever you do, make sure that your offer is the real deal. If someone doesn’t take the bait and they miss out, don’t put the offer back on the table after it’s expired or you’ll lose credibility. You can always create a secondary offer that is appealing, but not as exceptional as the original one.
Risk Reversal
Protect the value of your offer by making sure you exhibit trustworthiness and a solid guarantee. This is where you see people offering to guarantee your purchase.
“If you don’t get results after you’ve followed my program steps, I will refund your money after 30 days!”
Be transparent with the process. Have you ever been tricked into buying something only to discover that you unwittingly signed up for an automatically drafted monthly membership? I have, and now I read payment terms carefully! Make your process and terms easy to read and digest. Make sure your customer feels safe and secure giving you their financial information.
Call to Action
Have a direct and to-the-point call to action button. This is where your customer is ready to click, so guide the way.
“Schedule a consultation now!”
“Empower yourself now!”
“Let’s get started!”
Secondary Call to Action
What if they’re still not ready to bite? No worries. If they made it this far, they are interested, but they are not ready yet and that’s OK. Don’t let them go without getting that email address.
There are forms you can add to your website that identify when someone is about to scroll to the X on the top right corner of their browser. When I attempted to scroll away from Coach Pony, I received the pop-up message above and it is a tempting treat. Who doesn’t want paying clients?
A secondary call to action could be:
“Wait! Before you go, sign up for my newsletter or blog for free tips on…”
“Wait, don’t leave yet before receiving your free gift.” (Could be a free eBook, etc.)
“Are you sure you want to leave before scheduling your free consultation?”
Position the right value to the right audience
If you follow these ten steps to creating an effective landing page, you increase your lead generation as long as you are connecting with your target audience and offering them a valuable product or service. The next step is making sure you have the right marketing strategy to convert those leads into opportunities.
Let me know what you think and if you try these steps, I would love to hear how it worked for you during your marketing campaign. If you know anyone who could benefit from this blog, please share it.
As always, if you need help with finding the right words, I’m only a call or an email away.
