When customers click, do you provide a smart landing?
Let’s say you’re ready to launch a well-planned e-marketing campaign.
This means that you have:
- Identified your targets or appropriate prospects and customers.
- Developed a reliable and timely database.
- Secured the all-important opt-ins or permission to send e-marketing messages to recipients (either by requesting prospects to register online or by sending out an opt-in e-mail notice).
- Crafted messaging that includes a clear call to action.
So what could be missing?
Just one of the most powerful tools in the effort to attract busy, spam-weary consumers: customized landing pages. Such specialized pages on your Web site put control in the hands of your customers —
which, of course, is the best kind of online marketing.
Here’s how you can use landing pages to drive results for your e-marketing campaigns.
In this article
What exactly is a landing page — and why do you need one?
According to Wikipedia , a landing or lead capture page is "the page that appears when a potential customer clicks an advertisement or a search engine result link. The page will usually display content that is a logical extension of the advertisement or link…."
A landing page is categorically different from a home page. A company home page provides an overview of your wares and brand, history and experience —
basically, it is a welcome mat for your Web site visitors.
By contrast, landing pages cut to the chase. They’re designed to be specific and personalized. They reward the recipients who click the links in your e-newsletters with immediate and relevant results. “Getting right to the point with your customer is critical,” says Peter VanRysdam at 352 Media Group, a marketing agency in Gainesville, Florida. “In a sea of information, serving up tailored content via a targeted landing page will focus your potential client’s attention to your specific call to action.”
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Eight seconds to convert, and counting
In online marketing, the goal isn’t merely to generate site traffic. You want to achieve that next step: conversion. That is, you drive results by converting casual site visitors into active participants, whether to make a purchase or to ask for more information. Yet experts estimate that up to 50 percent of all recipients who respond to e-marketing messages leave within eight seconds if they can’t find what they want.
So don’t squander your hard-earned opportunities by directing prospects who do click to an unrelated page
or home page. Instead, put customers in control by guiding them to a landing page that gives them what they want, when they want it, fast.
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Five tips for effective landing pages
To move prospects to next-step action, you need to think through the right mix of high-performing landing page elements for your business and marketing goals, including persuasive images, look and feel, messages, and, of course, your offer or call to action.
When everything is working, prospects keep clicking.
These proven tips will make your landing pages work harder.
- Define success and narrow choices. Before you design your landing page, define your top-level goal. Is it increasing sales? Getting recognition for your brand profile? Generating more leads? Then decide on actions that will realize the goal. Do you want visitors to submit personal information? Sign up for a loyalty club? Take advantage of a discount? Attend an event? Download a report? Make sure that you provide clear content and navigation that will guide visitors to click.
- Be consistent. If the flavor of your e-news is crisp and tailored, don’t direct prospects to a flamboyant, neon-pink landing page. The inconsistency will make customers wary, and they’ll leave your site. Use the same branding, promotional headline, and design for the landing page as you do for your e-newsletter.
- Track response with easy-to-read reports. By adding a link in your e-mail newsletter that goes directly to a special landing page, you can make your marketing efforts more efficient. The Reports feature in Microsoft Office Live Small Business tracks how many views your special landing pages receive and reveals exactly what users do after they click that landing page link. These reports help you learn which pages attract attention, how long each user remains on a page, and what messaging best leads to conversions. They also tell you whether your prospects make a purchase or leave your site. With that detailed information, you can quickly refine your newsletters and e-marketing efforts.
- Streamline your message. Landing pages must be friendly in tone and offer easy, clear directions about what comes next. Use bulleted lists or short, conversational copy. Don’t get fancy. And don’t make visitors scroll down to discover your message.
- Respect your customer’s time and privacy. "Less is more when it comes to asking for data, and users should be informed about why they’re being asked to provide certain information," says Margaret Farmakis at Return Path, an e-mail service provider in New York. "Keep the form short. The more steps the user has to take, or the more fields to fill in, the greater the chance that the form will be abandoned."
Overall, landing pages immediately reward every click of customer interest with a relevant response. What could be better for your business?
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