In Digital Marketing, we have a finite amount of time to take a user on a seamless journey from interest to result. The most important goal is to grab their attention and engage them in the action you want them to perform. Social media marketing is one of the best ways to capture a user’s interest, but a landing page is what converts a curious visitor into a prospect. Using a physical-world analogy, your landing page is the same as your storefront. Keep it neat and tidy, and make it easy for people to look through the window to quickly decide whether or not they want to open the door and come inside for a closer look.
What is a landing page in digital marketing?
A landing page is a standalone web page with a goal for a user to finish a predetermined action or a call to action (CTA). It might seem like an obvious question but why not just send them to the homepage? A homepage, no matter how aesthetically pleasing it is, has a lot of distractions in content, navigation items and links. A landing page is succinct, grabs attention and the ONE action that you want a user to perform is the most prominent element on the page.
Creating a successful landing page
In creating a successful landing page, it is important to understand who your target audience is, how to get them there and how to create a connection with them when they arrive. If your target audience is middle-aged senior professionals, racy imagery and the use of slang will probably not result in a conversion. Generally speaking, a user never fully reads a webpage so it is important to add prominent keyword phrases and make it clear what the expected action is and what the next steps are. The takeaway for any user should be that they know what the company is, what they are communicating, why the user should be interested in it and most importantly, what they should expect for the “in-kind exchange” of their personal information and subsequent outreach. In other words, put yourself in that person’s shoes and ask, “if I’m going to enter my email address and get contacted by sales, what is going to be valuable enough to me that I’ll submit that information?”
Benefits of a landing page
The benefit of a landing page is that it can be created to support individual marketing efforts instead of updating your website. The four essential parts of any landing page are:
- A graphical element (header, images, or video)
- Content that provides a quick summary of what the company is and how it can benefit the viewer
- A CTA
- “Social Proofs” that give your messages/claims credibility.
Finally, to meet a company’s goals, it is important to track the success of your landing page. Analytics play a critical role in understanding the key performance indicators (KPIs) of a marketing campaign. They help us monitor who is visiting your page, what they find helpful, how much time a visitor is spending on the page, how many users are visiting the site, how many views your page has or where the users are coming from, all which drive attribution. This information helps you make changes in real-time so you can focus on the ultimate goal: to create conversions.
5 Landing Page Design Tips to Improve Conversion Rates
- One CTA Only – the more things a user wants to click on, the less likely they are to convert. The CTA needs to be strong and compelling and should be above the fold.
- Know Your Audience – Who are you trying to attract, what they want to read and how we want them to feel when they land on the page
- Valuable Information – Provide a clear promise and concise information about how the product or service benefits their lives.
- Relevant Visual Aids – The addition of videos or images helps engage users and increase conversions. Furthermore, it helps connect with the audience when the video content is honest and conversational.
- Keep It Simple – Get rid of pointless clutter on your site. A great landing page focuses on the primary goal and the content is tailored to this.
Landing pages are an essential part of a digital marketing campaign and there is no limit to their uses. They are a perfect way to leave a positive impression on potential customers while focusing on driving conversions for your sales teams.