Foundational Elements of a Landing Page
What makes a good landing page? What makes a bad one?
One of the things landing pages and company’s have in common (even though you might not like to hear it) is that the work is never done. They are constantly evolving, changing and adapting. The process is iterative and can & should always be improved. There is a huge amount of copywriting tips (some of which we have outlined here) that can help you draft the perfect landing page but if you don’t have the fundamentals right, the landing pages will not only increase your conversions it could have a damaging impact.
First impressions are key, and you only get one chance at them. We speak about this in our “Landing Pages – Your Company’s digital introduction” article. A well worded grammatically correct article is important but not a game changer. You want something that connects with the audience and is relevant to them and sets the bar for their expectations of what your brand can offer them.
Where is your brand at and where is the market at? This is a question that a lot of brands fail to answer. Landing pages should reflect where the brand is in its life cycle stage and also the market it operates in. So, if you operate in a mature market where consumers know the market well, landing pages can be short and eye catching that focus on product differentiators, example washing up detergent. Whereas if you are in an emerging market you may have to focus on educating the consumer on the market itself and how your product or service works – A.I. systems. These more informative LP’s show the consumer you are an expert in that field by educating them thus adding more value to your brand.
Reflect your target market’s awareness and knowledge of the product. Always have your target market in mind when you are designing pages to communicate with them. For example, a company that sells cyber security, they may have two target audiences college students and the over 55’s. The landing pages used to target both consumers will be vastly different in terms of language used as they have a different understanding on the product/service and the market operates in.
The Five Four Rule
The main questions we get asked from clients is how do we know if we are doing this correctly? If we are connecting with customers on the right awareness level? The answer is simple view your brand through the eyes of a consumer and apply the five four rule. The five four rule breaks visitors into 5 different stages of awareness and then asks four questions when it comes to dealing with each stage. This will help you understand if your landing pages cater for all the various types of potential customers out there.
Five Stages
Most aware. Visitors completely understand your product or service and the market it operates in. They have come to purchase it’s the landing pages job to convert the sale by highlighting differentiators and USP’s.
Product-aware. Visitors are learning about your product and have a relatively strong knowledge of the market. These visitors need to be educated on USP’s and perhaps given free trials or demos to convert into paying customers.
Solution-aware. Visitors are considering solutions to their pain or problem. They need a more detailed education piece on how the product/service works and again free trials or demos to convert to paying customers. To stand out at this stage you need to be very customer aware. Speak about your product or service in a way that solves their problem.
Problem-aware. Visitors are feeling pain or dealing with a problem that they may not know what the solution can be – enlighten them, these are the visitor can be easily wowed into purchase as market knowledge may be low. Recommendations/referrals/testimonials work well at this point.
Unaware. Visitors haven’t yet experienced the need that would drive them to your solution. That’s not to say they need your product or service. At this stage you need to be working on developing the need. Educate the customers on the need for this solution. How it can improve a problem they didn’t realise they had.
The main question we get asked from clients is how do we know if we are doing this correctly, if we are connecting with customers on the right awareness level? The answer is simple view your brand through the eyes of a consumer at each of the 5 stages above. Then ask yourself the following 5 questions:
Four Questions
What can you offer consumers in each stage?
Is the language accessible in the landing page and does it mirror a visitor’s stage of awareness?
Does the copy move them from where they are to where they want to be?
Are visitors prompted to take action once they become Product-aware or Most aware?
In conclusion, good copy should demonstrate that you are an expert in your market, and you know exactly what problems your goods and services can provide solutions to. However great content can do all this but in a way that is relatable to the customer. You show an understanding and portray your brand in way that shows you understand your customer.
