Landing pages are an integral element of email marketing, as you aim to turn clicks on your emails into something more tangible. Whether that’s a booking for your next event or a download of your newest and most thought-provoking content, modern marketers just can’t live without them. However, with research showing that 9 out of 10 landing page visitors will bounce, are you doing everything you need to in order to make your landing page successful? Let’s take a look at the 5 key elements you need to turn your landing pages into converting machines!
5 Key design elements
#1 The Headline
Especially if leads are coming from sponsored ads, you want it to be clear to them where they’ve landed. If they’ve come from your emails or other content, the landing page should be consistent in reflecting your brand and your campaign message.
#2 Social Proof
Whether it’s from Trustpilot or Twitter, having feedback from genuine users of your product is how you prove your credentials. An unsubstantiated “8 out of 10 users recommend us” will no longer cut it! You can use an external page like Trustpilot or G2 Crowd, or ask your customers directly for their feedback.
#3 Concise Copy
Each landing page should only be pushing one Call-To-Action, whether it’s a white paper download or an event registration. To that end, any text on the landing page should be clearly focused towards that aim. A landing page isn’t the place to promote 17 different resources or 8 different events!
#4 Direct Call-To-Action
All of the copy and layout elements should direct attention towards your Call-To-Action. Landing pages are the one place you can afford to be very direct about what you want from your prospect. Think about the F-in email design layout, naturally pushing your reader’s eye toward the end goal.
#5 Positioning
The form that you want your prospect to fill out should be placed “above the fold”, i.e. your user shouldn’t have to scroll to find it. We’ve talked before about “The F in Email Marketing”, and this concept applies equally to landing pages. Make the best use of your lead’s attention at every opportunity.
Before you bring all these elements together to create your landing page, make sure you are clear on what the page is designed to achieve. Depending on the aim, there are 3 common types of landing page, each with its own set of pros and cons. Let’s take a closer look.
3 Types to try
The Stand Alone
If you’re working on a short-term campaign or promoting something which stands out from your usual offering, you may well want landing pages to have a style which is distinct from your main website. For our annual Customer Conference, we created a striking purple and gold theme, which was used in all landing pages and emails about the conference. This helped it to stand out from our regular communications, and emphasize that it was a premium event, with a very different feel from our usual seminars.
The Seamless Style
These are the most commonly used; so on-brand that it’s not obvious to your lead that they aren’t just on your main website. Landing pages like this work well for resource downloads or seminar registrations, where the Call-To-Action is very simple. If you’re just starting out, this is a comfortable place to start, as you shouldn’t have to make many design decisions, just use what you already have on your website.
The Microsite
Now we’re onto some seriously advanced stuff! For a particularly big event or campaign, one page may not be enough. The other reason to use a microsite is to help coax those not-quite-warm-yet leads further down the funnel by asking for just a little more on each page. For example, if we were using a microsite, page 1 might ask “How often do you send marketing emails?”, then “what platform do you currently use?” on page 2. Then we would finish up with “Put in your email address to book a demo” on a final page, and we’ve gathered a significant amount of info, but not scared off the reader by asking for it all upfront.
Ready to dive into the world of landing pages? Get the lowdown on how our landing page creator tool works here.
