I’ve see a lot of talking about Landing Pages on Instagram lately, and as September is prime launch season, that’s not surprising. But is it a landing page you need?
A landing page can be used for a number of reasons…
The most common of which are;
– Data Collection (think pre-launch, newsletter subscriptions, lead magnets).
– Sales Page (during launch or from an Ad, one single page selling one single thing).
- A Holding Page (grouping together links for easy navigation).
I’ve included a fair amount of jargon in this, so scroll to the bottom for a kind of glossary!
Before you even start,
you need to decide which one thing you’re trying to achieve with your landing page. If you can’t answer that question with one (and I mean, one) explanation then a landing page isn’t what you need.
I myself have clicked onto landing pages in the past because you’ve convinced me to take whatever action, only to then be confused and/or distracted because you’ve started telling me about your other services, or you’re now directing me somewhere else, or you’ve given me too many options.
Your landing page should simply serve one purpose, to facilitate the call to action which sent me there. If you’ve posted a lead magnet* on Instagram, your landing page should simply allow me to access that lead magnet.
If your Call to Action* was booking a call, then your landing page should be 100% geared up to allow me to book that call there and then – not taking me off onto yet another page. Calendly has an inline inbed option*, as will most similar tools.
Perhaps it’s data collection, ask what information you genuinely need and again – place an inline form within this page so I don’t need to navigate elsewhere to give you it. I just want to reiterate only getting the information you really, really need – just make it as quick and painless as possible, plus the more you ask for, the more reluctant people will be to give you anything.
Say you’ve run an Ad for me to purchase a Service or Product, the link I click on should easily allow me to make that purchase on that specific page. Again, not putting it amongst other services or products, just let me buy the thing you were showing me!
I know that it might be tempting to show your audience similar products or services, or to offer them multiple ways to get in contact, or to show off the fabulous work your copywriter did creating reams and reams of sales content… but if they’ve clicked on your landing page then your audience are 99% of the way there – you just have to facilitate them completing the action!
So for example, if your Call of Action was to book a call, don’t offer me the chance to contact you by email/text/direct message right next to it.
If you’ve created a landing page to showcase one particular facial service, don’t allow me to then choose between multiple different facials all alongside one another.
Think of your Landing Page as a simple springboard from ad to action. They’ve seen what they want, you just need to allow them to get it now.
You might be wondering why not? Why wouldn’t I try and upsell them to a more expensive service? Shouldn’t I always be showing everything I offer to try and entice them to buy more? Shouldn’t I be giving them options to contact me however suits them best?
In a word, no.
As I said before, your Landing Page is a springboard, your content before that should have done the legwork to convince them of what they want. If you start to give them too many options now you risk them becoming either distracted or confused, too much choice is a bad thing! We’ve all been to a restaurant with a huge menu and then struggled to choose what we want to order. Our brains get overwhelmed and what was a simple decision and a made up mind, becomes a new consideration.
I can’t be the only one who thought they’d decided on which dress to buy, only to then start exploring more options, become overwhelmed and back away from buying anything at all.
Getting your audience from your social media (or wherever you’re sending them from) onto your Landing Page is the hardest part of the climb, don’t risk losing them there by giving them too many options, or leaving them feel as though they now need to consider it further.
That’s not to say,
That you can’t show them related products or services. I’m not saying that your landing page needs to have one element and nothing else. But what I don’t want to see is multiple options right alongside the one we’re here for.
Again, remember that one singular action you’ve brought them here to complete. And put that at the very top. So if I come onto that page on any device, it’s the first thing I see and if I wish to, I can complete my journey and action there and then. Job done.
You can then ‘build out’ (which actually means, build down) the page, but keep putting that action every 3 or 4 rows* and at the very least, top and bottom. Always bear in mind that you don’t want people to navigate away from your landing page, so I personally wouldn’t put any other links on it. You don’t want them to click off and not find their way back then decide it’s too much hassle, and as above, you don’t want them getting distracted, confused or overwhelmed.
Let’s put this into real terms in case I’ve lost you…
You’re a Company selling windows and doors, you’ve run a Meta Ad campaign with 10% off if they book a home visit in August.
How I’d build this out, is of course the first element on the Landing Page is a data collection form asking for;
- First & Last Name (low ticket or digital items I’d only ask for first name)
- Telephone Number (To call them to arrange the appointment, as they’re in-person I wouldn’t allow someone to book in directly as this could cause a logistical nightmare)
- Postcode (This company would serve a physical location)
Nothing else, notice how I’ve not even asked for their email? People presume an email means spam, so if I’m not intending to email them about THIS action – I won’t ask for it. Notice I also don’t ask for their full address, again I don’t need it – the more I ask them to fill out the more time I give them to change their mind. I can tell if they’re in my area of operation from their postcode.
Next I’d put a Before & After of my previous work, so if they weren’t convinced already – here’s a showcase of my great skills! Below this I’d put a testimonial, this is my social proof* to further convince my audience.
After that, I’d put the form again – or an anchor link* back up to the form. So if those two elements above have done their job, I don’t need to go searching to now give you my details.
If I felt the need to carry on building, I’d now put any accreditations or affiliations. Just keep on building that trust! I’d then put another before & after (side by side FYI, so it’s easier to compare than on top of one another).
Then I’d repeat the offer, before putting the data collection form one last time.
If you’d like to get in touch about your specific landing page, I can either audit the one you’ve got or build you one from scratch!
*Glossary
Lead Magnet – A Freebie or Low-ticket item to drive data collection, usually for then advertising a high-ticket item.
Call to Action – A prompt to inspire your audience to take an action (I.e, visit the link in my bio, book now).
Inline In-Bed Option – Rather than navigating away to finish an action, it’s put within the page itself so it looks seamless.
Rows – A row is a cluster of elements on your website, not necessarily rows as in rows of text. Any elements you’d link together will form a row.