Matt Brennan — January 27, 2018 — January 27, 2018
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Quality landing page copy can be one of your strongest assets when it comes to attracting new leads for your business. It’s a way to capture and grow your audience, and further build up your business.
Simply publishing anything in that space won’t work. You’ll have to put some thought into how to create copy that your audience will love. The good news is it’s not as hard as you might think. The blueprint is out there.
Below are some tips for breaking through to your customers, with landing page copy that grabs their attention. No one knows your business like you do. You can take these tips, and craft a page that turns skeptical readers into brand loyalists. Or you can hire a landing page copywriter.
15 Tips for Writing Landing Page Copy that Will Boost Your Business
Tip #1: Take a Lesson from the Past – Landing pages have a relatively short history compared to sales letters. Marketers and copywriters have been perfecting the art of the sales letter for as long as there’s been mail. That’s some history.
A simple Google search of “sales letter examples” can turn up some highly worthwhile results. For example, here is a compilation of the most successful sales letters of all time. Read what is there before you start writing. Get inspired. Figure out what has worked in the past and emulate it. Simply having a feel for the right kind of style will prove a valuable use of your time.
Tip #2: Craft a Killer Headline – Consider this well-known quote about headlines from copywriting master David Ogilvy:
“On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written the headline, you have spent 80 cents of your dollar.”
Most people will likely find your page through some variation of an add, a Google search, or on social media. The first exposure they’ll have to your company will be some variation of the headline to the page. One of the best ways for you to get the most of your landing page copy is to spend some extra time on that headline. Does it make people curious enough to keep reading?
It’s easy to look at the headline as something we can slap on top of the page at the very end. But the headline is what people will base their decision to read further on. It needs to be strong.
Tip #3: Use Social Signals – Your reader wants to know how seriously they can take your claims. They want to know you are capable of what you say you are. How good is your product or service? Confidence in language goes a long way in suggesting that you can do it. Throw in a sentence about how many people you’ve helped.
Have you been featured on any media? Have you done any press interviews, podcasts or guest posts? If the logo of the organization is recognizable, you could do an “As seen on” section to boost your credibility. Make sure the logos link to your specific story. These can help convey you as an expert in your industry.
Another way to convey strong social signals is through testimonials. Make sure the testimonials are strongly worded and that they are related to the specific offer related to your landing page. You can talk all day about the benefits of your business. When a customer does it, that will instantly hold more weight.
Tip #4: Be Conversational – A common temptation from businesses is to confuse professional and formal. Here’s an easy way to think about it…Not every office would require its employees to wear a shirt and tie. You don’t have to use stuffy language to sell more stuff. In fact, you shouldn’t.
Most internet users prefer a casual, informal approach. It helps in relating to your audience. As you write, picture yourself out for coffee with an ideal lead. You wouldn’t load them up with technical jargon just to sound smart. When it goes straight over their head, they’d tune out and never buy. The same is true online.
A conversational approach is better.
Tip #5: Practice Empathy – Your customer landed on your page because they are researching how to solve a problem. They view you as a potential solution. As you write the content, mention the problem. Show them you understand why they are there.
It’s up to you to convince them that they don’t have to go on with that problem. There is a quality, expert solution within their reach. There is a trusted method for getting what they want. You have listened. You understand them. You are on their side. The key to writing good landing page copy is empathy.
Tip #6: Write Like a Human – This should go without saying, but online it’s a big problem. The temptation is to oversaturate your copy with keywords and technical jargon. The temptation is to use this space to do everything you can to increase traffic. But that doesn’t always mean it’s the right traffic.
Better analytics won’t pay the bills, but more sales will. Last time I checked, the bank won’t take added traffic as a payment for your mortgage. Take an interest in your readers and customers. Be personable. You’re writing the page to appeal to people. You can accomplish this without writing stiff, robotic, repetitive copy.
Tip #7: Show them the Benefits – You aren’t selling a product or service, you’re selling how it makes people feel. You’re selling the experience of using what you offer. The benefits are how your product or service makes their life better. It’s not the way that the can opener takes the lid off, it’s that it does it in less time – so you can access your food faster, and satisfy your hunger.
It’s not what is under the hood of your convertible that you are selling. It’s the feeling of driving at 85 mph with the top down. Think about all the ways that the specific offer on your landing page can improve your customers’ lives. This is what you are selling.
Tip #8: Use Data to Get Specific – Data is another form of proof. It bolsters your argument and legitimizes your offer. You can use data to show people why they need what you sell. As a personal example, I’ve quoted a statistic several times that B2B companies that blog see 67 percent more leads than those that don’t. It reinforces the idea that you need to be publishing stories and information on a regular basis to continue getting in front of your audience. It keeps you visible.
Data strengthens your argument.
Tip #9: Write to a Segmented Audience – Landing page copy can be used to segment your audience, and talk to smaller groups individually. This allows you to better personalize your message. You could use a landing page to segment by age, gender, geography or purchasing habits.
Multiple landing pages to various segments of your audience can help you to reach a new level of detail and specificity.
Tip #10: Think Visually as You Write – Landing pages are typically long. They’re often well over 1,000 words. It’s going to take an enticing message to get the customer to read that. The way that you structure your landing page copy will make a significant difference in whether your reader makes it to your call to action or not.
You can help your reader along by using subheads, bullets and shorter paragraphs. Subheads help break the copy up, and give people a chance to pick up what your message is through scanning the page. Bullets help people to understand the most important points of your message, with minimal effort. When you realize that you are about to embark on reading a 2,000-word post, the last thing you want to deal with is academic-length blocks of test. Shorter paragraphs move the reader along faster.
Infographics and multiple images can also make long-form landing pages easier to read. It can help visual learners to grasp what you are talking about in your landing page copy.
Tip #11: Think Like a Minimalist – When you’re writing landing page copy that exceeds 1,000 words or longer, it’s easy to want to include a variety of information, strategies, talking points or calls to action. Resist this temptation to include ALL information. Instead, think like a minimalist.
When someone reads your page, what is the ONE thing you want them to do? The structure of your page should revolve around that. You don’t need to include sales points on other products. You don’t need to include benefits that don’t really match the segmented audience that you are addressing. Keep the message simple. Keep the ideas focused.
You may end up in a situation where you have strong, persuasive copy written that is super-persuasive. If it doesn’t fit with the intent of your specific landing page, take it out and use it somewhere else. When the copy is this long, it’s important to stay on message and keep it focused to what you are looking to do.
What are you doing to enhance the quality of your landing page copy?
Tip #12: Use Shorter Submission Forms – If you are asking people to fill out a submission form, it’s crucial to keep that submission form extremely simple. Only ask people for the information that you’ll need. The more information people need to provide, the less likely they are to fill out your form.
Keep them accessible, and keep them simple. Typically their name, a contact email, and a message field are enough.
Tip #13: Use Bullets that Convey Value – Put thought into the bullets that go into your lists. The main point of quality bullets in a sales format, such as a landing page, is to convey the benefits of the product. Your lists should be illustrating the ways your product or service improves your customers’ lives. Remember, your bulleted lists maintain a higher level of visibility because they are more easily skimmable. Put some thought into what you want the take away to be.
Tip #14: A Lead Magnet that Sells – If you are using your landing page to capture email addresses, you’ll need a lead magnet. People don’t frequently give up their email address for nothing in return. You’ll need a way to provide added value to grow your email list. Some frequent lead magnets include ebooks, white papers, pdf reports, courses or more.
All companies have information that will be of value to their customers. Think about what you can offer to enhance your customers’ lives. This could be things like buying tips, why your product or service is necessary, or how to get the most out of the product. The possibilities for a quality lead magnet are endless, and often unique to the business or industry as well.
Make it enticing, and your email subscriptions can increase.
Tip #15: A Convincing Call To Action – It’s critical to close strong on your landing page. Emotion or enthusiasm can help you sell more. As much as we all view ourselves as rational, logical creatures who only buy for practical reasons, it’s just not the case. We buy because it makes us happy, fearful, safe or angry. We buy because of how it makes us feel. When that emotion is evident at the end, it can have tremendous results.
Another way to enhance the call to action is to create scarcity. We all suffer from fear of missing out (FOMO). It’s part of the human condition. If your product is part of a limited run, or only good while supplies last, the reader needs to take quick action. It creates demand.
Your services are limited by time constraints as well. There are ways to create FOMO there as well.
Make sure your call to action is convincing. Make sure people understand what they need to do to solve their problem. A strong call to action can make a significant difference when it comes to the effectiveness of your landing page copy.
Conclusion
Quality landing page copy can result in a situation where your website works for you in your sleep. You can use well-written landing pages to grow your leads, and retake control of your online presence. It can make all the difference between a successful and a flailing business.
Which are you?
The good news is you don’t have to be a talented, prolific writer to create landing pages that help your business. They are possible to write on your own. But they do take time. If you are looking to focus your time and resources on other aspects of running your business, hiring a landing page copywriter might be the right move for your business.
Is it time for you to utilize landing pages to create more business?
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