In our last two posts “Planning your Inbound Marketing Strategy” & “Having Problems with Hubspot Software?” we discussed planning how to use Hubspot software effectively.
In the first post, “Having Problems with Hubspot Software?” we outlined the reasons companies may fail to implement many of Hubspot’s features and tools. In post two, “Planning Your Inbound Marketing Strategy” we talked about how a company should take the time to craft marketing strategy when setting up the Hubspot software portal.
Plan your Goals
Assign Task Responsibilities
Optimize your Content for SEO
Start a Publishing Calendar
Plan your Landing Pages
Prepare your Calls to Action
Create your Email Marketing Campaigns
Configure Sales
Landing Page Elements
In this post we’ll talk about landing pages, or more specifically, building your first landing page if you are not familiar with the marketing funnel process.
“Landing pages” have one main function… to collect customer leads. Your company’s website needs to gather lead data and there is no better way to start than with targeted landing pages.
With value to offer potential customers on your landing page(s), you can begin collecting customer information even before your content publishing schedule is in place.
Building Your Landing Page
Hubspot offers a library of landing page design templates to get you started… However, each element on the landing page is instrumental in converting visitors to leads and the templates do little to help you understand the importance of each element’s function.
Here are the most important elements of a landing page template:
- Headline
- Copy
- Bullets/Features/Benefits
- Image or Hero Shot
- Form
- Call to Action
We’ll look at each of these elements to help you understand the importance of each and how to execute them effectively.
Headline - This is the opening statement on your landing page and it must grab the visitor’s attention. It needs to interest them in reading through your offer and promise them value. Here are some examples:
Discover the Sexy World of AutomationSpend More Time on the Golf Course & Less Time Managing Employees
Eat What You Want but Never Gain a Pound
A common practice is to use large, often colored font to present your headline.
Copy - Now that the visitor is interested in what you have to offer the rest of your landing page must align with the same excitement your headline offered.
In most situations, the copy on your landing page will be concise, with the only goal being to get your visitors to enter and provide their contact information.
Bullets/Features/Benefits - Each landing page needs to be easy to read and skimable. A highly recommended element is a list of bullet points. Most likely, these bullets will describe the benefits and value of the product or service you are offering.
Note the difference between “features” and “benefits” as they are commonly misused.
In our excitement to offer a value to our visitors we might think in terms of everything that is packed into our offer, similar to this:
- 52 pages jam-packed with information
- 5 hours of downloadable podcasts
- 2 in-depth interviews with industry leaders
While this is an impressive list, it doesn’t give the visitor any indication of how they will benefit from your offer. Here is a list of the benefits:
Save time with the top recommended tools listed in our Ebook
Listen to top-notch training while driving to work
Get valuable tips and tricks from industry experts
A feature is a description of the product and a benefit is how the visitor will add value to their lives because of it. In most cases you need only to describe the benefits.
Image or “Hero” Shot
Using an image on a landing page is strongly suggested. It provides a visual reinforcement of what the visitor will receive by signing up for the offer. But the image can be much more than a reference.
Hubspot users often show an image of the item they are giving away. This is usually an Ebook cover with the title and tagline of the item being offered.
While almost any image will increase conversions, including the ebook cover, a targeted photo image would be more evocative of the benefits a potential customer receives from your product or service.
Using the headlines we discussed above you could simply use an image of a men golfing.
Spend More Time on the Golf Course & Less Time Managing Employees
And for the eating and weight themed headline a picture of eating something unhealthy would work.
Eat What You Want but Never Gain a Pound
Landing Page Lead Forms
In order to gather information, you’ll need a lead form that asks visitors to fill in details. There are some important things to keep in mind here.
With a generic offer that entices multiple personas you should not ask for too much detail. The lead form on this landing page should be very short.
Ask for the visitor’s name and email address to start. Future landing pages that are further along in the sales funnel will be able to collect more information. However, when more information is asked of the visitor there is often a lower conversion percentage for your lead forms.
Calls to Action
At the end of your copy you should have one call to action (CTA) asking the visitor to sign up for your offer. Do not use generic CTAs. Instead, make the call to action specific to your offer, for instance:
- Sign Up Now To Start Saving Time
- Go Golfing - Enter Your Email Today
- Get Your Free Copy of “Eat How You Want” Now
The submit button and text on your form is also a type of call to action.
Examples include:
- Grab My Copy
- Get My Copy
- Download My Guide
- Get Started
Landing Page Creation, Tracking and Testing
Every company should have several landing pages. Each should be specific to an ideal persona and target where your visitors are in their product or service buying cycle. According to Unbounce, companies with less than 15 landing pages get far fewer leads than those with 15 landing pages or more. Once your landing pages are set up you should continually track and test them to improve your conversion rates.
