If you’re creating a landing page with the purpose of generating leads for your business, you’ll want to make sure that it’s not just another page on your website. In order for it to become an effective sales page, you’ll need to spend a bit of time curating the content, structuring the page and really tapping in to your customer’s pain points.
For a sales page to be effective, it needs some planning. Here’s our list of things to include and consider when you’re planning your sales page.
Pain points
Why do your customers come to you? It’s often because of a problem that you can solve for them. So to identify your customer’s pain points, you need to drill down into the “why” behind why they would buy from you. What does their current situation look like? What dilemma are they facing? What’s causing their pain? The more you know and understand about your customer’s pain points, the easier it is to align what you can offer to meet their expectations and offer a real solution to relieve their pain. Customers are more likely to buy from a company who they feel understands them and has the exact solution to their problems.
Features and benefits
What does your service offer to its customers? We’re often told to focus on the benefits our product or service can bring to our customers rather than the features of what we offer. But both are important. The benefits are what connects your service’s features with your customer’s pain and your features are the “how” behind that connection.
As an example: say you offer retirement planning advice and solutions. Your customer’s pain is that they feel they’re not financially prepared for retirement with money tied up in pensions, businesses and property. It’s causing them sleepless nights and their grown-up children are worried about the burden their parents will be placing on them in later life.
Your service’s features are professional advice and access to appropriate financial products.
The benefits of your service are the peace of mind knowing that their finances are in order and they can retire with the lifestyle they want.
The benefits are really important here as it’s the outcome that the customer craves. However, the professional advice you give and the financial products you sell are important too. They’ll want reassurance that their finances are in safe hands and you’re qualified to offer advice. This brings us nicely onto..
Credibility
Who are you and what qualifies you or your company to offer this product or service? You don’t need a potted history of your company, but you should be highlighting your qualifications, your previous track record and why people should work with you.
It’s not about bragging about qualifications and award wins; it’s all about reassuring your customers and demonstrating how you’re well-positioned to help them achieve their goals. It’s not about you, it’s about what this means for your customer.
Supporting content
FAQs
If your product/service or processes are complex, having some frequently asked questions on your sales page can help to overcome any uncertainties or objections early on and encourage customers to sign up.
Visuals
Can you demonstrate your product or service visually? For software companies, using screenshots or short videos demonstrating the software can work really well. Diagrams, workflows and explainer videos can all assist in connecting with your customers and explaining what you are offering.
Don’t forget the importance of images in increasing the conversion rates of the sales page. We covered this in a previous post here.
Testimonials & Case studies
Where’s your social proof? People are often swayed by seeing the actions of others, whether that’s the actions of the masses or individuals or “experts”.
Social proof can be in the form of testimonials or case studies that demonstrate how you’ve helped someone else in the same situation. Most of us have access to case studies and testimonials in some form.
Endorsements from individuals, particularly those respected in an industry or a celebrity your customers can relate to are another way to add social proof to your sales page.
Guarantees
This won’t be relevant to every business, but can you offer some kind of risk reversal or money back guarantee – so you take the risk away from working with you? Retail businesses often do this with no-quibble returns and refunds policies, but it can work for service-based businesses too if you’re able to offer something in return if they’re not 100% satisfied.
Clear structure
For your sales page to be effective at generating leads, you need to structure your page clearly and logically. Remember to include calls-to-action that are appropriate to where your customers are in their buying journey. Keep your page distraction-free, so don’t have your website menu at the top or links to your social media accounts. These will only send people away from your page, never to return!
Take your customers on a journey! Start by connecting with them “above the fold” and demonstrating how you understand their pain points, then explain how they can benefit from your services and what they can expect from working with you or buying your product. Then you’ll need to reassure them with your credentials and social proof.
If your sales page is long, it’s worth having your CTAs above the fold as well as at regular intervals down the page (don’t make them scroll all the way to the top or the bottom to take the next step). We like to aim for a visible CTA no matter where they are on a page, so there’s no scrolling required when they’re ready to sign up.
Summary
Careful planning and testing will ensure that your landing page resonates with your audience and actively encourages sign ups. With a logical structure, clean layout and carefully positioned (and worded) CTAs, you’ll be on the right path to creating a highly effective sales page!
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