January 15, 2008
Sabrina Brick, copywriter
Your landing page is as crucial to your product’s sales as a nice outfit would be to you landing your first job out of law school. You wouldn’t’ show up in your bathrobe to be interviewed, would you? First impressions are everything - and if you don’t want to “expose yourself” - then it’s important what your prospects see when they first visit your site.
Because once they arrive, you know full well that you’ve got to convince them to do something – that’s what landing pages are for…and getting your visitors to do something (“buy a product”, “fill out a form”, etc.) is not always easy.
People don’t like…
Why? Because people don’t like to do these things. They don’t like to fill out forms. People don’t enjoy giving out their personal information – in fact, they guard it with their lives. What’s worse? People don’t even like to read on the web, so getting them to read about what you want them to do is even less likely than getting them to actually do it.
It’s a sad but true fact: most people don’t read on the web. Instead, they skim. They do enough skimming to get the “gist of it” and then they click to the next page. There’s just too much information out there for them to stick around.
And if they find out you’re trying to sell to them, they’re going to leave faster than the blink of an eye. This is because what people hate even more than reading on the web is reading an advertisement – especially when they don’t know you.
Whatever You Do, Don’t Write an Ad
When you’re writing copy for your landing page, the last thing you want to do is make it look like an advertisement. People are fed up with advertisements. They’re exposed to thousands of them every day from TV, billboards, radio, the Internet, and anywhere else advertisers can put them. (Have you noticed that you’re not even safe in the check out line at your local grocery store or while pumping gas at some establishments now?)
People don’t respond to ads. They “turn off”. They ignore them. Entire technologies were invented for the purpose of bypassing ads (think TiVo). Even if forced to listen, consumers have developed thick skins to brush off advertisements and continue on their merry way.So what exactly can you do to get your market’s attention? How can you make their ears perk up?
If You Give Them Information, They Will Come
If people don’t go online to buy, what exactly do they go online for in the first place? No, it’s not porn. Let me give you a hint: it’s not called the Information Superhighway for just any reason.
People go online to find information. Even if someone is looking to purchase a product or service – let’s say a digital camera - they are generally seeking information, not advertisements. When and if someone does purchase a product online, it’s usually only after they’ve looked at plenty of related information first.
So you, the provider of one really cool digital camera (or the copywriter for one such provider), can use this knowledge to your advantage. If your customers are looking for information, provide them with useful information. It’s the best way to get their attention – and to keep it.
In fact, rather than just useful information, make it information that they can’t live without. For example, let’s start with some headlines:
Do these headlines promise the greatest digital camera at the lowest price? No! They promise to provide useful, seemingly crucial information to the consumer who is trying to make a purchasing choice.
Persuade Them to Choose Your Product
This is where the selling comes in. While you’re freely giving out information, you also persuade your buyer to realize how much better your product or service is. It’s that simple. When a careful mixture of solid, useful information and sales copy are used together, the recipe can be extremely persuasive to a prospective buyer.
A formula that works
There are many ways to go about creating a landing page that is both highly informative and also sells a product. One such method is what I call the “PR approach”. This is where you write your landing page as though it’s a press release, but in reality it’s selling your product. Here are some tips on how to do this:
Ask yourself the following questions about your market: What’s your target audience’s main problem? What are the reasons why it hasn’t already been solved? How does your product/service address these issues (what makes it different)? How will your prospect feel if the problem is solved for them?
Next, write a press release that talks about how your product solves the problem experienced by your market. Don ’t get bogged down with all of the details yet. Just write a simple press release. You will convert it to a “selling press release” afterward. If you don’t know how to write a press release, see http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Press-Release
Remember to get your prospect’s attention by using an attention-grabbing headline (see examples given earlier in this article). Make certain you’re promising information they can’t live without. This way, they can’t help but read your copy.
Once your press release is complete, go back and re-read the first few paragraphs. Do they pull the reader in? Do they promise information that will solve the problem they are facing? If not, add more details. Press releases are usually short. Your copy doesn’t have to be. Pull them in with details about the problem. Use the word “you”. Let them know that you understand what the problem they’re having is all about.
Now, do the first few paragraphs mention your product as a solution to the problem? If not, weave this into the first paragraph. You want people to know that it is a product or service that will solve their problem.
In the next part of the copy, get into more detail about what the product or service is and how it solves their problem. To transform the rest of the copy into your “selling press release” keep the following in mind:
1. Make sure you keep the hype low and minimize the sales pitch - it should be covert. Instead of selling outright, persuade by giving your prospects the information they need to decide to buy from you.
2. Use quotes to help your landing page feel more like an editorial piece or press release. Quotes can be from experts in the field or they can be from people who have used your product or service. Let them do the selling for you.
3. You should still use a bulleted list of benefits about your product or service. Benefits are powerful selling points. You don’t want to make your reader guess at what they’re getting. Make it easy for them to find.
4. And as you would in a sales letter, break up the copy with sub-heads, white space, etc. Remember that even if people do read your informative piece, some of them still may want to skim – and you want to keep the skimmers interested, too.
Remember, the last part of the press release should include a description of your company and what you do. You can include contact information and let people know that they can get in touch with you for more information, to learn about other similar products, etc. This part is just as important as other portions of your press release. It adds credibility to the copy, to the product, and to you as a contact. Think about what you say here.
For instance, if you sell more than just super cool digital cameras, you might want to mention that your company provides free consultations: “Still not sure which digital camera to buy? Call us for a free consultation. We’ll help you pick the right one for your needs and budget.”
Above all, make certain that the information you provide to your prospects is correct. You don’t want to mislead anyone. It’s important to remember that when you write anything, you’re always selling yourself. You never want to give out false info or half-truths. It’s not only unethical, but people aren’t stupid. They can smell a lie. You will not only hurt your conversion rate, but also lies can and probably will come back to haunt you. Just be truthful.
You can even be critical of your own product (as long as you can turn it into a benefit afterward). For instance, “the SLR 200X digital camera does not come with a built in zoom lens, but this allows it to work with all traditional camera lenses as well. That way you don’t have to buy all new lenses for your digital camera”. When you are forthcoming about any “flaws” your product might have, and you state them in a positive light, your copy becomes much more believable, too.
Writing copy that comes across as a press release can do wonders for your landing page conversion rate. I've had results as high as 46% for PR Sales Pages. I'd love to give you the url for the page BUT, I don't even get an affiliate commission if I send you there (smiley face)! If you want to see which one it is, just email me at sbrick@gmail.com and I'll be happy to send it to you!
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Sabrina Brick is a professional copywriter that lives in the Los Angeles area. She enjoys writing copy for the Internet & specializes in long sales copy specifically for the Internet. For details on her Super Fast Tweak service, visit www.SuperFastTweak.com