Introduction to Landing Pages

What is a Landing Page? 

Chances are you probably have been on a landing page before without realizing it was a landing page. Landing pages are what brands and businesses use to guide traffic from a digital advertisement (think Facebook, Instagram, YouTube) to purchase or sign up for the specific product, service, discount, or membership you’re advertising. Initially, a landing page may seem like an extra unnecessary step in the sales funnel, but landing pages are essential in gathering customer information and increasing opportunities for immediate and future sales.

Why Landing Pages?

Marketing wizard Billy Gene of Billy Gene Marketing Inc. once said “The worst thing you could do is direct traffic to your website.” Why? Billy explains that this is because homepages are typically too overwhelming for the customer. 

Think about it; put yourself in your customer’s shoes: 

You’re scrolling through Instagram when you find an ad for a shirt you love. You imagine all the people you can impress with the shirt and how you’ll wear it for years to come. What’s better, your mom won’t criticize you for such an impulsive buy because the brand is offering you an unbelievable discount! You’ve really won the lottery with this find! But, the ad tells you, you have to act NOW. 

You swiftly tap on the ad and desperately start scrambling for your wallet, regretting that you never set up Google or Apple pay. Your heart begins to race with anticipation as you picture yourself scoring that perfect job, finding true love, and curing cancer all in this life changing shirt. The only thing between you and happiness is a few taps on touch sensitive glass and 16 digits. 

And then, when you look back down at the screen, you notice that the ad has sent you to the brand’s homepage. The brand still seems great, but now you can’t find that shirt you thought, nay, the universe DEMANDED you own amongst the many offers and collections the brand is advertising on their homepage. Wistfully, you solemnly return your credit card to your wallet, gingerly tap the X at the top of the screen, and cheerlessly return to your mundane routine of scrolling through Instagram, never to think of that brand that disappointed you again.

Ok, so maybe that was a really melodramatic example of the online shopping experience. But you get the idea: homepages are overwhelming and ineffective for prospective customers. 

Landing pages, on the other hand, guide customers to where they want to go. They describe the product or service in question, highlighting the various features of it and the brand, and offer exclusive discounts to those who found the page.

In addition to finalizing sales for ready customers, landing pages can also capture information for future customers. As Billy Gene preaches: “The fortune is in the follow up.” In the previous hypothetical example, the customer left the brand’s homepage dissatisfied and without a promise of future contact. In marketing, the rule of thumb is that a customer needs to interact with the brand at least seven times before they'll take action to buy that product or service. And sure, the omnipotent algorithm will probably continue to target your ads towards that customer since they visited your homepage, but now they’re going to need more than seven, very positive interactions in order to feel like making a purchase from your brand.

For this reason, landing pages have a secondary benefit of “capturing” customers that otherwise would have been lost en route. Landing pages generate leads by gathering primary contact information from prospective customers. This information includes:

• Name

• Email

• Phone Number

With this information you can connect with those that were already curious about your brand and continue to lead them through the sales funnel. This continued contact is often done through emails or text messages advertising discounts and offers, leading them to, you guessed it, more landing pages.

How to Create Good Landing Pages?

So how do we, as advertisers, get that information? How do we create a convincing enough landing page to have customers willingly give us their information? Next week we’ll be looking at the best landing page practices to generate leads and move customers through the sales funnel.