So we have a client who has been struggling internally to get their landing page structure launched despite our guidance. The problem is there are dozens of teams and product managers and project managers in the mix and it is very hard to implement an enterprise-wide standard of best practices across the board – never mind a robust A/B or multi-variant testing platform. We are just trying to get the basics implemented.
So there are all these emails flying around between all the players regarding the common standard and approach. I was watching all these emails and eventually stepped in with this email POV to try and get everyone on the same page:
Hi All – just my 2 cents here.
The idea is to plan, design and model the whole transaction associated with the initial conversion event and immediate automatic lead escalation triggers.
So the components that complete the online conversion for a Free Trial or White Paper include:
1) Arsenal of Benefit and Offer Statements broken down by product
– According to Millward Brown and Google, benefit statements and immediate offers are what most motivates clicks and conversions
2) Paid Search Ad with relevant offer and benefit statements
3) Simple Concise Landing Page that fulfills the offer by presenting a form and communicating the benefits of immediately taking advantage of the offer
– Keep in mind the landing page’s job is selling the desired action we want the user to take at that very moment – essentially to become a lead
– Of course it can list product features and benefits but its main objective is selling the offer so we can capture their data, tell them just enough about the product to make them want to try it for free – then let subsequent lead nurturing and sales people sell the actual subscription
4) Thank You Page / Confirmation Page that can do any of the following:
– Simply delivers on the offer (White Paper, etc.) or tells the user about next steps to activate trial or contact sales (i.e – “you are about to get an email with your password”)
– Continues the engagement and asks the lead if they are interested in getting more information regarding other products
– Gives them links and more information about the product they registered for to get them excited about activating the trial
5) Confirmation / Auto Reply Email with:
– Offer fulfillment including White Paper or Free Trial password
– More product info that gets them excited about reading the White Paper or activating their Free Trial (such as “Activate it now and start growing your business!”)
– Contact info for sales rep or team so it is easy for them to talk to someone when they want to buy
The good news here is that these basic 4 elements are in place for most of the clicks we get from paid traffic sources including search; we just need to apply some best practices in messaging, design and user flow. I think we could overlay these best practices onto the current structure pretty quickly.
After that basic structure is optimized you can look to implementing further lead nurturing tactics and triggered events.
Harry-
