Have you ever thrown a successful dinner party where you didn\’t prepare some appetizers and refreshments in advance? Imagine sending out an invite for a party and not having any ready for when your guests arrive. Instead you greet your guests at the door saying \”Go get your own drinks and food and come back\”. How many of them would actually return?
While sending emails to promote your business is a no brainer, many forget that it\’s important to create effective landing pages to get the most of your campaign. Your email serves as an invitation to engage with your brand, arriving at the landing page means they made it to the party. If the goal of your email marketing is direct response, and you want recipients to complete an online action with you, plan for their arrival before they get there. First impressions are important, and a well planned landing page means visitors will stay engaged with your product or service for a longer period of time. It\’s not too difficult to create an effective landing page. For those of you just starting out, keep it simple, and consider these easy steps.
Keep landing page content consistent with the messaging within your email.
If you have had the opportunity to entice a reader into clicking through on your email, make sure where they land guides them to the natural next step. There have been plenty of times when after clicking on an email link, I was transferred to a page where I felt lost and uncertain of what I should do next. It didn\’t take but a few seconds for me to bounce off the page. Test your email message by asking yourself, co-workers, and friends to try the process, which can help hone your message.
Forget about below the fold.
Sure cool things could be happening down there, but the problem is not that many people care. I\’ve seen drop off as high as 85% when a visitor has to scroll down the page. It\’s not that you shouldn\’t have anything under the fold- just keep it to secondary and not primary information or Calls to Action. If you absolutely want to include more information, and feel it is necessary for your offer, try a tabbed microsite approach that allows pertinent content to stay above the fold.
Assume one direction.
If you\’re just starting out with landing page creation, simplicity means one pathway and one Call to Action. When coming from a targeted email, I know I want to find exactly what I was promised or what it was that prompted me to go further. With the exception of a link on the page to your homepage, route any additional links to a singular next step. This allows you to have the most control over the conversion process, and will make it easier to optimize your page in the future.
Shaneli Ramratan
Marketing Manager
mobileStorm, Inc.