Successful email marketing does not actually finish with the optimisation andsuccess rates received from your email template. Thelanding page you direct your recipients to is also a very importantkey to your success. It mustthereforebe designed in a waythat engages with yourvisitorseasily andquickly, encouraging them to proceed with the conversion or desiredaction.
Like the email template, the way to optimise your landing page is to “test, test, test” to find the best solution for your personal marketing goals. There are some important tips and experiences that you should take into account when designing a landing page. Many of them sound simple, but after a critical analysis of your page, you will see that they are not always optimally implemented. In addition to technical basics (e.g. short loading times, good resolution and so on), you should consider the following points when designing your site:
1. The objectives
First of all you should define which target group you want to address, which specific marketing goals you are pursuing with the landing page, which offer or incentive you want to promote and what specific advantages and unique selling points this offer has for your individual visitors. Get into your visitors’ minds and think about what could persuade them to entrust their personal data to you.
2. The construction
Your landing page must be intuitive, simple and clearly focused on a “Call to Action”. You should also consider whether your landing page should be embedded in the company’s website or possibly be part of a separate microsite. The user should be able to clearly recognise that the landing page belongs to your brand in order to trust and engage with the offer. Highlight your call-to-action effectively and make your text short and catchy to define key points on the page.
3. The offer
Your offer, its advantages and a striking call to action are the essential pieces of content you need to make up your landing page. These should be places in the spotlight, to ensure you are rewarded with customer data. Place all the important information “above the fold” and reduce the entire content to the most important elements so as not to divert attention. Think carefully about what you could offer the user as an incentive for providing you with his data: discounts, coupons, free shipping and free gifts, which will all promote conversion on your landing page.
4. The consistent lead generation process
Don’t forget to take the entire lead generation process into account i.e. the various traffic sources, all advertising material and above all the cultivation of contacts after generation, with the help of a welcome email programme including other special offers. Use a consistent design for the email template, promotional material and your landing page around your campaign. It is very important to use consistent wording so that the user recognises your brand and campaign across all contact points.
5. The form
Once you have engaged the user with your offer, you must place the registration forms in an eye-catching place within your page so it is easy for them to sign up. It’s advisable – not just for legal reasons – to reduce the number of required fields the user must complete. Check the legal compliance of your forms carefully. CAPTCHAs are often used to avoid crawling, but it can be a major drawback to your registration process. Use it only if it is really necessary to avoid losing registrants along the way.
6. The URL
You should also think about the web address when designing your landing page. The URL may appear in text versions of newsletters or in search engines, so it should be catchy and describe what your specific offer for the potential customer is. Your own domain is the most memorable but otherwise it should be a concise, descriptive extension according to the company, brand or product domain.
Conclusion
The landing page is an important element within your integrated campaign to optimise your conversion rate. Email recipients will be taken to your page to make a decision whether or not they want to become a customer. Landing pages can only function optimally if the entire lead generation process is also designed and optimised throughout. Without relevant traffic generation, there will be no visitors to the website and without the cultivation of new contacts you may end up losing them as customers. Consider the experience your visitors have as a whole over the entire conversion path – from the first advertising material to the last email that they receive from you and you will be on your way to a successful campaign.
