By Santosh R, Co-Founder & CMO,Elever
Yes, I’ve made them all. Precisely why, I also make the perfect person to help you avoid them.
To begin with, in 2023, I think it’s time we call it a landing experience and not just a landing page. That’s because digital platforms are getting more and more adept at helping marketers build native landing experiences, i.e. letting the potential customer experience your brand without having to leave the platform.
Secondly, for this article, I will aim to go beyond the conventional wisdom around landing pages, such as optimising for mobile phones, defining your goals, providing social proof, and so on. Everyone in today’s day and age is aware of these simple rules of thumb. Instead, I’m squarely going to focus on lessons I’ve learned the hard way, which if I’m of any use, will help you avoid them. So, here goes.
Mistake #1
Don’t compete with the social platform
Many marketers consider their first objective is to get their potential customers away from the social platform and onto their landing page. This is missing the point. As a marketer, your objective is not to direct your potential customer to a particular place but instead, it is to introduce, engage, entice, retain, and convert him or her to your brand. As like I mentioned earlier, most good social platforms are working to help brands do just that within their own universe. The minute you make this simple shift in your understanding, you will go from fighting for your customer’s attention and time to interacting with her. The latter wins, hands down.
Mistake #2
Don’t tell, ask
Truth be told, this is the oldest rule of thumb there is, not just for landing experiences but communication in general. But it’s shocking how many keep repeating this mistake. That’s because the moment you have a potential customer in your sights, the overwhelming urge is to proclaim to them the glory that is your brand and product’s earth-shattering vision. Let’s put it brutally yet simply, no customer is interested in learning how cool or smart your brand is. The only way they will ever get interested in what you have to say is if you show them what’s in it for them. And one of the best ways to do it is by asking them a question to which you know the answer is likely to be a resounding YES or NO! For e.g. do you want to know why you can’t lose weight? Of course, it needn’t always be a question, it just needs to be a simple call to action – without ambiguity and more importantly, with something in it for the customer.
Mistake #3
Don’t recruit everyone
Social platforms are notorious for burning your ad budgets and filling your excel sheet with a high number of seemingly potential customers, but this joy is most often short-lived as you realise that barely any of them are right for your brand. Hence, the biggest favour you can do for your campaigns is by making it difficult for people to become your lead. As counter intuitive as it sounds, while adding filters of questions and attributes creates barriers for people to engage with you, it also means that the ones who do in spite of it are way more likely to be eventual customers. So, curb the urge to rack up numbers and focus on higher intent and quality of leads.
Besides the practical learnings, the good old advice of creating engaging content, witty lines, and relentless tracking and optimisation of campaigns is as golden as ever. Here’s hoping your landing experience, takes off.
