A Whitepaper of Marketing Questions and Answers Creating Landing Pages that Sell (with Bob Bly)

Transcription

1 A Whitepaper of Marketing Questions and Answers Creating Landing Pages that Sell (with Bob Bly) Page 0 of 7

2 Landing Pages Webinar Q and A This document summarizes the questions that were asked during the session and offline in the recent Pinpointe webinar: "Creating Landing Pages that Sell, presented by Internet strategist and well- known copywriter, Bob Bly. We had dozens of questions that we were not able to answer online, so if you posted a question that we didn't get to during the online session, please check here, as we've done our best to answer and address all questions that were asked. Q: FIRST, CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LANDING PAGES AND A WEBSITE? A: A website is a full site that provides information about a company, their products, background, partners and so forth. A landing page on the other hand is a single page (or sometimes 2 pages) that promotes only a single product or concept. A landing page is almost always a funnel that, hopefully, results in the visitor entering their contact information in order to get access to a resource such as a whitepaper, or a trial. Q: WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLE USES FOR A LANDING PAGE? Commonly, a landing page is used as a registration page where prospects register in order to download a whitepaper or document. A landing page might also be used to: Collect a recipient s address when registering for your newsletter or resources. Collect a prospective customer s contact information before they download an e- book Enter a prospect s contact information when registering for a product demonstration. Event Registration such as registering for a webinar. Q: WHAT IS A SQUEEZE PAGE? A Squeeze page is a short landing page that contains information that would interest the marketer's targeted readers. Squeeze pages are designed to obtain a reader's name and e- mail address information by encouraging users to opt- in to an e- mail list to receive more information about the topic. Marketers will collect the permission- based e- mail and information to follow up at a later date. Q: WHEN IS IT BEST TO USE A 2 PAGE STRATEGY (I.E., AN INITIAL PAGE FOLLOWED BY MORE DETAILED LANDING PAGE) If you are driving strangers to your landing pages prospects that are completely unfamiliar with you and your company, a 2- page solution is often best. For example, running PPC programs with Google AdWords, Facebook, LinkedIn, SEO programs and others. The first page should be a short preview page to capture the recipient s attention. Page 1 of 7

3 In the 2 page strategy, the call- to- action is for the recipient to read on or continue to the next page which provides more detailed information about the offer, along with the registration form (request for address, name and company for example.) Q: WHEN IS IT BEST TO USE A SINGLE PAGE STRATEGY? If you are generating traffic to your landing pages from known contacts - then a single page strategy is best. A single page strategy is often used for example when used when sending an offer or opportunity to your permission- based, opt- in list (sometimes called your house list.) Since these contacts are already familiar with your company, sending them to a landing page that contains your offer and the registration form usually works best (as compared to the 2- page strategy described earlier.) Q: WHAT IS A HOUSE LIST? Hose List refers to your company s in- house, list of permission- based contacts that have explicitly signed up to receive your s. Sending s to rented or purchased lists is not considered good practice and can cause serious issues with your company reputation (and is likely to get you in trouble with an Provider if you try that route. Q: WHAT DO THE TERMS B2B AND B2C MEAN? "B2B" means 'Business to Business' - as in businesses communicating with other businesses, whereas B2C means 'Business to Consumer'. Q: YOU REFER TO A/B TESTING TO TEST RESULTS. WHAT IS THIS? A/B testing allows you to produce 2 (or more) separate versions of your landing pages. These are then displayed to visitors and the response rates are compared over time so you can determine which landing page produces the best results. Q: DO THE LANDING PAGE TIPS APPLY TO B2B AND B2C COMPANIES? A: Absolutely. However B2B landing pages are often shorter than B2C landing pages. Page 2 of 7

4 Q: WHAT TOOLS / PROGRAMS PROVIDE LANDING PAGE SPLIT TESTING FEATURES? A: There are several landing page tools that allow you to create these A/B or split tests so you can compare multiple landing page versions and determine which is best for your audience. Some tools to check include: Form tools: Wufoo forms Unbounce.com Formstack.com Google Site Optimizer (for PPC programs) If you are sending prospects to your landing pages through , then many programs, including Pinpointe, provide split testing features that you can use to create two or more versions of your each with a link to a different landing page. You can then compare the conversion rates for prospects that visit each page. Q: DO THESE TIPS APPLY EQUALLY TO PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL PRODUCTS? A: Yes, though physical product pages are often shorter than landing pages for virtual products like e- books and whitepapers. Also a landing page for a physical product should always have a picture of the product. Q: WE ARE RUNNING AN SEO PROGRAM TO DRIVE PROSPECTS TO A LANDING PAGE TO REGISTER FOR A WHITE PAER. HOW SHOULD WE DESIGN THE LANDING PAGE? A: The landing page should be sort and concise, vs. long and detailed. A single page strategy is ideal you do not need a 2 page solution for an item like a whitepaper. The main elements to include are: Bold headline make sure the headline is consistent with the SEO terms that were used to drive traffic to the landing page. Text, describing the paper highlights A picture of the whitepaper / front cover The registration information A 3- column setup often works best but you should test variations. You should also include: your physical address, social share buttons if available, multiple endorsements about the paper or similar resources. You should not include: website navigation. The goal is to funnel prospects in to register for your product. Page 3 of 7

5 WHAT ARE THE TOP 5 ITEMS THAT IMPACT AN CAMPAIGN S CLICK-THROUGH-RATE (WHEN USING TO DRIVE TRAFFIC TO A LANDING PAGE?) Who the is from Subject (keep the subject <45 total characters) Product being promoted (product / prospect match) List quality and match The content copy Q: WHAT ARE LANDING PAGE CONVERSION RATES? A: There are so many factors that the conversion rates vary widely. Here are some conversion ranges you might expect: Conversion for a whitepaper registration: 18% ~ 50%+ Webinar Registration: 15% ~ 25% E- Book (non- free): 1% ~ 3% Targeted Niche Markets: 10% + For prospect that are nurtured via an ongoing autoresponder sequence, long- term conversion rates can be 2-3 times better than the landing page offer that might be promoted via SEO, for example. Note that we are not referring to a single but rater, an ongoing series of s. For more information on the strategy of nurturing contacts, please check our webinar What Works in Marketing at: blog.pinpointe.com. Q: WHAT IS FREEMIUM CONTENT? A: Freemium is a business model by which a product or service (typically a digital offering such as software, media, games or web services) is provided free of charge, but a premium is charged for advanced features, functionality, or related products and services. The word "freemium" is a combination of the two aspects of the business model: "free" and "premium". An example would be to offer the first chapter of a book for free, and then make the full book available to prospective readers for a premium. Q: HOW DO YOU RECOMMEND USING FREEMIUM CONTENT TO GENERATE SALES LEADS? A: Consider the following ideas: Are you offering an e- book? As noted above give away the first chapter for free and allow prospects to download the entire content for a fee. Software? Offer a free trial that the prospect can upgrade for a fee. Page 4 of 7

6 SaaS product? Offer a limited function / version of the product for free (for example, a company that offers landing page solutions might allow you to create 1-2 pages for free. You can create more for a premium. On your registration / landing page, include a content sidebar that describes and makes available your freemium offer. Q: I AM NERVOUS TO ASK FOR A SALE FROM CONTACTS IN MY LIST. A: You seem to be concerned that the prospect may opt- out of your list if you ask them to purchase from you. However if the contact never buys anything from you over time, then what value does the contact bring you just by being on your list and reading your newsletter? Q: BOB DO YOU OFFER LANDING PAGE AND COPYWRITING CONSULTING SERVICES? A: Yes. Please contact me at rwbly@bly.com or visit my site at Pinpointe Questions Q: WHAT SETS PINPOINTE APART OTHER SOLUTIONS LIKE CONSTANT CONTACT? Pinpointe s business class marketing system is the most feature- rich, cloud based solutions available today for mid- sized enterprises and organizations. Pinpointe Professional edition is a powerful full- featured system with WYSIWYG editor, spam checker, previewer and more. Use Pinpointe autoresponders and nurturing campaigns to nurture leads over time, and improve response and product conversion rates. Pinpointe transparently integrates with Google Analytics, so all of your campaigns can be tracked, monitored and analyzed within Google analytics. Q: WHAT IS PINPOINTE'S PRICING? Pinpointe offers flexible pricing based on the number of active contacts in your list or the number of s sent. Pinpointe also offers non- expiring, pay- as- you- go options. For the latest pricing please check started. Page 5 of 7

7 About Pinpointe Pinpointe is a leading provider of feature- rich, cloud- based marketing automation software based in the heart of Silicon Valley, California. As former marketers, we ve been in your shoes. Our team has a passion for helping mid- sized B2B and B2C marketing professionals communicate with existing customers, and target new prospects through behavioral targeting, improved segmentation and message personalization. Other Resources If you re a Business to Business marketer and are want to stay on top of the latest marketing trends, tips and best practices, then please sign up for our twice- a- month Tips n Tricks. Once or twice a month we ll send you a briefing with tips and tricks. We ll also include a link so you can op- out or update your preferences, any time. Pinpointe Site: Pinpointe support Blog: Contacting Pinpointe Pinpointe sales and support are available from 7am to 5pm PST, M- F. We can be reached at: (800) or (408) , Option #2 General Information: Sales: Twitter ( Tips): info@pinpointe.com ( Please feel free to pass this handy whitepaper on to friends and colleagues. PUBLISHED BY: Pinpointe On- Demand, Inc , Pinpointe On- Demand, Inc. Common Creative License. This document can be re- distributed freely. However you cannot sell the content and if you reference content contained herein, please provide attribution to the owner (Pinpointe). Pinpointe, Pinpointe On- Demand Inc and the Pinpointe logo are trademarks of Pinpointe On- Demand, Inc. Page 6 of 7