Advertising and Landing Page Congruency

August 30th, 2010

Every day several hundred million people do a Google search, click on one of the results, get sent to a website only to be greeted by a page that has absolutely nothing to do with the ad that they clicked on.  If the website owner is lucky the visitor may poke around the site a bit; however, more often than not… they close that window and go to the next result.

This should never happen to you.  If it does, then change it. 

It is vitally important that both your advertising and your landing pages match up.  This is true of all forms of advertising; radio, email, tv, newspaper, direct mail, and magazines.  Your advertisements clearly point potential clients and customers to the information and products that they want.

To make this happen make sure that your advertisements and your landing pages have a clear message that is being delivered to a specific audience.  Don’t try to attract the whole world to you with something vague. 

Be specific and deliberate.  And most importantly…make sure that everything matches.

Questions of the day:

  • Do you advertise to get people to your website?
  • Do you use SEO to send people from search results to a landing page that matches?

How to Create a Landing Page for your Business Fan Page on Facebook

August 23rd, 2010

Facebook is a wonderful tool for building your business through social media. So take advantage of the tools they offer and your ability to make landing pages right inside of Facebook. This will truly set your company apart from others and can help generate an influx of visitors to your main site.

Below are 17 steps that you can use to create a landing page within Facebook. This landing page will be the first thing visitors see when they go to your Facebook Fan Page.  Give it a whirl.

Step 1:  Login to Facebook
Step 2: Go to the FBML Application page
Step 3: Locate the ‘Add to my page link’ at the top right hand corner of the page.
Step 4: Click it.
Step 5: Find the fan page that you want to build the landing page for.
Step 6: Click the ‘add to page’ button for that particular page
Step 7: Go to the facebook fan page that you just selected
Step 8: Find the Edit tab: you will find this right below the image for your company’s profile.
Step 9: Scroll down the page and find the FBML app.
Step 10: Click the edit link
Step 11: Remove the Box setting
Step 12: Add the Tab setting. Now you are in tab mode.
Step 13: Go back to settings and click the Edit link.
Step 14: Fill in the standard text field that just opened with the content you desire.
Step 15: Change the name of the tab from “Box Title” to an appropriate tile. For example, ‘Free Download’, ‘Special Offers’, ‘Welcome’, ‘Facebook Exclusives’, etc.
Step 16: Go back to page settings and edit “Wall Settings”. Look for the option that says “Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else” and select your new tab.
Step 17: Congratulations! You have just created a landing page for your Facebook Fan page

Question of the day:

  • What exclusive offers can I offer to Facebook Fans?

Every Page On Your Website Should Have a Call to Action

August 16th, 2010

That’s what makes it a landing page.

In fact, when you understand that each and every website should be working for you to get new customers or keep track of what current customers want, then deciding what content to include on each webpage gets easier and easier.

When in doubt, about what you should do to make your website at landing page…include a sign-up form for your newsletter.

Questions of the day:

  • Do you have a newsletter you send out to clients/customers on a regular basis?
  • Is every page on your site a landing page? 

How to Use Landing Pages to Build Your Email Marketing Database

August 9th, 2010

How large is your company’s email database?  Why do I ask?  Because size does matter.  The size of your database has a direct correlation to your company’s bottom line…to your company’s cash flow.  According to research from the Database Marketing Institute, every email address captured adds $10 to your company per year.

Simply stated, if you have 12,000 email addresses in your database that adds $120,000 to your company.

Now, there are some people that earn more than $10 per name.  Matter of fact, I know of one business owner that generated close to $1.25 million dollars last year with a mailing list of 13,000 that he brings tremendous value to on a regular basis!

How did he do it?

He used highly targeted landing pages to capture qualified, legitimate email addresses.  He didn’t just want anybody on his list.  He wanted a specific type of person on his list.  With that in mind he worked to design a compelling landing page to attract the right people.

You should do the same.  Either do it yourself or find someone to help you get it done.  Here are a few things you can do to get the job done.

Design a Landing Page With One Clear Intent

If you want to build your email database then you need to create a landing page specifically for that reason.  Don’t try to sell them a product or service just yet.  You are just trying to get the relationship started.

Give Something Away for Free

To spice things up a bit, and entice them to give you their information, you will want to offer them something of value such as a free white paper, special report, tip sheet, software download,video, mp-3,  or demo.  Make sure that it is something that they can receive immediately.

Promise to Send Them Great Stuff on a Regular Basis

In addition to a free offer, you will want to let them know that you will be emailing them on a regular basis.  You want them to give you permission to continually market to them at the minimum once a week.  Make sure that what you send them is of value so that they will continue to stay on your list and open your email.

Ask for As Little Information As Possible

Let’s face it, to send something online all you really need is an email address.  So you will want to make sure that you have a form that collects their email address.  You may also choose to capture their first name.  Resist the temptation to ask for too much information too soon.  Instead, use a progressive profiling approach that helps you gather more information from them over time and as your relationship deepens.

Add a Button That Tells Them What to Do

If you want your visitors to download the free report then your call-to-action button needs to say just that.  Use phrases such as, “Send my free report”, “Download now”, “Sign me up right now”, and many others.  You get the idea.  Avoid using generic words such as “submit” and sign up.

Final Thoughts: Your email marketing landing page doesn’t have to be long, but it does have to be clean in design and clear in copy.

Questions You May Want to Ask Yourself:

  • How large of a list do I want to have?
  • How often will I communicate with my list?
  • How fast do I want my landing page up and running?

Landing Pages: A Business Owner’s Best Friend

August 2nd, 2010

Chances are that you have more than one type of customer…which means that you must communicate with different customer groups in different ways. This necessity is easily accomplished by using targeted landing pages which automatically segments your marketing list for you. In other words, landing pages give your customer a chance to raise their hand to let you know exactly how and why they want you to market to them…and what they are in the market to buy right now or in the near future.

What’s a landing page?
Landing pages are highly- targeted, highly-focused web pages that are designed to let visitors know that they are in the right place and to ethically persuade your visitors to take a specific action. This action could be anything from signing up for a newsletter, registering for an event, downloading a white paper, as well as purchasing a product.

When properly designed, landing pages transform your website from “one of thousands of Google search results” into an interactive, engaging experience. The result being:

  • Trust from the visitor
  • Collection of visitor contact information
  • High quality leadspermission for ongoing marketing
  • Lower cost acquisition of new customers
  • And much more!

Basic Landing Page Elements
There are four basic elements that make a landing page, well… a landing page.

Identifying Headline: Visitors need to know that they are in the right place and that you have something they want.

Compelling Offer: if you want your visitors to gladly give you their contact information or their money then you need to offer something that gets their heart racing and their mind charged with anticipation.

Social Proof: Testimonials, quotes, number of newsletter subscribers, number of clients and more. McDonalds puts up signage that says “billions served” for a reason.

Easy to Fill Out Form: only gather the information that you absolutely need to deliver your compelling offer. Offering a free white paper or newsletter… then try asking for only an email or email and first name. The more work the visitor is asked to do then the less compliance you will have with your request.

Two Simple Questions:
What type of customer or client groups do you have?
Does your website market directly