Success! Your prospect has completed the registration form and hit “I want it”, and checked out of the shopping cart or taken some other desired action. But your job’s not quite done. You need to acknowledge their response and often deliver a pdf document or other offer you promised with a confirmation page. Even if no further action seems appropriate, you still need to give the prospect positive feedback to confirm their response has been entered in your system.

At our agency we used to fulfill pdfs with a download link right from the thank-you page. Then we realized that a confirmation email is better because it provides another touch point and makes sure the recipient provides a legitimate email address. So the thank you page recognizes the registration and tells them to check their email for the download link. (Under some circumstances we’ll include a download link on the thank you page as well.)

Additional Confirmation Page Design Tips

Furthermore, there are a couple of other useful things you can do with confirmation page design. Keep in mind your reader has already taken the desired action, so any further interaction is a bonus. You can:

• Provide links to other relevant content and pages on your website.
• Include a plug for your organization and its services (since up to now you’ve been 100% focused on the offer, right)?
• Additionally, include a bit of teaser content from your info premium for immediate gratification. (Doing this allows you to promise, on your landing page, that registration brings IMMEDIATE access to some of the great tips you want to share.)

Lastly, you can also use the thank you page to provide a “share this offer with a friend/colleague” link. And, include sharing links for social media. Your prospect may never feel so favorable about you again. So, strike when the iron is hot!

Read more about landing page design here.

The post Optimizing the Landing Page Confirmation / Thank You Pages. appeared first on Beasley Direct and Online Marketing.

Designing and writing a landing page is like setting a trap for your prospect, in a nice way. You want to entice them in, encourage them to go deeper, and once they’re inside make it virtually impossible to get out without taking the desired action.

Direct the prospect through creative design:

• Match the colors, font and other design elements of the ad that got them here so they know they’ve come to the right place. (This isn’t always relevant; for instance Google AdWords Text Ads are all text, so no formatting.)
• Use eyeflow design to pull the reader to one key image (usually a depiction of the offer) and place call to action copy next to it as soon as they reach the page.
• Repeat the call to action multiple times so it’s easy to respond when they’re ready.

Copy should be brief, but compelling:

• Be BRIEF in describing the offer, especially if they’ve already read about it in an ad or email that caused them to click through. Repeating what they already know will lull them to sleep or, more likely, bore them so they’ll click away.
• If it’s free, say so, multiple times. Repeat the selling proposition that brought them here. If you’re fulfilling Google AdWords ads, consider matching headlines to the keywords in the ad.


The Nomadic Systems landing page copies the design and color palette of the Nomadic website home page. But, omits internal links which would allow a curious prospect to click away without registering.

• Use bullets if you have room to highlight the benefits of the offer they’re about to accept. This is often done in a sidebar so it doesn’t get in the way of core selling content.
• Use benefit/reward language in buttons such as “Get my FREE report” vs just “SUBMIT”.
• Include testimonials and guarantees to reassure that there’s absolutely no negative consequence to taking the desired action.

And about that all-important OFFER:

You absolutely need an offer on your landing page because you’ve agreed to a quid pro quo. You’re going to “reward” people for their time in learning your selling proposition. Landing pages without offers are destined to be very poor conversion vehicles which don’t come close to paying for themselves.

An informational offer is usually the best way to incent people for business-to-business lead generation landing pages. These readers need information to do their jobs properly, so give it to them in the form of white papers, third party analysis, webinars, videos, fact sheets or all the above (since you never know what informational format is most appealing to a given audience). An info offer should actually be informative. Don’t promise a fact kit or industry analysis, and instead load them up with sales material.

“Freebie” offers include actual merchandise giveaways, either directly or through entrance in a sweepstakes. These are far less prevalent than they were at one time, because they tend to produce many unqualified leads (who responded for the giveaway, not because they are interested in your product). However, there are exceptions to every rule and a high-value offer, carefully targeted, will cause the right prospect to go to considerable lengths to get the reward.

Limited time offers should be used in addition to, not instead of, other offers. Especially if it’s a merchandise offer, the sense of urgency in a temporary discount or a today-only add-on item will give prospects a reason to make a decision. Even if it’s a webinar, you can let people know attendance is limited, first come, first served; if it’s an analyst paper perhaps you have authorization to distribute only a certain number and no more.

Laurie B. Beasley

Laurie B. Beasley is co-founder and president of Beasley Direct and Online Marketing, Inc. We are a Silicon Valley direct marketing agency that has managed search, email, online, and demand generation campaigns for nearly 100 companies. Ms. Beasley serves as President of the Direct Marketing Association of Northern California. Laurie manages the eMarketing Roundtable for the BMA Northern California. She also instructs online marketing at UC Berkeley Extension and teaches for the Online Marketing Institute. Ms. Beasley frequently speaks on online marketing and demand generation topics for marketing organizations, including the DMA, BMA, AMA, Tech Council, and the Online Marketing Summit.

Our agency brings the latest marketing strategies to online and direct marketing. The company provides services in email marketing, search engine optimization, social media, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, website design, media planning, direct mail marketing, lead generation and nurture campaigns, and database management. We help clients in both B2B and B2C marketing. Beasley Direct is privately held and headquartered in the Silicon Valley suburb, Morgan Hill, California. For more information, go to www.BeasleyDirect.com or call Laurie Beasley, President, at 408-782-0046 x21 or email lbeasley@beasleydirect.com.

The post Creative Best Practices for Landing Pages: Plus the all-important OFFER appeared first on Beasley Direct and Online Marketing.

A landing page is the gateway to your site—the first thing a visitor sees after they find you through a search or click on a link you’ve provided. Make a positive impression here, and you’re on your way to a lead, a sale, even a long-term relationship. Fail and you’ve lost an opportunity since it’s all too easy for a disinterested or confused web visitor to click away. This hands-on guide will help you make the right impression, every time.

There are several different scenarios in which a landing page can exist

These scenarios depend on what brought your visitor here and their intent when they arrive at your site:

1. A brand landing page (typically your home page).

Beasley’s home page provides an easy-to-find phone number and a free consultation offer, plus a lineup of informational resources below the fold.

Your prospect has done a search for your company or for the product or service you provide. It is fine to devote your home page to a statement of your unique selling proposition or mission statement, but you should also provide easy-to-find opportunities for engagement. And, since you don’t know where the prospect is in the buyer’s journey, these might include case studies or fact sheets for researchers, or free trials and contact information for more serious buyers.

2. A search marketing landing page.

This is what the prospect sees when they click on a Google, Bing or display ad. The #1 consideration is to echo the promise/offer/benefit statement that brought them here, and make the call to action easy to complete.

The Netflix landing page echoes the key benefits in the lead source copy while Blockbuster’s page makes no mention of “same online service, same price” as promised in the ad. We all know how this competitive struggle played out.

3. A lead conversion landing page.

A typical business-to-business landing page, with the email that brought them here. The target was a list of NetApp prospects who’d given their contact previously and you’ll notice they are not asked it again, since it’s already contained in the marketing automation system.

You’ve marketed to the prospect through direct mail, email, an infomercial or other contact and they’ve nibbled at the bait. Now you need to convince them that it’s worth providing their contact information in order to access a white paper or appropriate offer. (But not always: increasingly, website cookies allow you to track a visitor without asking them for information directly.)

4. An e-commerce or retail landing page.

This conversion page for a wrinkle cream includes a guarantee, third party endorsement, limited time offer and, for those who need more selling, product information below the fold.

As consumers become more confident about buying online, it’s increasingly likely they will arrive at your landing page ready to place an order. The landing page needs to include all the components necessary to facilitate that process including credibility-building, objection-killing testimonials or reviews, a limited time offer, and a link to your shopping cart. It may or may not show price since, if you include the price, that’s the first (and perhaps only) consideration prospects will evaluate in making a buying decision.

TIP: If your business depends heavily on lead generation, you might consider making your home page an actual landing page. This Chase Online page is heavily oriented toward helping consumers choose a credit card; existing customers must sign in through a small link at the top.

Ready to get started optimizing your landing pages?

Here are five steps you can take to make your landing pages more effective and more productive — starting today:

1. Look at a few of your pages on a mobile device. If they look like dollhouse versions of your desktop pages, get the help of a responsive design developer immediately.

2. Make sure your landing pages have a clear call to action. If not, rewrite the copy immediately.

3. Make sure you are testing more than one offer. If not, review your library of white papers and resources and come up with fresh options. You can even combine multiple documents (including sales sheets) to create a “Solutions Kit” with high perceived value.

4. If you use forms on your landing pages, analyze the fields and see if everything is absolutely essential. If these requests came from your sales team or another department, ask them what they’re doing with the information. Then consider testing shorter forms, and tracking the results.

5. Ask Beasley Direct and Online Marketing, Inc. for a FREE critique of the landing pages for your current campaign. We’ll review them against best practices, congratulate you for the things you’re doing right, and give you tips if appropriate to make your landing pages work even harder. To get started, fill out our contact form.

Laurie B. Beasley

Laurie B. Beasley is co-founder and president of Beasley Direct and Online Marketing, Inc. We are a Silicon Valley direct marketing agency that has managed search, email, online, and demand generation campaigns for nearly 100 companies. Ms. Beasley serves as President of the Direct Marketing Association of Northern California. Laurie manages the eMarketing Roundtable for the BMA Northern California. She also instructs online marketing at UC Berkeley Extension and teaches for the Online Marketing Institute. Ms. Beasley frequently speaks on online marketing and demand generation topics for marketing organizations, including the DMA, BMA, AMA, Tech Council, and the Online Marketing Summit.

Our agency brings the latest marketing strategies to online and direct marketing. The company provides services in email marketing, search engine optimization, social media, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, website design, media planning, direct mail marketing, lead generation and nurture campaigns, and database management. We help clients in both B2B and B2C marketing. Beasley Direct is privately held and headquartered in the Silicon Valley suburb, Morgan Hill, California. For more information, go to www.BeasleyDirect.com or call Laurie Beasley, President, at 408-782-0046 x21 or email lbeasley@beasleydirect.com.

The post How to Optimize Your Landing Pages for More Sales and More Leads. appeared first on Beasley Direct and Online Marketing.