6 Steps to Creating a Magnetic Landing Page

How much would you invest in a salesperson that delivers the same tested and consistent message every time, doesn’t take lunch breaks or vacations, works 24/7 and is only committed to attracting and converting your ideal customers?

You might call that wishful thinking – I call it… a landing page, squeeze page or sales page.

By any name, next to referrals, a well-constructed landing page is the most effective way of filling your funnel with new profitable customers.
I’ve not used landing pages nearly as much as I should. And maybe you haven’t either. To be honest, my obstacle was figuring out what to say and how to say it in a way that will attract my ideal customers. I kept getting wrapped up in my own marketing message.

So I went to work to find an outline that might help get all my thoughts in one place. When I searched for tips on how to write a landing page, I found lots of advice on how to organize it and the what should be on it – but not enough on what to say.

So I decided to pull together advice I’ve received and tucked away across a variety of articles and emails all in one place. I use this outline as a brainstorming template. Its purpose is nothing more than a holding tank for thoughts, ideas, features and benefits that I want to use to convert visitors to customers.

Six Steps to a Sticky Landing Page
1. What do you want to do? What is your objective of the page? Do you want to generate leads, sell a product or service, profile a specific audience or build a relationship with a target audience? The choice is up to you and it’s important to decide up front because this will determine the design and your list of activities for this sales channel.

2. Who is your audience? When you think about your audience, stop at profiling them as groups or companies, try to create the profile of an actual person. Give them a name, age and occupation. Think about what triggers them to go searching for what you are offering and think about what questions or concerns they might have about the alternatives that are available.

Say you’re offering a product for busy moms. You might create a profile for Jill Jones. She’s a 35 year old mother of three who works part time. She drives a Honda van and belongs to a book club. You get the idea. This is a very powerful process because it puts you squarely in the world and mind of your customer and it will give you insights and ideas about what message will resonate best with them.

3. What’s important to them? After you’ve profiled your customer, this step should be fairly easy. You will have generated a list of items that are important to this person (demographic) and you’ll be able to describe the target audience’s situation in their own words. Your objective should be to read their mind and have them think “Wow – this company really understands my situation!)

4. What do you want them to do? (call to action). Again, based on your profile and what’s important to your target audience, you’ll decide on what you want your call to action to be. If they find your landing page searching for emergency tips on how to unclog a toilet – then you want them to get those instructions right away and then maybe you can pitch them a super toilet plunger that will make this problem go away. Another option is to have them call you and schedule an appointment or you can simply ask them to buy something.

5. What will you give them in exchange for their information? Now that you’ve gotten them all hot and bothered about a potential solution to their problem, what evidence will you provide that you can deliver on what you’re talking about? One call to action is to have them give you an email in exchange for some valuable information. Currently downloadable kits, ebooks, email course, or reports. Other options include providing access to recorded information or giving them access to a free webinar.

6. What will they be able to do after they take you up on your offer? You’ve heard of listing benefits and of course there are features. But this option is just a little bit different. And I have to admit, it’s become a favorite way to write bullets on a landing page or on copy. This idea of telling them what they’ll be able to do – that they can’t or aren’t doing now is so appealing. It gets your audience living in the future and already mentally enrolled in using what you have to offer. So go back to your list of features and benefits and restate them in terms of what they will be able to do – it’s so powerful.

Now you can take all this brainstorm copy and put it to use. Create a mind-grabbing headline, then put together a short and sweet sub-head sentence. Give them the offer and an opt-in form and finally add your killer bullets. Voila! You’ve got yourself a hard working sales person in thirty minutes or less.