I am so fed up of seeing landing pages that try to be funny in a lame attempt to get me to sign up for something, or buy a product.
It’s not necessary.
That’s right, if you’re working on your landing page right now and have been stuck for a gag for the heading, don’t waste your time because it probably won’t work anyway.
Why not?
Real living and breathing, everyday people will be landing on your web page.
They are arriving because they’ve been searching the internet for a solution to a problem they are facing.
Amongst all their search results they picked your link to click on because your META description seemed to suggest that your page would solve their problem.
When they click through, the last thing they want is a lame pun trying to lure them into the page.
What do they want?
Results.
How do I get them to buy without a gag?
Simple – resort to psychology.
Human behaviour is the key to finding the right buttons to push.
As living, breathing people, there are 4 things that will get us to pay attention:
1. Hating the enemy – we love to unite against the bad guy
Use emotive language to show how your product or service will banish common niggles. It could be boring meetings, websites that don’t perform, late paying clients etc.
2. A sense of belonging
No one wants to be an outsider. Show your reader they are “one of the 150 smart people…” because they’ll want to feel as though they are clever and in a fairly elite group. It gives them a sense of belonging, of community – a pretty powerful emotion.
3. Instant fix
Tell them your product is the “quickest way to ….” and they’ll lap it up. No one likes to have to wait for something, so if you can convince them you’ll help them achieve their goals quickly, they’ll be all ears.
4. Let me tell you a story
People love stories. They are ingrained in our culture and therefore we’re predisposed to listening to them. If you can weave a story around your product or service (highlighting its benefits), you’ll have a captive audience.
OK, people are a bit more complex that I may have portrayed, but each of these triggers will help. The best way to determine which ones work for your audience is by testing.
Over to you
Do you have any other tricks you use on your landing pages that have got great results?
Leave a comment below and tell us what they are.
Sally Ormond. Briar Copywriting Ltd