Foreword As an entrepreneur, you have a blackbelt in DIY. On the average day “at the office,” you wear half a dozen hats: from business owner and saleswoman to marketer and accountant. And because you already know that your business relies on landing pages to convert clicks into customers, you know the importance of delivering just the right message at just the right time. But….what do you do when you find yourself thinking: ‘I’m just not a writer’? What do you do when you spend 9 hours pounding your keyboard and you’re still not thrilled with the result? You turn to the pro’s—to adopt proven strategies and repeat a recipe for success, which is exactly what this book brings to the table. We’re dishing up no-nonsense, fill-in-the-blank templates that will take you from ‘I need a landing page’ to 30, 40, 50% conversion rates (without breaking a sweat). This ebook is designed to unlock business-building, sanity-saving copywriting strategies, without attempting to teach you absolutely everything there is to know about writing a high-converting landing page. Ready to dig in? We can’t wait to see what you create!
Cheers,
Madeline Blasberg Manager, Digital Marketing Leadpages 2
Brought to you by
+
Leadpages
Copy Hackers
Leadpages is the leading conversion
Founded in 2011, Copy Hackers is one of
marketing platform for emerging
the world’s most trusted resources
entrepreneurs to easily publish web
for learning how to transform words into
pages, confidently generate leads, and
money and trust.
consistently transform clicks into customers. From websites and landing pages to Facebook ads, Leadpages
Get free copywriting video tutorials, conversion articles, ebooks, courses and more at copyhackers.com.
helps you get in business and stay in business online.
3
Table of contents 5
Meet the Authors: The Copy Hacker Team
6
Introduction
7
Before You Write A Landing Page
So, Where Do I Start?
Building Audience Trust
Your Reader
“One Reader” Examples
How To Use Templates
20
Landing Page Fill-in-the-Blanks Templates
The Fill-in-the-Blanks Webinar Page
The Fill-in-the-Blanks Free Downloadable Guide and/or Report
The Fill-in-the-Blanks Thank You Page
The Fill-in-the-Blanks Checkout Page
How to Transfer Your New Copy into Leadpages
43
Now Let’s Step Up Your Game
Techniques For Making Your Copy Better
When You’re Ready to Optimize
Bonus: Fill-in-the-Blanks Webinar Confirmation Email 4
Meet the authors: the Copy Hacker team
Joanna Wiebe The original conversion copywriter, Joanna is the creator of Copy Hackers, one of the world’s most trusted resources for learning how to transform words into engagement, money and trust. Her popular copywriting ebook series has been downloaded more than 100,000 times, and thousands of students depend on her copy courses. She’s optimized copy for businesses like Canva, MetaLab, Nectar, Shopify and Sprout Social. And she teaches conversion copywriting on stages internationally.
Patti Haus
Angela Cho
Amy Posner
Patti Haus is a B2B conversion copywriter who
Angela Cho is the founder of H5 Marketing,
Amy Posner is a professional business
helps businesses increase leads, drive sales,
a performance-based agency in New York City.
writer and marketing strategist with 25 years’
and make record setting profits. Her clients love her excellent communication and ability to get results. She specializes in email marketing
Angela is passionate about building a positive, limitless culture where changemakers can thrive and never stop learning.
strategy for product and course launches.
experience helping businesses make more money. She specializes in launch campaigns and sales funnels that generate leads and convert prospects into buyers.
Say hi to Angela on LinkedIn or learn more You can find her at www.pattihaus.com.
about H5’s work.
Find her at amyposner.com 5
Introduction You’re writing. But are you doing it right? Let’s test it! How do advanced marketers know what works and what doesn’t? They test—all. The. Time. •
What makes one headline a high-converter when another is a total clunker?
•
Which benefits resonate with your audience the most?
•
Does a clever call-to-action win a click or does it confuse people?
As you work to create your fill-in-the-blank landing pages, don’t blindly ‘trust your gut’ (or our formula) —instead, publish, test, pay attention, and fine-tune your approach as you go. Your leads will lead the way and it will become outrageously obvious when one technique works better than another. With Leadpages’ Pro Plan, you can quickly and easily build landing pages and launch marketing campaigns and run unlimited A/B tests so that you can do more of what works and ditch what doesn’t.
Did you know? Businesses that publish more than 10 lead pages are able to grow their list twice as fast? That’s why we recommend that every campaign you launch has a targeted landing page that’s unique to a single audience, purpose, and call to action. Use Leadpages to: •
Create, customize, and publish unlimited landing pages (in our easy drag and drop builder)
•
Capture unlimited leads and send them straight to your favorite marketing tools
•
Drive traffic from Facebook and Instagram ads, right inside Leadpages
•
Easily experiment & optimize
Try Leadpages Free for 14 Days 6
Before You Write a Landing Page
So, where do I start?
Your landing page has one job and one
experience with you. It can turn interested leads
job only.
into paying customers, referring customers—
It’s to zero in on your visitor, moving him or her
happy customers.
deliberately toward a single action. What kind of
You know you should use landing pages. You
action? Things like: |
know—or you’ve at least got a hunch—that your marketing will work better when you start using
•
Downloading an ebook
•
Registering for a webinar
•
Booking a consultation or appointment
But writing your landing page feels... hard.
•
Requesting more information (especially
What should your landing page actually say?
landing pages more strategically.
for services) •
Buying a product
The list goes on. But here’s what’s important:
How do you make people want to sign up for that webinar you’re toiling over? How do you get them rushing to download the ebook you wrote, edited, designed, gated and
You can create landing pages for each
hosted?
stage of your funnel and each milestone
In this ebook, you’re going to find the answers
in the customer journey.
to questions like those—without having to learn
Your landing page can warm up cold traffic. It can give your prospects access to the right content for them at the right moment in their
every possible thing there is to know about writing high-converting landing page copy. You’re going to leapfrog all the hard stuff we spent 8
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years learning—as copywriters—to arrive at
So before you dive into the fill-in-the-
landing page copy that more quickly does what
blanks templates in this ebook, know this:
it’s made to do: convert visitors.
But let’s start with this little eye-opener.
Your copy is not supposed to sell your visitor on downloading your free guide or on buying your product. Your copy is supposed to sell your visitor
Most marketing messages are (mistakenly) all
on himself or herself—on the better version of
about the product or the company that makes
themselves.
the product or offers the service. These messages say things like, “Our million
Pro tip: Unlike a standard web page, a landing
Your copy has to be about your prospect.
page is laser-focused on a single point
Not about you.
of conversion.
Let’s say you’re a dentist…
A landing page:
years of combined experience puts us in a unique position to…” You just lost me. Why? Because that copy is all about the company. And I’m way more interested in me than I am in you. Nothing personal, it’s how humans are wired.
You’re the best dentist in Orlando. I search “dentists Orlando no pain” and hit your landing page. There I read that you’ve got good education. And credentials and certifications. And procedures my family and I need or may need.
We care about ourselves first. We care about businesses only insofar as they can help us get happier, get richer, save more time, make people
Exists to convert (download, sign-up, etc.)
•
Stands alone
•
Has a single call to action
•
Speaks directly to a single person
A web page:
I see photos of big toothy grins. I see your logo. I see the headline, “Trust the Best Family Dentist in Orlando.”
love us, enjoy a better life or otherwise become the ideal version of ourselves.
•
Do I see myself in that copy?
•
Exists to educate, inform, entertain
•
Works in tandem with other web pages
•
Offers visitors a variety of options
•
Caters to a broader target audience
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Do I see who I am today… and who I want to be? It doesn’t take more than a little research—or
So how do you know what message your
Consider that people make decisions for
audience is ready for?
emotional reasons, but justify them with
just plain paying attention to the world’s fear
Copywriters rely on identifying their target
of dentists—to recognize that, in order for me
audience’s stage of awareness, identified as:
to see myself in your copy, I don’t need to see
•
your brilliance but rather the hell I fear and the heaven you offer.
and your offerings •
What if I arrive on your landing page and see
Dentist’s Chair.”
Product Aware: Knows solutions exist and they know your product is one of
the headline, “Trust the Best Family Dentist in Orlando for People Who Are Terrified of the
Very Aware: Knows about your company
those solutions •
•
The brilliance of the landing page is its laser focus. It has one job to do. Unlike other pages on your site that need to work together, the landing page stands alone. When that landing page focuses on the right message and is directed to the right audience— conversions happen.
Pain Aware: Know they have a problem but aren’t aware of solutions
•
them with both. It stands to reason that the readers who know less—and are lower on the “awareness scale” —need more information to make a decision. Just think of it as catching them up to knowing as much as the Product Aware and Very Aware folks.
Solution Aware: Knows solutions to their problem exist
Boom. Connect. I’m in the right place.
logic. You need—every time—to supply
Unaware: Little sense of pain and no idea of solution
The length of your landing page will largely be determined by the reader’s state of awareness. Generally, the less aware the prospect, the more copy you write and vice versa.
How will you know what stage your reader is in? Start by looking at what drove a person to your landing page. Was it a Google ad for a branded keyword phrase? The reader is probably Product Aware or Very Aware. Was it an email for a new subscriber? The reader is probably not Product Aware or Very Aware. 10
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Was it a Facebook ad promising a webinar to solve a problem? The reader is probably Problem Aware or in the earliest stage of being Solution Aware.
Make it easy for me! With our fill-in-the-blanks templates, you can craft effective landing pages by gathering a
Market sophistication is important too. While you’re thinking of your reader’s stage of
bit of information about your reader and filling in the blanks. You’ll be able to create landing pages written without all the sweat and second-guessing.
awareness, also keep in mind how sophisticated your market is. Basically, if you’re selling shoes, chances are good your market is generally sophisticated. If
Now you’ll know if your copy should be
Longer copy works for unsophisticated markets
you’re selling invisible hover shoes, your market
short or long.
and readers who are Unaware, Pain Aware or
will not be as sophisticated. People love to say that nobody reads online. An unsophisticated market needs lots of education. That means longer landing pages and more education-focused inbound marketing.
But your market is filled with people who are looking for solutions like yours. And without copy to help them, they’ll never choose you.
A sophisticated market gets everything about what you do—and needs you to focus more
Solution Aware. Final note: short or long copy—nobody reads any copy that doesn’t pull them in. So avoid being boring. And avoid making the page all about you.
Here’s a good rule of thumb:
swiftly on what’s different about you. That
Short copy works for sophisticated markets and
generally means shorter landing pages.
readers who are Product Aware or Very Aware.
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Building audience trust
Start bringing your customers’ lingo onto
your audience to tell you: what was going on in
your landing pages.
your life that brought you to try or join or buy X?
Using your audience’s own words and reflecting their speech patterns back to them is an excellent way to create a relationship with your
Start a ‘swipe file’ of things you overhear your customers say/write.
reader and illustrate your ability to empathize
How do they describe their problems—and
with their situation.
your solution? What specific language do they
As Donald Miller explains in his book Building a StoryBrand: “When a customer realizes they have a lot in common with a brand, they fill in all the unknown nuances with trust.” In order to start writing how your customers speak, you first have to pay attention and gather evidence.
use? Do you notice any patterns?
Sleuth the internet for new sources. Look at your online reviews, blog comments, social media sites, even third-party forums and begin taking note of common language.
Conduct interviews and surveys.
Here’s what we recommend: There’s no substitute for real, honest empathy
Include a single-question survey after all
with your customers. Take every chance you
your landing page opt-ins.
get to relate to them and connect to them. Listen carefully and take notes. Simple phrases,
Identify a thank you page on your site and publish a single long-form question field, asking
specific adjectives—it’s all excellent raw material to bring back to your marketing. 12
Your reader
You might know this as your target audience, target market, ideal customer or customer avatar. As copywriters, we call it something more specific: your one reader. Here’s why.
It focuses you on writing to one real person
a time. Create multiple landing pages for
who has real hopes, problems, and desires.
multiple readers. Leadpages makes it extremely
This is really important. Don’t imagine 2, 3, or 4 different people when writing your copy. Don’t hope to create raw desire for your product in “everyone.” That’s what amateurs do—and it leads to vague bland-vertising that doesn’t convert anyone. With one person in mind, you can go deep and dimensionalize them. This makes influencing them a lot easier and more straightforward for you. You’ll write copy that’s clear, that’s specific and that connects with them on a personal level. So they see themselves on the page. And trust you. And take action. No one is compelled to buy something made for everyone. They want something that’s made specially for them.
easy to duplicate and modify a page. Also, writing for one reader doesn’t mean you’ll repel other readers. It just means you’ll attract the ones you want, and you’ll likely also convert people who see themselves in your points. Reader: It’s so easy to believe that no one actually reads online so there’s no point in writing copy. That’s a problem. If you want people to read your copy, you have to give them something worth reading. If you think no one’s going to read your copy, you’ll be less likely to try to write stellar copy. Make every word matter! Don’t make the mistake of assuming your prospects don’t read and just skim over a blurry blob of words, look at the pretty pictures and magically get convinced to buy from you.
Remember: You can have different market segments in your business, but when you’re copywriting, you’re speaking to one reader at
This is not how marketing works. They need to read about what they’ll get from you in order to 13
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buy from you. And if they’re your best customer, they’re especially going to care about what you
Conversion cheat code:
have to say. So they will be reading.
Look back onto surveys, interviews, poll data, and forums to find your customer’s exact
Don’t make the mistake of thinking people won’t
words—verbatim—to use in your copy. Say things how they say it, not how you do.
read, however long your copy is. They’ll read as long as they’re interested. And, now you know what interests them most: Themselves! If something was all about you, wouldn’t you read every word?
Your one reader is likely the person you built your on-page offering for. If you’re writing a
Find Your “One Reader”
lead-gen page with a checklist for choosing an
•
The happiest customer that’s easy for you to convert and/or retain
Think about who your one reader could be.
accounting software solution, your one reader You’re writing a page for your best customer—
for the page may be this:
the one you want more—the customer who makes business a whole lot easier for you.
actually fits this profile. A small business owner who’s just starting out and has no existing accounting software but is
This could be the 20% of your visitors who make up 80% of your revenue. Or perhaps the landing page you’re writing today
Now think about a real person you know who
comfortable enough with technology that she or he would be a good fit for software.
What pains are they feeling? What do they want most? What concerns them about products and services like yours? How would they likely hear about you?
Your one reader for a page may be:
is for a strange new segment you’re starting to explore—a smaller group that could be a great opportunity for your business.
•
Your customer segment with the highest LTV
•
A new market segment you’re going after
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“One Reader” examples
Once you’ve accepted you can’t— and shouldn’t—be all things to all readers, it’s time to choose who you do want to speak to.
A common questions is, “How specific do I need to get with my one reader?” The answer is: as specific as your market needs to be so you know how to influence them. I know, not very specific. Here are some things to think about: •
What job are they trying to do that you can help them do with your landing page offer?
•
How much do they know about your brand?
•
What problem drove them to your page?
•
Where are they standing, sitting or laying when reading your page? What does that say about them?
As a rule of thumb when describing your one reader: A detail only matters if it matters. Don’t get bogged down in unnecessary details. The factors that make up a good one reader need to be relevant to the decision-making process of your one reader in your funnel. For example, if I’m selling something like the
•
How deeply do they feel the problem?
•
Have they tried solving the problem already?
people by their profession as much as I’ll target
How? Why weren’t they successful then?
families with children under the age of 15. So
•
Are they filled with confidence or lacking confidence right now?
best ice cream in town, I’m not going to target
adding a “profession” to my one reader isn’t required in this case because it’s not obviously relevant to what influences the buying decision.
•
Who’s impacted by solving the problem?
•
What happens if they don’t solve
On the other hand, the profession of your one that problem right now? What are the consequences they’ll want to avoid facing?
reader could be relevant if your best customers have a pattern of being teachers. In that case, throw profession into your understanding of your 15
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one reader and write to what teachers
Interestingly, these families have been using the
But your new one reader is not going to respond
most want in their experience with your
app very differently from your intended market
to messaging about “quarterly tracking”, “payroll
brand or product.
of small businesses. And up until now, all your
taxes” and “marketing budgets.”
You should always write your copy in
messaging has been for a small business.
These families are most interested in “making
the second person. That means, you should see
You identified a new customer, so you now have
this month’s paycheck work for immediate
the word “you” all over the page.
another “one reader” to talk to!
needs and future plans.” They’re looking at
Not “we” or “I” or “they.”
This is the perfect opportunity to dig a little
Here’s a common scenario: Let’s say your company offers a SaaS app. You created it for small businesses to track
more and learn about this new customer stream.
Obviously, the same message won’t work for
Then find more of those customers with new
both groups.
marketing—which means a copy optimization opportunity! It can go something like this:
expenses and make informed decisions. Your app:
1. You interview a few of these new users and quickly learn how they use your app and why.
•
Helps people create budgets and stick to them
•
Adapts to different kinds of users completing different types of tasks
college and thinking about next year’s vacation.
Also, how did they hear about you? What benefits did it bring to their lives that made
That’s why we have different one readers we can laser-target so we can actually connect to their unique desires. Your business probably targets multiple “one readers.” But each landing page you write should focus on only one.
them stick around? Now that you understand one readers, you can 2. You realize their reasons for using your
Your team tells you that lots of support calls
app are very different from your business
have been coming in, but unexpectedly, from
customers. Cool. You now have more people
young families.
to sell to.
use Leadpages and our fill-in-the-blanks copy templates to build separate landing pages for each reader you have, with a specific message and offer relevant to them. 16
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You won’t have to rely on writing messaging that tries to reach both audiences—that’s the kind of diluted, unspecific messaging that reaches no one. We see people attempting this all the time and it’s the kiss of marketing death.
Dealing with multiple audiences: Leadpages makes it easy to duplicate and quickly customize your landing pages.
Whether you’re tweaking a campaign to target different audiences or to support different Facebook ads, duplicating your landing page is simple and is a serious time saver. Start by writing a page for “One Reader A,” duplicate it and edit the new page for “One Reader B.” Duplicating a page will give you a carbon copy of the original, including all your content, style settings, widgets, and integrations (other than Zapier.) It’s a great way to cater to your unique audiences and to set up an A/B test! Want other time-saving landing page tricks? Here are 10 branding hacks that will have you building better-looking landing pages in a
fraction of the time. 17
How to use templates
Alright, enough learning. Let’s write! You’re here to fill in and create quick landing pages—so you can get back to running your business. So let’s dive in.
When you imagine a real person as your page’s one reader, it keeps your writing grounded. It prevents you from getting too carried away and helps you keep your copy specific!
Now you know your:
These templates are designed to be
•
One reader
ridiculously easy to use.
•
Their stage of awareness
Let’s do the first one together so you get the
Next step? Picture this person as you’re filling in the templates. Imagine someone like your one reader, someone you know—someone who would use this product or service. Picture and write to that person.
hang of it. Follow along with our go-to formula (and feel free to put together some ideas for your own brand or product along the way!): How to what your reader most wants in an appealing timeframe without having to something your reader doesn’t want to give up in
Think about what they would respond to.
the process.
Be specific. What are their challenges? Their needs? What keeps them awake worrying at night? What gets them excited? Not sure what to write? Run surveys, get interviews transcribed or otherwise research your customer. And use their words in your copy.
Got it? Great! Now pretend you’re writing a landing page to sell Leadpages’ conversion tools. Okay. Your one reader who lands on your page is Solution Aware. That is, she feels pain around trying to grow her list; she did some research
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on how she might solve it; and she discovered she needs landing pages. Her goal is to increase conversions, where “conversion” means leads generated (not paid sales). She’s on a budget
Want to really step up your game?
and needs something fast to help her get new leads. She may have heard of Leadpages at some point, but she’s never connected the dots between Leadpages and her pain. The first thing she sees is your headline:
You know what they say: published is good, but popular is better. So, let’s give you a boost with on-page SEO! Search engine optimization is what enables your page to appear in Google searches. The Leadpages team has put together a short checklist to help you easily polish up your page before you publish.
“How to Create a Landing Page That Generates Leads in Less Than a Day Without Having to Hire
a Designer or Developer”
To do predictably well in organic search, content pages should be centered around a keyword (or a group of closely related keywords).
The headline determines if your one reader will keep reading. It needs to make her stop and
Choosing Your Keyword(s)
think, “Hey, this is for me.” She sees words in the
Page Titles, URLs, and Meta Data Search engines rely heavily on these page descriptors to signal what a page’s content is
headline that match her current reality: she is
about and where it should appear in search results.
aware of landing page software. She also sees words that reflect the motivation that drove her here: she wants to generate leads fast. Make sense?
Body Content In order to catch Google’s attention and get your audience the info they need, you’ll need to keep a few best practices in mind.
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Landing Page Fill-in-the-Blanks Templates
Webinar page
Trying to persuade people to attend your webinar? When marketing an event, it’s tempting to try to get any and all “butts in seats.” The fear of presenting to an empty room—even if it’s virtual—is real. But conversion copywriters (and you) know better. The sure way of getting no one to show up for your webinar is to say it’s for everyone. Remember the rule of writing for one reader. You write to attract that one customer you want most because you’ll catch their attention and convert more of them that way. (You can always write multiple pages to send different customer segments to!) So go ahead. Write specifically to that person who’ll benefit the most from your product or service. The one who’ll love it so much that they’ll rave about it to all their friends, coworkers, book club members, etc. and invite them to your next event.
21
Get started on your own webinar page with this handy template!
Feeling stuck? Check out our example!
How to Improve Your Email Campaign’s ROI in 1-Day Without Having to Write A Single Word Spots are now open for this free live training where you’ll see step-by-step how to maximize your email campaign’s potential without writing any new creatives. In just 30-minutes, you’ll get an insider’s view into: •
The simplest ways people like Jeff Bezos leverages everyday tools to avoid being overwhelmed
•
Why you should always be collecting data even when you’re sleeping
•
How not to decrease your list lifespan with outdated email strategies
•
What you’ve been getting wrong when it comes to something as seemingly “obvious” as data analysis
•
What even the pros don’t know about segmentation
•
And more...
This 30-minute event happens live on August 28 {Countdown Timer}
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Downloadable guide & report page
Consumers are wired to want the inside secrets, especially if they’ve been struggling with a specific pain. Giving away a free guide or report can convert even the most jaded by inviting them into your inner circle via a guide. It increases their sophistication. And makes them better prepared to choose to work with you in a meaningful way. With your one reader top of mind, write this page. Your guide is very likely to solve the problem your one reader is experiencing when they arrive on this page.
26
Get started on your own downloadable guide page with this template!
Feeling stuck? Check out our example!
FREE DOWNLOAD: The Ultimate 5- Step Guide to Grow and Monetize Your Instagram Account (Made For Network Marketers) You’ll discover the step-by-step method to achieve 10,000 followers in 12 weeks. We’ll reveal exactly how you can master Instagram even if you’re not a professional photographer or model. You’ll learn these insider (competition-crushing) secrets: •
How to produce one month of content in four hours, even if you’ve never done it before or struggle with what to post every day.
•
Why you don’t need to have the perfect body, house or car to grow a network marketing business.
•
When you should leverage technology instead of doing something manually.
•
The surprising monetization strategy you can put to use immediately
•
What the macro 1M followers influencers don’t even know about monetizing their Instagram accounts.
{Call to Action} If you are struggling to grow your network marketing business with Instagram, The Network Marketer’s 5-Step Guide to Grow and Monetize your Instagram Account will show you how to quickly grow your Instagram account with real followers and turn them into buyers. If you are sick of nagging your family and friends and want to grow a real source of leads through Instagram download our free guide today. 32
Thank-you page
Most thank-you pages tend to be a blank white page with the words “Thank you” written on it. This is a huge missed opportunity. Your customer just took an action with you. They just said yes to you. So they’re in a heightened state, commonly called a seducible moment. Do not let this opportunity pass you—or them—by. Do not give your new lead or customer a dead-end page! At minimum, ask them something so you can help them more later. Or guide them to something relevant to do on your site. Or offer them a next action to take, like watching a video or registering for a webinar. Your thank-you page does not have to stop at thanking people. In some cases, you may start replacing your thank-you pages with webinar sign-up pages or even sales pages for good-fit products and services. With this template, we’re recommending you use your thank-you pages for what we use them for—very successfully—at Copy Hackers: surveying your newest subscribers and customers.
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Get started on your own thank you page with this handy template!
Checkout page
People forget that the sales page isn’t the only thing that needs to sell. You’re still selling on a cart page. But you’re not selling the product or service anymore. You’re selling completion of the process. Your cart is at the heart of a very delicate spot in the conversion process. Cart abandonment is huge across the board. The cart is where a lot of almost-customers drop off. It’s where the buyer is closest to pulling out their credit card and thinking, “Should I really do this?” And your job is to make sure they quickly answer that question with “yes”... or they don’t even ask it in the first place. This means a sea of fun optimization opportunities for you! It’s more important than ever to be in your prospect’s head because they’re just so darn close to saying yes. Accordingly, your page needs to scream trust and build confidence. Quickly. And believably. With this last template, we help remove friction during the last step of a sale and remind your reader why this purchase with you is an absolute no-brainer. In other words, you’ll tell your one reader once more how your product or service will benefit their lives. You’ll quickly show proof. You’ll sprinkle in some urgency and scarcity. And you’ll remind them of your guarantee or promise—all very quickly to avoid distracting them from the key element: the order form!
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Get started on your own checkout page with this handy template!
How to transfer your new copy into Leadpages After you’re done writing with these templates, you’ll find it very easy to drop your copy into a landing page on Leadpages. The Leadpages templates are already pre-designed and mobile responsive, so you don’t need a designer or developer.
Here’s how easy it is: 1. Go to Leadpages.net. Sign in. 2. Click on ‘Templates’ in the upper menu. 3. Find the landing page template you want. You can sort templates by “highest converting” or page type. 4. Copy and paste your copy into the sections of the page. Delete unused sections. Add new ones. 5. Add your logo, update your colors and fonts, swap out imagery as needed—and do a quick editing sweep. 6. Go live by hitting publish! Use WordPress? Install the Leadpages plugin for WordPress, and publish any new page you write in Leadpages on your domain. #ExtraProfesh
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Now Let’s Step Up Your Game
Techniques for making your copy better
Ta-da! You did it. You have a landing page.
You could improve it by specifying things like:
Now it’s all about making it even better.
•
How much weight
Not subjectively better. Not creatively better.
•
How fast
•
What “live on” looks like
•
What vegetables they don’t want to live on
Not “more sophisticated” or “cooler” sounding. But actually clearer, easier to read, and more appealing to your reader so it converts better. This is the fun part where we bring your copy to life. You’ll paint a super-clear picture of that better life your reader is about to get with your product or service. The really fun part (where the magic happens) is in saying things in a way your reader hasn’t heard before.
That could give you headlines like these: “How to lose 15 pounds in 3 weeks without suffering through a single Sunday brunch without bacon” “How to lose 15 pounds in 3 weeks without forcefeeding yourself carrot sticks and kale” You want to give yourself a few minutes to sweep
So in order to do that, you’ll need to...
over your page and add in specifics.
Be specific!
Why?
This is a good first-draft headline, but it’s not
Because when your reader lands on your page,
specific enough:
you want her to immediately identify and “see
“How to lose weight fast without having to live on vegetables.”
herself.” The job of your headline is to bring your one reader into the page and keep her there.
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A great landing page with a not-so-great headline won’t convert well because you will lose your one reader immediately. She won’t get pulled into the headline. She won’t care. Her attention will wane quickly, and she’ll be more likely to vanish. So make sure your headlines are specific enough to hook readers.
Features tell, benefits sell.
Did you know? 5x more people read the headline as read the body copy.
For the most part, your copy should focus on the benefits of your product or service rather than its features. Here’s the reality: people care about how much a product or service is going to serve them. They’re looking for an end result. It’s the old adage about why someone buys a drill: it’s not to acquire a tool but to create a whole in a wall. When someone signs up for
So—are your headlines as click-worthy as they could be? Advertising titan David Ogilvy said: “On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” That’s a huge deal, not only for your landing pages, but also your blog articles, Facebook ads, and far beyond! Ready to craft some hard-hitting headlines? Check out 11 Powerful Tactics to Help You Write Click-Worthy Headlines.
a webinar, it’s not to watch a webinar but to 45
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To go back to the example of selling a drill: A journeyman electrician with a decade of experience knows the benefits she’ll get from
The scoop on squeeeeeze pages
your drill. She’s not looking to put a hole in a wall A squeeze page is a particular kind of landing page that is singularly focused on squeeeeezing an email address (and perhaps a first name) out of a website visitor.
so she can hang a heavy mirror (even if that’s the job she wants to do). Nope, she knows so much about drills and what she wants to get
They tend to be straight to the point (gimme your email address! …pretty
out of a drill that she may prefer for you to lead
please) and should be as concise as possible. This works because much
with “improved rotary action” over the benefit
of the education and “pre-sale” conversations are taking place elsewhere.
of improved rotary action. She may want you to lead with exactly the feature she’s hoping to
Read on
get from your unique drill, such as a diamondtip drill bit (or whatever makes your product uniquely valuable to her). That said, 99% of the time your smartest move is acquire information that will help them improve
If your one reader is part of a sophisticated
their lives.
market has in Product Aware or Very Aware, they
Lead with the benefit. That’s true for almost every single “one reader.” Except one.
may be ready for more features than the average marketer would expect. A Very Aware one reader
to lead with benefits and follow up with features.
So how do you approach your benefits vs. features?
who’s highly sophisticated may be ready for you
To maneuver the features and benefits maze,
to lead with features over benefits.
here’s a trick. 46
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Complete this statement to find your benefits: Use feature so you’ll benefit. So you’ll next-level benefit. So you’ll next-level benefit. That becomes: Use this babysitter interview checklist so you’ll hire the right person. So you’ll stop worrying whenever you leave the kids at home. So you’ll be able to enjoy the things
Choosing the right content Need a little more wiggle-room to create a longer-form landing page than our formulas will allow? That’s no problem! The trick is to choose content (substantive, valuable information) and a format that fits your audience and your intended purpose. •
Bullet points and numbered lists cater to our tendency to quickly scan info.
that keep you happy as a parent, like going on date night or out with your friends. So you’ll be a happier parent all around. So you’ll connect better with your kids when you’re home.
• •
First-person video works well for making a big announcement or emotion-based pitch.
•
Comparison charts support the process of evaluation and allow you to highlight what makes your solution better than another.
For best results, always start writing by jotting down the features of whatever you are selling or promoting on your landing page. And then write down the benefit of each feature. (And, yes, even webinars and ebooks have features).
‘How It Works’ sections combat people’s skepticism of vague promises.
•
Testimonials are powerful social proof because your customers do the selling for you.
Want to explore other kinds of content that you can use to convert your landing page visitors into qualified leads? In this article, we identify 19 different kinds of content and how you can put ‘em to use on your pages.
Let me give you an example. 47
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Pretend you’re writing a landing page to give
Feature
Benefit
away a free ebook on how to start a keto diet. •
Avoid slipping into old eating habits when you’re in a rush
•
Push through the keto flu in your first week or two of getting into ketosis
dimensionalize the value of your particular offer.
•
Eat macro-balanced meals that get you into keto more reliably
Figure out those more immediate benefits by
•
Have a better chance of actually getting started on keto instead of starving with no idea what to eat
•
Love food on keto as much as you loved food in your old diet
•
Take advantage of all the great fatty foods you can eat now (instead of living on a diet of cheese)
•
Have copies on hand when you’re grocery shopping
You might think you should focus only on the
Four week-long meal plans
obvious benefits: lose weight and get more energy. But there’s so much more you can say to
completing a table like this:
Twenty recipes
Bonus: The more regularly a benefit comes up across your features, the more likely it is that you should lead with that benefit at the product or brand level. So if you’re not sure what your
Available as a printable PDF
product or brand value prop is, try starting with a features vs benefits table like the one above. You are selling your prospects a better version of themselves. A future they like better. And the ease of getting there with your guidance. Instead of focusing on the thing you are selling— no matter how much your customers need it— focus on what your one reader will get.
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Ask them what they care about. To get laser focused on what matters to your
Pro tip: When it comes to writing sales copy, do you freeze up?
end user, you might have to ask some questions of your ideal customers. This stage often feels scary because:
Maybe you don’t know what to say (or what not to say) when it comes to selling your stuff. You see a bunch of super salesy messages all around you and you start to worry that your
•
emailing them a survey
marketing will be too “salesy” as well. The quickest way to sell your stuff without sounding sleazy or using ridiculous amounts of hype
•
You’re not sure you’ll know what questions to ask or how to ask them right
is to infuse your copywriting with an element of (strategic storytelling). Follow this three-part arc:
You don’t want to “interrupt” customers by
•
You’re intimidated by the idea of interviewing current and even past customers
1.
Start where they are now.
2.
Detail what happens if they stay there.
3.
Let them know what’s possible with your solution.
•
You’re worried you’ll waste everyone’s time
So start small. Start easy. Here’s how: Think of your most raving customer—the person This formula is referred to as PAS, or Problem, Agitate, Solution. Interested in learning more about the PAS formula and non-sleazy sales copy? It’s all here at the Leadpages blog.
who posts in your Facebook group all the time or replies to your newsletters. Can you hop on a call with that person to conduct an interview, knowing they’ll be forgiving if you ask the wrong questions or don’t come off like a total pro? 49
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Once you practice this a couple of times it becomes easier. And, when the conversions increase? It becomes easier still…. What you discover when you start asking questions might surprise you. Once you know what your one reader—or many one readers—
Thinking about throwing in a customer testimonial? Think again. Leadpages customer, Humberto Inciarte of Venezuelan-based Mercadeo a La Carta, conducted a unique copywriting split test. He created two variations of his landing page: one with a customer testimonial and one without.
are truly searching for, you can tailor your
In Humberto’s test, the conversion rate of the page with testimonials only came out to 8.11%.
message to them.
After removing the testimonials, he more than tripled his conversions to a rate of 24.84%.
Prove it to them—add in some social proof to convert the fence-sitters.
In other words, for every 100 visitors, Humberto can expect to see 16 more conversions just by getting rid of his testimonials. That’s an addition of over 200% efficiency. The moral of the story? Split test—you’re guaranteed to be surprised.
Let’s face it: consumers today are savvier and more cynical than ever. The burden of proof is on
Below is a look at Humberto’s results:
you as the seller. You need to craft a “complete case” to prove your claims before most people will pull out their credit card. Conversions
Visitors
Conversion Rate
Percentage Change
Probability of Outperforming
With Testimonials
6
74
8.11% (±5.24%)
-
-
Without Testimonials
38
153
24.84% (±5.76%)
206.32%
99.96%
Think back to the stages of awareness. The less I know, the more I need you to convince me of your value. Nothing is more reassuring than hearing about how great the product is from someone else.
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Using proof is the easiest way to demonstrate
your messaging, you’ll know what points you
your product or service is as good as you say it
want to prove. You can ask current and former
is. Much better to hear it from a third-party than
customers questions that give you the bits of
from you.
information you need for proof.
When you survey your audience or interview
For example, going back to our earlier keto
them about how and why they use your product
diet. If I’m wondering whether it’s right for me
or service, you’ll hear—from their own mouths
because I’m a certain age and weight. You say in
—exactly what they want answered. You’ll know
your copy anyone can benefit. Yeah, but I’ve tried
exactly what your message should say. As you write your copy, you can use specific testimonials that speak to the particular objection you’re aiming to overcome. You can underscore the power of a benefit, by putting it in someone else’s words. You can use logos of well-known people and companies that you’ve
so many things before. I’m older now and the weight has really piled on. I finish the section and read: “I’m 52 and was 48 pounds overweight. I wasn’t sure this could work for me, but I was desperate. It took 3 months, but I’m down 4 sizes and feeling happier and healthier than I have in years!”
done business with. Jane–Vancouver, B.C. It’s a pretty easy leap to decide to work with you if brands and people I already know, like and trust have chosen you.
Bingo. I didn’t believe you, but I believe Jane. The more comments I read from people like Jane, the more I feel encouraged. I can do this too. Damn if
As you write your copy and fill in some of
Brad in Manchester could do it, so can I! 51
When you’re ready to optimize
You’ve got a strong starting point now and you’ve conquered the blank page. Many will stop here. And that’s cool.
That next level is where you will find higher
the conversation happening already in their
conversions, more sales, and easier selling.
heads, and connecting their strongest desire
But if you are ready to take your landing pages to the next level, there are tons more things you can do to optimize copy.
sales copy faster (so you can get working on the
How to lay out a high-converting page. What
other stuff on your to-do list).
elements are most important to keep in mind
It’s also where you learn the secrets to writing
So instead of guessing your way to mediocre sales, you can learn the secrets the most
directly to your product or service.
when designing your own pages. And no it’s not the button color...
successful copywriters use to attain record
How to edit in the awesome. Everything from
breaking sales. Because, as a business owner,
bullet lists to thumbnail optimization to social
that’s what matters to you.
proof to how to set up your pricing tables. These
That means, going even deeper with things like: The Rule of One. You know the power of writing to one reader. It’s part of “The Rule of One” in copywriting where you also have one offer, one big idea, and one promise on a landing page. These four things make up a strong landing page. Voice of Customer. This 5-step process shortcuts the best copywriters in the world to knowing what words to use on a page. You’ll know how to nail the voice of your customer so you’re joining
seemingly little details make a huge difference. And get more landing page templates, proven copywriting formulas, cheat sheets and tricks to get you high-converting copy as quickly as possible. If this fires up your inner copywriting nerd and you want to go deep on some of these techniques, we recommend 10x Landing Pages, a training program by Copy Hackers. Check it out here. 52
Bonus: Webinar confirmation email
So you got a bunch of registrants to your webinar. Don’t stop there. We already told you getting people to show up to a webinar is hard stuff. In fact, according to Hubspot, 64% of webinar registrants end up being no-shows! That’s because it’s easy for any of us to be “kinda sold” and take two seconds to sign up to something that’s free, only to forget about it later. But it’s tough to get someone to really believe a free event will be worth their time, let alone put the extra effort to remember it’s happening, and attend. By following up with registrants via email, you can remind them of all the no-brainer reasons to show up—and even show them mini-previews of what you’ll talk about, proving this is not-youraverage free event. Conversion Cheat Code: Treat a webinar registrant like a lead, not a conversion. It’s not a conversion until they have dialed into your webinar to listen to what you have to say! So your emails are still selling. Go ahead. Fill out the template below, and keep these two goals in mind while you’re at it: 1. Sell the show-up (why should your one reader attend?) 2. Pre-frame the sale (what are you trying to get your reader to do after the webinar? Set it up early to make it easier for you later)
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Write your own confirmation email with this handy template!
Grow with templates that have marketing smarts baked right in. Easily design, write, and publish landing pages and lead generation campaigns without ever breaking a sweat. Choose from a gallery of high-converting, mobile-responsive templates, and then use our drag and drop builder to quickly customize. Then, let the leads roll in!
I tried other platforms, but nothing else compared. I absolutely LOVE Leadpages. The simplicity and ease of use is why I recommend it to all my clients and use it exclusively
•
Publish unlimited landing pages
•
Drive traffic and capture unlimited leads
•
Connect your marketing tools
•
Easily experiment & optimize
for my own business. Jackie Ellis
Marketing Consultant & Leadpages Customer
No commitment necessary. Cancel anytime.