The marketing landscape has changed. In fact, it's been changing for a while now. Rather than focusing your marketing strategy on 'hard selling', you need to work on engaging and informing your visitors, readers, and subscribers. Your audience needs to be a part of the discussion.
This builds trust and loyalty which in turn motivates people to say YES to what you're offering. This also help
If you’re like most email marketers, most likely you’re not doing it right. And, it’s really not your fault.
Most people just don’t know the secret strategies to write effective emails – emails that people actually open – emails that prompt people to say YES to your call-to-action.
For those of you who aren’t sure what or who an email marketer is, it’s anyone (an author, freelance writer, or
In Part One of 7 Elements of an Effective Landing Page Designed to Increase Your Mailing I covered elements one (A Specific Opt-in Landing Page) and two (The Sign-up ). In Part Two, elements three (Convey the Benefit) and four (Your Ethical Bribe - The Free Gift) were discussed.
Now on to elements five, six, and seven:
5. ClarityPutting it all together, clarity rules. Your opt-in page should be an easy read and easy to understand. And, it should answer all potential questions.
In addition, the sign-up wording you use should be visible and near the top of the page. And, what you’re offering, including the benefits and freebie, needs to be clearly stated. Bullet points are a good way to give the visitor a quick look at all your offering.
If a visitor has to guess or search for what you’re offering, or wonders what you’re about, you’ve lost that subscriber.
6. ImagesImages are an important element to a website and landing page. I’m sure you’ve heard it before, people are becoming more and more ‘visual.’ This means images are a needed component of your opt-in page. But, the image MUST be relevant to what you’re offering. The visitor needs to be able to quickly make the connection, otherwise it may be distracting.
Along with this, you need to keep your landing page simple, clear, and easy to navigate. This means don’t clutter it with too many images.
Having your picture, along with your logo, or other relevant image should be sufficient.
The purpose of having your picture on the landing page is that people connect with people. The feel reassured when they see an actual person – it helps foster trust.
7. The Mailing ListYou might have heard that only 1% of first time visitors will buy a product.
The first reason for this is because first time visitors don’t know you, which means they don’t trust you. Why should they buy from you?
The second reason is that during an initial visit, your visitor may not have the time to spend browsing your site for information that will entice him to make the decision to purchase your book or product.
This is where your specific opt-in page and sign-up text comes in. It gives the visitor a quick and easy decision-making nudge. If conveys the benefits and highlights the valuable free gift the visitor will get for taking action. With everything in place, including a clear call-to-action, you’ve made the visitor’s sign-up decision even easier.
The mailing list is your connection and opportunity to develop an ongoing relationship with the subscriber. It’s this relationship that will convert your reader into a customer or client.
If you haven't read Parts 1 and 2 yet, go to:
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RECOMMENDED RESOURCE: Speedy Web VideoVideo marketing is one of the most effective conversion tools. Speedy Web Videos is an ecourse that teaches you, with step-by-step instructions, to create your own videos.
Check it out!
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MORE ONLINE MARKETINGBeyond Book Sales Income: Book Marketing and DiversificationCreating Content: 10 Online Repurposing Formats4 Simple Steps to Web Videos That Sell~~~~~
To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).
Karen Cioffi
Multi-award Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter, Editor, Online Marketer, Affiliate Marketer
Writer’s Digest Website of the Week, June 25, 2012
Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/
Author Online Presence and Book Marketing Ecourse:
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/book-marketing-ecourses/
This is the first part of 7 Elements of an Effective Landing Page Designed to Increase Your Mailing List. Since it's a bit long, it will be divided into three parts.
Off we go.
The nitty-gritty of your landing page is to create an effective, engaging, and appealing website that is designed with focus and that will motivate the visitor to say YES to your opt-in or other call-to-action.
Getting traffic is great, but if that traffic doesn’t convert, doesn’t take action on your site, there’s really no point to it. Your opt-in landing page should convert visitors into subscribers.
Here are seven elements to an effective opt-in landing page.
1. A Specific Opt-in Landing PageWith attention spans dwindling and competition increasing, the main goal of your
opt-in landing page is to get email addresses that will convert into sales.
You might be wondering why a separate opt-in landing page is a necessary step. The answer is: distraction.
Most visitors and readers today are scanners. There’s just too much information online for people to read everything. And, in addition to this, attention spans are shrinking.
If you bring a visitor to your blog for the purpose of having her sign-up for a newsletter, she may first glance over your interesting post and scan for more information. Maybe she’ll glance over all the gadget/widgets you have on your sidebars. This is distracting and dilutes focus.
When you drive traffic for the purpose of increasing your mailing list, your intent, your call-to-action, needs to be deliberate and clear, with NO distractions.
This is the purpose of a specific opt-in landing page.
2. The Sign-up According to a number of marketers, the most essential words on your site are: SIGN UP or other text prompting the visitor to subscribe to your newsletter.
Getting subscribers onto your mailing list is the first and most important element of an effective website. It should be the purpose of your opt-in landing page.
The sign-up text is the building blocks of your empire. It is the link to developing a relationship with the visitors to your site.
Stop by next Monday for elements 3 and 4.
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RECOMMENDED RESOURCE: To learn the ‘ins and outs’ of creating and building an Author Online Presence check out the ecourses Karen offers:
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/book-marketing-ecourses/
~~~~~MORE ON ONLINE MARKETINGBook Marketing – 9 Quick Tips for Being a Guest Blogger on Blogging SitesCommenting on Blogs Still WorksWhat is an Author Platform and How Do You Create It?~~~~~
To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).
Karen CioffiMulti-award Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter, Editor, Online Marketer, Affiliate Marketer
Writer’s Digest Website of the Week, June 25, 2012
“This site from Karen Cioffi should stand as a model for other freelance writers.”
~ Brian A. Klems, Online Editor for Writer’s Digest
Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/Author Online Presence and Book Marketing Ecourse:
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/book-marketing-ecourses/ ~~~~~
By: Karen Cioffi,
on 8/15/2014
By: Shari Lyle-Soffe ,
on 10/26/2011
