SPECIAL SERIES: Little Ideas for Landing Pages | Bathroom Break #43 🚽

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Marketing Millennials – SPECIAL SERIES: Little Ideas for Landing Pages | Bathroom Break #43 🚽

Release Date: February 18, 2025
Hosts: Daniel Murray (Marketing Millennials) and Jay Schwedelson (Do This, Not That Podcast)

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Introduction to the Bathroom Break Series

In this special episode of Bathroom Break #43, hosts Daniel Murray and Jay Schwedelson collaborate to deliver quick, actionable marketing tips tailored for busy professionals. The concept revolves around providing concise insights that can be consumed during a brief 10-minute break, humorously likened to a bathroom visit.

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1. Personalized Calls To Action (CTA)

Timestamp: [02:15]

Daniel Murray emphasizes the importance of moving beyond generic CTAs like "Sign Up Now." Instead, he advocates for more personalized and action-oriented phrases that clearly communicate the benefit to the user. For instance:

"Instead of doing just a generic CTA like sign up now, be more personalized like saying get this free trial or dive into this community."
— Daniel Murray [02:15]

This approach not only clarifies what the user will receive but also encourages higher engagement by making the action feel more tailored and relevant.

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2. Incorporating Social Proof

Timestamp: [02:50]

Jay Schwedelson highlights the critical role of social proof on landing pages. He advises leveraging logos of reputable companies you've worked with and placing compelling testimonials near conversion points. This strategy serves as a powerful closing argument to reassure potential customers of the product's credibility and effectiveness.

"You want to have logos of companies that you work with... And have a hero testimonial right near that submission button."
— Jay Schwedelson [02:50]

By showcasing endorsements and success stories, marketers can significantly enhance trust and increase conversion rates.

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3. Eliminating Navigation Bars

Timestamp: [03:39]

Daniel points out a common mistake: including a navigation bar on landing pages. He argues that navigation options can distract visitors from the primary goal of conversion.

"Don't give them options to go other places. It confuses the person."
— Daniel Murray [03:39]

Removing navigation elements ensures that users remain focused on the desired action, reducing the likelihood of them wandering away to unrelated sections of the website.

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4. Consistent Primary Imagery

Timestamp: [04:12]

Jay discusses the importance of maintaining consistent visual elements from the originating marketing material to the landing page. Using the same primary hero image helps users subconsciously connect their initial interest with the conversion opportunity.

"When you have the same primary image, your conversion rates on that destination page go up significantly."
— Jay Schwedelson [04:12]

This visual consistency reinforces the user's decision to click through, thereby enhancing the overall user experience and boosting conversions.

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5. Unified Marketing Path

Timestamp: [05:10]

Daniel underscores the necessity of a seamless and unified marketing path. Ensuring that the messaging and offers on the ad, landing page, and subsequent communications are aligned prevents user confusion and maintains interest.

"Everything needs to flow. Otherwise, people are going to click and say, wait, I didn't mean to click here."
— Daniel Murray [05:10]

A cohesive journey from ad to conversion page fosters trust and clarity, leading to higher engagement and lower bounce rates.

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6. Catering to the Long Tail

Timestamp: [05:52]

Jay introduces the concept of the "long tail" in marketing channels, particularly email. He explains that some users engage with marketing content well after the initial offer has expired. Instead of dismissing these late interactions, he recommends optimizing landing pages to serve this extended audience.

"If you have a long tail to click throughs, make sure your landing page has content for those long tail clicks."
— Jay Schwedelson [05:52]

By accommodating delayed responses with relevant content, marketers can capitalize on additional conversion opportunities and enhance the lifetime value of customers.

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7. Crafting Compelling Offers

Timestamp: [07:06]

Daniel differentiates between mere demonstrations and genuine offers. He stresses that landing pages should present clear, enticing offers that provide tangible value to the user, such as discounts, free trials, or gift incentives.

"Signing up for a demo is not an offer. The offer needs to be clear on both the ad and that."
— Daniel Murray [07:06]

A well-defined offer can significantly influence a user's decision to convert, making it a crucial element of effective landing pages.

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8. Reducing Abandon Rates

Timestamp: [07:51]

Jay addresses the issue of high abandonment rates on landing pages. He explains that a 90% abandonment rate indicates underlying issues that deter conversions. These could stem from confusing layouts, unclear messaging, or weak offers.

"You're doing something to turn those people off on that page. And that's why these little things add up to a lot of change."
— Jay Schwedelson [07:51]

By meticulously optimizing each component of the landing page, marketers can lower abandonment rates and improve overall conversion performance.

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9. Practical Tips for Physical Wellbeing (Interlude)

Timestamp: [08:40]

In a light-hearted interlude, Jay shares personal remedies for overcoming a cold, while Daniel humorously dismisses unconventional methods. Although not directly related to marketing, this segment adds a personable touch to the conversation.

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Conclusion and Call to Action

Timestamp: [09:34 - 10:22]

The episode concludes with both hosts encouraging listeners to connect via LinkedIn for further engagement. Daniel invites feedback and interaction, reinforcing the community-driven ethos of their respective podcasts.

"Go follow the Marketing Millennials podcast, but also tune into this series. It's once a week, the Bathroom Break... Just give us a shout on LinkedIn and tell us what you want to hear."
— Daniel Murray [10:22]

Listeners are encouraged to implement the discussed strategies and engage with the hosts for ongoing marketing insights.

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Key Takeaways

1. Personalized CTAs outperform generic ones by clearly communicating the user benefit.
2. Social Proof through logos and testimonials builds credibility and trust.
3. Removing Navigation Bars on landing pages keeps users focused on conversion goals.
4. Consistent Imagery between ads and landing pages enhances user connection and conversion rates.
5. Unified Marketing Messages ensure a seamless user journey from ad to conversion.
6. Catering to Long Tail Clicks can uncover additional conversion opportunities.
7. Compelling Offers are essential for driving user actions beyond basic sign-ups.
8. Reducing Abandon Rates requires detailed optimization of landing page elements.

This episode of The Marketing Millennials' Bathroom Break provides actionable insights for optimizing landing pages, emphasizing clarity, consistency, and user-centric design to enhance conversions effectively.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Welcome to a new special series called the Bathroom break. That extra 10 minutes you either have to listen to marketing tips or use the bathroom. Or both. But I don't recommend both. But that's your choice.

[A]

This collab is going to be super fun. We have Daniel Murray from the Marketing Millennials and me, Jay Schwetelson from the do this, not that podcast and subjectline.com each episode in the series, we are going to go over quick tips about different marketing top topics. And if you want to be in the bathroom, fine, just don't tell us about it. Thanks for checking it out. We are back for the Bathroom Break. This is Jay Schwedelson from the do this, not that podcast. I'm here with the legendary Daniel Murray from the Marketing Millennials. And if anybody gives us a bad review because of audio, because I'm traveling right now, then you stink. I don't like haters. We're going to talk today about landing pages, but haters are losers. Daniel, do you like haters?

[B]

I love haters. I love them so much. Keep hating. But I do, I do want to ask you. I know you're sick right now. What do you do when you get sick? What is, like, your first step?

[A]

First step is that everybody in my household avoids me. They want nothing to do with me. They think I'm disgusting. And they don't. I don't really get a lot of, like, tlc. It's like, nobody, like, brings me anything. Nobody's like, are you okay? They just go, get the hell away from. For me, that's kind of the vibe. But you told me the other day, something at Starbucks which I didn't know, which is like, like the carpet ball or something that you can order.

[B]

Medicine ball. It's so good. Medicine ball. Do it. Go get it now.

[A]

I gotta go get that. Yeah, I'm a little scared, but I'm gonna get it. All right, let's jump into the real deal here. We're talking about landing pages, destination pages, a page where you take people to after they click on your search ad, your social post, your email. And people are epically screwing it up about how to get those conversions. There are little things that you can do, and so we want to rip through, like, how do you make sure your landing page doesn't completely suck? And you shouldn't have an abandoned rate of 90%. That's weird. So we're going to go through here some things that you could do. So, Daniel, what's on your mind?

[B]

The number one, I think I see that people should test is instead of doing just a generic CTA like sign up now, be more personalized like saying get this free trial or dive into this the community. Be more action based instead of just being so specific. Because everybody you could see is sign up or get a demo. Be tell the people what they're going to get quickly so they know I see this working way better than just a basic call to action.

[A]

Yeah. And one of the things I think that people don't do enough of on their destination page, their landing page is heavy social proof. This is the closing argument. This is the moment where the person's going to decide, okay, I'm going to buy the thing, subscribe to the thing, download the thing, register for the thing. So what you want to think about is you want to have logos of companies that you work with or companies that have attended your stuff in the past. You want to have like a bunch of logos on there or. And not just or you want to have a hero testimonial right near that submission button that says this was the best webinar I ever attended or these socks changed my life. One testimonial right, right near that conversion button, that submission button. Because that is your closing argument. And if you're not doing that, the person's going to be like, you know what, forget it.

[B]

Another thing I see a big mistake marketers make is adding a nav bar on their landing page. Your goal is to get people to convert on that page. Don't give them options to go other places. It confuses the person. Just have your form or that destination you want them to go. Adding a nav bar is a way to get people confused and they start saying, oh, I want to go check out this. We're going to check out. The point of a landing page is to take someone through a journey, not get them to start doing a million different things on your page.

[A]

Yeah, and you're speaking of confused. One of the things that I think people sleep on is the importance of your primary image. Let's say you're sending out an email and you're promoting whatever and you have a hero image in that email or in the social post or whatever. When they get to that landing page, the person decides to click. They get to the landing page. You want to repeat that same primary hero image that you have in that originating piece of marketing. Because we're like a simple minded species when we get to that destination page, like, oh, this is what I just clicked on. Great, I'm going to convert A lot of times you have a totally different look and feel. You don't have that same hero image and the person bails and you don't know why. But in their subconscious they're not able to connect the action they just took and the thing that they want to do. So it may not be the most fun thing to have the same imagery, but it does allow the person to connect in their minds. And we see when you have the same primary image, your conversion rates on that destination page go up significantly.

[B]

That's a great point. I think what a big mistake people make. That I see is not unifying the path. So the ad or whatever needs to be exactly the same. I see a lot of people promoting a product on a ad and then you get to the landing page and it's a different product. They click because they, they saw that ad or they saw that product. So make sure that the ad connects to the landing page, connects to that email. To get next to the welcome page, everything needs to flow. Otherwise people are going to click and say, wait, I didn't mean to click here. And you'll get a higher banner rate if it's not a connected flow.

[A]

You know, and building on that, you always talk about negative signal that you could do things out there that you don't even realize are turning people off for the long term. And one of them is there's a really long tail to certain marketing channels. Let's use email. Email, for example, you send an email promoting something, could be a sale, a webinar, invite, whatever, and then that offer ends. Like that webinar is over, the sale ends, whatever, but that, that email is still living in that person's inbox. And believe it or not, if you go back to your tracking, you'll see this really long tail to a lot of click throughs. And someone might click on that 90 days after your offer expires. And what we see in all the data that we look at is the lifetime value of somebody that clicks on an email after the offer expires is actually higher than the lifetime value of that customer, of someone who reacts instantly to when they get that offer because they're very intentional about clicking through after the fact they've gone back to the email. So you want to make sure that your destination page, your landing page has content, has information, has stuff for those long tail clicks. And it's not just my time and negative signal. Sorry, you missed the webinar, sorry, the sale's over. And that's it. That's when you turn People off forever.

[B]

And one thing I'll add on, you spoke about a word that people mistake off is offer. Signing up for a demo is not an offer. When you're doing ads or landing pages, you need to have an offer that's compelling to that person. What you do where there's a no risk free trial, if you do this, it's 20 off. If you do this, it needs to be an offer. You get a 25, a hundred dollar gift card. If you do this, you need an offer. Signing up for a demo off a landing page is not an offer. And the offer needs to be clear on both the ad and that. That's that people always testing CTAs, they testing images, but they don't ever test the offer. So make sure you might have a screwed up offer. That's why people aren't converting on your landing page.

[A]

You know, in general, you can't accept a 90% abandoned rate. Abandoned rate is people click through. You get 100 people that click on whatever it is that you have out there. They go to the page, landing page and then you have a 90% of those people leave. They don't ever convert on the thing. Right. That's weird. They were all interested like split seconds ago and now they're 90% of them are no longer interested. No, what's happening is you're doing something to turn those people off on that page. And that's why these little things add up to a lot of change. So, Daniel, do you have any other secrets for me like how to get over a bad cold? Because I feel like somebody told me to wrap onions. I'm not kidding. On my feet and put socks on and have onions in my socks, which I'm definitely not doing. Are there any other Daniel secrets to getting over colds?

[B]

No. I'm a big. I have only three things I do. I get. I always like go to the closest farming store and get like one of those small humidifiers to just make sure it moistens up. I do the med. The. The medicine ball or do a hack, which I learned when I was on a trip somewhere that you, if you just get hot water, lemon and honey, just do that magically does something to you. So every time I would or just order or try to get lemons and honey in my house when I'm. When I'm sick and then showering like four times a day.

[A]

No, no, I won't shower. I. No showering. I cut that out like I do once a month.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Okay. Yeah, you know, whatever. You know you got to build up your life. Whatever. Well, we covered a lot here. This has been amazing. Any other parting words, Dan?

[B]

No. Listen, everybody wish Jay to feel better in these comments or in his DMS on LinkedIn because he's suffering this cold and he still did the podcast. So thank you.

[A]

That's right. Right. And if anyone gets a bad review because the audio, then you're a horrible person. But, yeah, connect with us on LinkedIn. We don't say that very often, but we'd love to hear from you on LinkedIn. Connect with us on LinkedIn. We're actually on there way too much. I know I am, but love to connect with you all. And we'll see you at the next one. Daniel, Come on, man. I gotta get back to work. Get out of there. All right, while he's still in there. This is Jay. Check out my podcast, do this, not that, for marketers. Each week we share really quick tips on stuff that can improve your marketing, and I hope you give it a try. Oh, here's Daniel. He's finally out.

[B]

Back from my bathroom break. This is Daniel. Go follow the Mark and Millennials podcast, but also tune into this series. It's once a week, the Bathroom Break. We talk about marketing tips that we just spew out. And it could be anything from email subject line to any marketing tips in the world. We'll talk about it. Just give us a. A shout on LinkedIn and tell us what you want to hear. Peace out.