The Marketing Millennials, Ep. 361

"The Secret to Landing Pages That Actually Convert"

Guest: Val Riley, VP of Marketing at Unbounce
Host: Daniel Murray
Date: October 29, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode takes a no-nonsense, highly practical look at landing pages with Val Riley, VP of Marketing at Unbounce. Daniel and Val break down the essentials of creating high-converting landing pages, respond to recent Google updates affecting ad quality, explore how marketers should align ads and landing pages, and draw out the crucial role of AI in landing page design and marketing workflow. You'll find hands-on advice, memorable analogies, and clear strategies that every marketer can put to work—whether you're B2B, B2C, agency-side, or in-house.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Val’s Path Into Marketing

• Val’s Journey: Started as an advertising major; early on, realized her standout skill was writing, drawing her into content marketing.

  "[M]y ability to write was something that differentiated me... content marketing is what really drew me in."
  (Val Riley, 01:23)

2. Critical Google Updates and Their Impact

• The February Update: Google quietly rolled out an ad quality update in February 2025, putting big emphasis on landing page relevancy and “navigation.”

  "If your landing page doesn't have relevance... and it isn't easily navigable, then there's a good chance they're not going to serve up your ad."
  (Val, 03:17)

• Navigation Is Vague: The guidance was ambiguous regarding navigation; different experts interpret requirements differently, but landing page/ad message match is non-negotiable.

3. Why Landing Pages Matter—Still!

• Shocking Stat: 52% of B2B PPC ads still point to homepages instead of targeted landing pages.

  "…52% of B2B landing pages, B2B ads, PPC ads, go to homepages still today in this day. And it's just shocking..."
  (Val, 05:00)

• Old-School Analogy: If you advertise a red sweater and customers can’t find it in your store, you’ve wasted their time—same for landing pages.
• Key Lesson: Every ad should have a specific, relevant landing page.

4. Aligning Ads and Landing Pages—Practical Wins

• Customize Per Campaign & Channel: Make unique, tailored landing pages for each ad campaign and for different channels (search, social, email, etc.).
• Leverage Behavioral Data: Analyze website behavior to inform how landing pages should be structured or if additional navigation is needed.
• Don’t Skimp on Content: Old wisdom was “keep landing pages short”—today, test both short and content-rich pages.
• Experimentation Is Key: AB and multivariate testing are essential.

  "...experiment, experiment, experiment."
  (Val, 09:56)

• Small Tweaks, Big Results: Customization needn’t be massive—sometimes just a different headline or CTA per channel is enough.

5. AI’s Growing Role in Landing Pages & Marketing Teams

• Google AI Max: Google’s Q3 roll-out of AI-driven ad quality is raising the stakes. Landing page message match and ease-of-navigation are now algorithmically assessed.
• Team Adoption of AI: Val’s team uses a shared ChatGPT subscription for collaboration, promoting the AI-powered marketing mindset.

  "We all have to become AI powered marketers."
  (Val, 15:03)

• AI Isn’t Optional:

  "It's basically like going back... and saying hey everybody, keep doing manual filing and don't use the internet, don't use a computer..."
  (Daniel, 15:38)

• Agencies Demand It: Agencies want vendors that can demonstrate AI integration in their workflows and offerings.

Notable Quotes:

"Every time we want to open up a job requisition, we're asked how much of this role can be done with AI..."
(Val, 17:01)

6. How AI Makes Landing Pages Easier and Better

• AI Copywriting Directly in Unbounce: AI tools help write, refine, and adapt landing page copy instantly within the platform.
• Smart Traffic: Unbounce's Smart Traffic AI routes incoming traffic to the landing page variant most likely to convert, optimizing results on the fly.

  "Smart Traffic will... send the traffic to the version of that landing page that is most likely to convert..."
  (Val, 19:29)

• AI-Driven Data Analysis: Quick, accessible analytics replace manual spreadsheet work, empowering marketers to take action rapidly.

7. The Power of Data Access Across Teams

• Hill to Die On: Every marketer should have CRM access, not just marketing automation access.

  “So many organizations... don’t have access to the CRM, which floors me. ...You should make your tools work for you and, and help close the gap between marketing and sales.”
  (Val, 22:51)

• Sales Notes Are Gold: Insights from sales notes give marketers the info they need to craft better ads and landing pages.
• Avoid Data Silos: Tool restrictions shouldn’t stifle marketing creativity or success.

  "Your tool should not be the reason... you're not succeeding as a marketing team."
  (Daniel, 27:41)

8. Using Landing Page Builders vs. Website Designers

• Website Complexity Slows Marketers: IT bottlenecks, security reviews, and slow web update cycles are rampant.
• Landing Page Builders = Speed: Stand-alone builders allow marketing agility, faster testing, and campaign launches without bogging down IT or dev teams.

  "I come back to the phrase easy button because it really is."
  (Val, 31:16)

• First-Hand Endorsement: Val has used Unbounce at multiple companies and swears by the easy, fast campaign launches.

9. Speed, Momentum, and the Modern Marketing Mandate

• Speed & Momentum: Agile execution and avoiding roadblocks are “hidden forces” behind winning marketing orgs.
• Fail Fast, Test Fast: Marketers need to test and fail quickly, not quarterly.

10. Predictions & Skills for the Near Future

• Critical Marketer Skill: Learn to write powerful, detailed AI prompts; the better the prompt, the better the AI output.

  "Learning how to write prompts... will blow your mind as to how much those tools can do for you."
  (Val, 33:32)

• Prompt Engineering = Next Big Hiring Need: Expect to see this as a crucial desired skill on marketers’ CVs soon.

11. Val’s Sources of Inspiration

• LinkedIn and Heiki Young: Values creators who bring humor and realism; LinkedIn is a firehose of info, but human, approachable experts like Heiki Young keep things in perspective for marketers.

12. Advice for New Marketers

• Become AI-Empowered Today:

  "Learning how to become an AI empowered marketer is really what... is what's going to set you apart."
  (Val, 37:57)

• Try Every Tool: Especially if you’re just starting out, explore all the AI tools you can and become fluent in their use.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ad Relevance and Landing Pages:
  “Every specific ad that you're running should have a specific corresponding landing page...” (Val, 06:25)
• The Need for Experimentation & Customization:
  "You can experiment because nothing is guaranteed. Sometimes...something that breaks the rule works." (Val, 09:49)
• On AI’s Team Value:
  “It’s eye opening every day how much these, these AI tools can do.” (Val, 16:59)
• The “Easy Button” for Marketers:
  "You're allowing [marketers] to move at the pace of business." (Val, 31:18)
• Full-Funnel Message Match:
  “It needs to be message alignment from landing page to salespeople too. So that's like the next phase.” (Daniel, 24:38)

Timestamps of Important Segments

• [03:17] – Google’s landing page relevance update explained
• [05:00] – Shocking stat: majority of B2B PPC ads still go to homepages
• [09:56] – How to align ads with landing pages and importance of experimentation
• [13:13] – The rise of AI: Google AI Max and how marketers must respond
• [15:03] – Inside Val’s AI-powered marketing team
• [17:01] – How AI is affecting marketing hiring and workflows
• [19:29] – Unbounce AI tools: copywriting and Smart Traffic in action
• [22:51] – CRM access and data alignment across marketing/sales
• [31:16] – Why landing page builders are the marketer’s “easy button”
• [33:32] – Must-have marketing skill: AI prompt engineering
• [37:57] – Essential advice for those starting in marketing today

Closing Resources & Where to Find Val

• Val on LinkedIn: Valerie Riley, "marketer"
• Val’s Podcast: Closing Time – For go-to-market leaders in sales, marketing, and customer success
• Unbounce: unbounce.com – Landing page platform for marketers

Succinct, actionable, and honest, this episode distills years of digital marketing and landing page wisdom—updated for the era of AI and rapid experimentation.