If you are sending visitors who find your site through search, display ads or any other means directly to your home page or contact page, you are missing valuable opportunities. Creating landing pages especially for each kind of surfer who lands on your page allows you to make your content as relevant as possible and likelier to convert. To get the best return on your advertising dollar, work to create landing pages that are targeted in various ways.
Why You Need Landing Pages
When you send visitors straight to your homepage or a contact page, there is no clear action for them to take. They often feel lost and are more likely to navigate back out of your page than to complete a transaction.
On the other hand, landing pages give purpose. They continue the conversation that was started before your potential customer clicked on your link. Whether that click came from a content marketing piece, an ad or a search, a landing page optimized for that surfer is more likely to resonate.
Landing pages are also not one-size-fits all. Each one should be created to fit the visitor that arrives there. You will use different landing pages for display marketing than you will landing pages for search marketing. HubSpot recommends that you create many landing pages, because the more specific your targeting of your visitor, the higher your potential ROI.
Creating Campaign-Specific Pages
When you are creating campaign-specific landing pages are far more effective because they speak directly to the visitor you have targeted. For instance, if you are a chocolate purveyor with a romantic display ad, your landing page can continue to describe the benefits of buying chocolate for that special someone. This sort of specialization increases engagement and is more likely to move your visitor through the sales funnel.
Dynamic landing pages give you even more opportunities to talk directly to your web visitor. You can include elements that geotarget the content to your visitor. For instance, a clothing purveyor with a visitor from Florida can focus specifically on warm weather clothes. These landing pages can also be targeted to the keywords that the visitor uses or other information that makes your page as relevant as possible.
Getting a Second Chance to Make a First Impression
Conversions for first time visitors to your site will typically be low. In 2012, Marketing Sherpa surveyed webmasters and determined that, for retail, first time conversions were around 3{ac813dd210d411f0e4f3074e8f885da7dff13575d3e6a4391b4a002f2c9b4bd4}. By serving specially created pages to people who are visiting for the second or third time, you have a better chance at getting more meaningful engagement. Examples of effective landing pages for retargeting campaigns can include offering second-chance sales or showing more items that were like the ones your target looked at last time.
Retargeting is worthwhile for a number of reasons. It helps make your brand more familiar, and thus more trusted. It can give you a chance to get to a qualified buyer who just wasn’t quite ready to buy on the last visit. And, it can increase your ROI by putting your site in front of qualified buyers.
Learning What Works Best
When you are running A/B tests on ads, take the time to create campaign-specific landing pages, as well. This allows you to match your call-to-action to your ad to create a frictionless experience for your surfer. By watching your results carefully, you can eliminate tactics that do not convert and significantly increase your marketing ROI.
At all times, remember the conversation you are having with your target. Create landing pages that seamlessly continue each surfer’s experience, and you will find that your marketing dollars go farther and that your click conversions soar.
