In general terms, a landing page can refer to any page that an internet user lands on after clicking on a hyperlink. However, in the world of digital marketing, landing pages are specific things that perform a specific function. Landing pages here refer to standalone web pages that are created expressly for the purpose of a particular marketing or advertising campaign.
When an internet user clicks the link in a marketing email, search engine advertisement, or social media advertisement, they should be directed to a landing page. These pages are isolated from the rest of the Internet, and don’t encourage exploration. They’re designed in a way that hyper-focuses on the single goal of the campaign, also known as a call-to-action or CTA.
Landing pages can be a great option for increasing the conversion rates of a marketing campaign. Read on to learn more about this essential digital marketing tool.
Design Clear and Focused Landing Pages During Your Digital Marketing Career
An important characteristic that defines landing pages is that they have a singular focus. To be effective in their goal of increasing conversion, they should be designed in a way that limits distractions. From an aesthetic lens, landing pages should be minimal, clean, clear, and concise. Any unnecessary images, text, or distracting design elements should be minimized.
The core of a landing page is an obvious call-to-action. The user should be naturally and efficiently directed to this specific course of action. It’s important to concentrate on a singular call-to-action rather than several, as too many choices can overwhelm a user and lead to inaction. The more options a user is given, the more difficult it is for them to make a decision. Because of this, it’s also important that landing pages are isolated from the rest of the Internet, and don’t include any links leading to other pages.
Different Types of Landing Pages
There are two basic kinds of landing pages that you will use and encounter during your digital marketing career. The first is referred to as a lead generation or a lead capture landing page. These landing pages are distinct for their use of forms, rather than buttons, as their CTA. These forms are used to collect lead data, meaning information about customers, such as names and email addresses. Lead data can be used to build a list of prospective customers. It is also useful for teaching you more about your target audience, thus assisting in improving your marketing strategy.
The other main type of landing page is the clickthrough landing page. The CTA of this landing page is a simple button that directs the user straight to a subscription, registration, checkout page, or transaction completion. These landing pages are used to efficiently convert internet users into registrations, subscriptions, or customers.
Tying Landing Pages to the Buyer Persona
After achieving a digital marketing diploma, you’ll know about the importance of buyer personas. These are semi-fictional representations of your ideal customers, based on market research and customer data. Buyer personas should consist of personal identifiers, demographic information, goals, and challenges. With this information, targeted messages can be created more easily.
Creating landing pages that are driven by buyer personas can make them more effective. When creating a landing page, the content should be crafted with a single persona in mind. Their characteristics and challenges should be accounted for. Targeting multiple buyer personas with a landing page, or not targeting any at all, could lead to a lack of resonance with your ideal customers. This decreases the odds of conversion, rendering the marketing campaign less effective.
Do you want to learn more about designing landing pages during digital marketing training?
Contact Cumberland College for more information.
