Are we all doing landing pages wrong?
Hero with with strong lead, testimonials, etc. Is that all useless?
These guys all have extremely simple pages (image + download link, basically).
https://www.instagram.com
https://tinder.com
https://hinge.co
https://www.tiktok.com
https://www.messenger.com
Browsing through top free app websites, this seems to be the norm.
These look more like what I'd expect:
https://zoom.us
https://slack.com
https://robinhood.com
https://cash.app
My thinking:
Testimonials, brand logos, talking about value -- these are tools for overcoming resistance. It comes down to how much resistance you expect the average person to have when they arrive at your site. If your brand is unknown, or there's a price attached, or someone is trying to decide between a few options, or your target demographic is reluctant to try new things -- these all increase the amount of resistance you have to overcome.
An organization like Hinge is targeting single young people, a demographic that doesn't mind trying out new apps, so they don't need to overcome much resistance. For Zoom or Slack, they're targeting B2B people who are looking for one app to invest in (unlike people doing dating apps, who are happy to have multiple installed) and who expect to eventually pay. Thus, they need to overcome resistance.
What do you guys think? Does that make sense?
Everyone knows what Instagram, Tinder, TikTok are. Users don't reach those landing pages trying to learn more about the product, they just want to register, as they saw others using the app. Those are usually not even landing pages, but login pages. They don't have to promote or explain anything, once you reach their site you have probably already decided to register/login.
I am building a few landing pages now - WIP but here are my notes so far
Split test!
Not 1GB but instead 1000 songs in your pocket
one message, one offer, one call to action
We offer ### so you can ####
What it is that you provide
How does it make their lives better
What they need to do to get it
What is the problem, how is it solved what will happen if they do not solve it.
There are no free lunches.
What most marketers/designers don't realize is that every time they make an offer, "Click this Button", before a person is ready to take that action, the lower the conversion rate.
Landing page length should be a function of where the prospect is in the buyer awareness stage.
Not aware of problem > problem aware > solution aware > brand-aware > product aware
The further to the left the more of a "story" you need to tell.
The part of the story that is variable is the length of the Motivation/Why.
Why's are: Get fed/healthy > Be safe > Join a group > Move up within that group > Get a Partner > Have a kid.
Your product probably functionally does one of these things, but talk about and actually help them move to the right.
For instance, an all-natural protein bar gets you fed/healthy, but the perceived value goes up when you join the Paleo crowd.
Find ways to help them ACTUALLY join that group.
This is what makes a brand.
A brand actually "promotes" the person, not the brand.
Noah Kagan is one of the best at this.
There is a good IH podcast episode that mentioned landing pages for business SaaS. The TLDR was that the landing page should fit the audience. For very buisness-y clients, having a long landing page with a bunch of sub-pages does a lot better.
In your examples, these are consumer apps whose marketing is done primarily outside their website. You are already a qualified lead when you land on the page. The function of these sites is to convert you as quickly as possible to a registered user and that is best done by having less to explain.
A bunch of IHs tried to do short landing pages and it tanked conversions.
This comment was deleted 4 years ago
I agree 100%. If someone has heard of a brand, and has friends using it, they will need much less convincing to try it. Being an unknown that someone finds on the second page of Google is another story.
Mm, it’s almost like they’d be supplicating or perceived as trying to persuade you if they try and ‘sell’ too hard.
I’m not sure if smaller young companies can play this game though.