4 unconventional persuasion strategies for your landing page that might surprise you
Before I start, let me share something that you should know — Robert Cialdini’s psychological principles. He’s a Regent’s Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing for Arizona State University. He’s also a New York Times Bestseller for his book “Influence”. His advice and principles may take your conversion rates to the next level.
In this book, his years of studying the psychological factors of persuasion added up to six principles:
These are the must-have persuasive elements to create a high-converting landing page. After all, a landing page’s effectiveness is determined by its persuasion power.
To boost conversions, you have probably used these elements to persuade potential customers to act. But there are few more and that you may find hard to believe.
Here is what you are waiting for…..
Visual hierarchy:
Ask yourself three important questions before you make the layout of your landing page –
1) Where will the viewer’s eyes go initially to focus?
2) What will influence how their eyes move and where their focus will go next?
3) Can we design our pages to control their focus in order to guide them towards the most valuable CTA?
And remember, human eyes aren’t equal opportunity see-ers.
If your landing page is dense with heavy text and information, you can follow ‘F’ pattern in design.
· Users first read in a horizontal movement, usually across the upper part of the content area. This initial element forms the F’s top bar.
· Next, users move down the page a bit and then read across in a second horizontal movement that typically covers a shorter area than the previous movement. This additional element forms the F’s lower bar.
· Finally, users scan the content’s left side in a vertical movement. This last element forms the F’s stem.
If your landing page is less informationally dense, ‘Z’ pattern in design can be uniquely suited to landing page design.
· You need one singular focus to draw people in and encourage them to take action.
· You need to place your CTA along the Z path to make sure your viewer sees it. This will lead to more conversions.
Do you want to know more about What Aspects of Design Control Visual Hierarchy?
Behavioral Consistency: A well-optimized landing page ensures relevance by providing users with the exact information or offer they were promised in the ad. By aligning the content, messaging, and visuals on the landing page with the ad, users feel confident that they are in the right place. This relevance establishes trust and credibility, setting the stage for a positive user experience.
Not only the message alignment, you need to establish visual continuity, clear offer communication, simplified navigation too.
Progressive Disclosure: This is an UX psychology to avoid overwhelming users with too much information at once. By applying this, you can reduce cognitive load by gradually revealing more complex information as the user scroll down the page or interact with it.
Do you want to know When and how to implement progressive disclosure in a landing page?
Personalization effect: Use data and user behavior insights to personalize the content and recommendations on your landing page. Tailoring the experience to each user can speak directly to the users and address their specific needs and interests, which can make them more likely to trust and engage with your business. In addition, by including personalized calls to action, you can further increase the chances of conversion.
Here are few more behavioral principles to consider when designing and optimizing landing pages. And these tactics will help you take data-driven decisions to determine the efficacy of the landing page and further utilize in the other marketing campaign.
1)
Focus on the offer, not the brand: People visiting your landing pages are here for a purpose. They are either familiar with your brand name o probably have fundamental idea about the service or product you offer. Do not brag about your company on your landing pages. Instead, keep your focus on the offers you have promised in the first place.
If you fail to fulfill their expectations, it may result in a risk of losing a massive chunk of potential customers.
2)
Choose CTA according to the type of your landing page: Usually you should use short and high action driven CTA to attract the audience. Before choosing the CTA, you need to decide what type of your landing page you serve and what purpose it would serve.
There are 5 types of landing pages based on the purpose –
a) Lead generation: Lead generation landing pages are designed to collect data through data capture forms. These pages are usually used in the middle of the funnel and enable visitors to evaluate your offers.
Here you need a very short and simple CTA to encourage audience to fulfill the form with all relevant details.
b) Click-through: Click-through landing pages do not require any form. These pages act as an intermediary between your ad and the landing page where you want your visitors to land for further information.
Here you should include a robust CTA button with solid value proposition to encourage visitors to proceed with the buying process.
c) Sales: Sales pages are one of the most complex types of landing pages. The purpose of these pages is to convince prospects to buy.
Here you need a very short and simple CTA to help audience take a quick action towards buy or transaction.
d) Splash: Splash pages are the most basic types of landing pages. These pages are designed to provide basic information about product or service to site visitors. The good thing about these pages is that you can use them at any stage of your sales funnel.
These pages consist of a brief copy, a few images, and you need a broad CTA button with a clear value proposition.
e) Viral: Viral landing pages are designed to create brand awareness. The content on these pages should be highly relevant, with plenty of links to a company page or website. You can also add images and videos to engage visitors on these pages.
Here, it’s important to offer a combination of concise and inviting calls-to-action (CTAs). Phrases like “Read more,” “See more,” “Learn more,” and “Watch here” are excellent choices when guiding visitors towards additional information. When you have downloadable content available, consider using a prominent CTA button with a compelling value proposition. This can entice visitors to complete a form in exchange for exclusive content, potentially leading to valuable leads for your business.
3)
Create progressive profiling scope through the lead magnet:
Instead of asking for extensive information upfront, use progressive profiling to collect additional data over time. Start with basic information like name and email address. Then, as the prospect engages further with your content or offerings, gradually request more details such as job title, company size, and specific pain points. It will help you collect more data about customers and later you can segment your leads into distinct categories based on their characteristics and behavior. You can further tailor your messaging and offers to each segment for a more personalized experience.
Remember that the effectiveness of these principles can vary depending on your target audience, industry, and specific goals. It’s important to monitor the performance of your landing pages and make data-driven decisions to optimize them for the best results.
