It only takes a few words in your sales page or landing page to make the difference between hitting quarterly sales goals and letting new sales dollars and relationships slip through your fingers.
If your reader thinks “who cares?” …
if your prospect gets bogged down in too many words …
or if the wrong formatting distracts a reader from your message …
ALL that time and money you spent on copywriting goes glugging down the drain – along with your ad money.
Yet online marketers keep making the same deadly errors.
Keep reading to discover three keys to avoiding big mistakes, connecting with your readers, and generating a healthy return on your advertising investment.
DEADLY LONG FORM SALES PAGE MISTAKE #1 – The Wrong Headline
In his classic book, Breakthrough Advertising, Eugene Schwartz says you’ve got to match your headline to your reader’s State of Awareness.
- Does your reader know who you are?
- Does your reader know about your product?
- Do they know a solution to their problem exists?
- Are they driven primarily by desire or need?
- Do they even know there’s a problem to solve?
Find the answers. Then create a headline that takes those answers into account.
For example, let’s say your reader, Fred, doesn’t know your brand. Maybe he’s never even heard of what you sell. Fred can’t think about much at all because he’s bone-tired after limping around all day with a nasty, scaly lump on his foot.
The solution? Call out the problem you solve with a need-based headline. Then, as Schwartz says, “dramatize the need so vividly that the prospect realizes just how badly he needs the solution.”
Here’s a super-simple solution headline from 1918:
“Stop Corns”
How much does your reader know about your product? What will motivate your future customer to buy now?
Read more about headlines here: 7 Deadly Headline Sins Every Copywriter Must Avoid
DEADLY LONG FORM SALES PAGE MISTAKE #2 – Sales Copy Selfie
Humans are naturally fascinated with one thing – themselves. Keep the focus on your prospect.
Replace “Me and “I” with “You” words.
Get real about how your reader feels right now.
How do you help them get what they want, go where they want, or be who they want? How do you spark transformation?
Here’s another way to get to the deep benefits for your reader:
DEADLY LONG FORM SALES PAGE MISTAKE #3 – Too Hard to Read
Your formatting, design, and content make it harder or easier to read your sales page. Which is going to keep people on your page?
Check your font size, depending on your audience. If you’re squinting or patting the top of your head to find your glasses, bump it up. Under 40 with perfect vision and writing to 50-year-olds? Test your text on someone who still remembers macrame and thought Gloria Vanderbilt jeans were hot at any time ever!
Increase readability with formatting with (1) readable font styles, (2) finding ways to make important text stand out, and (3) break long sections into smaller, well-defined chunks.
Include white space. Pages stuffed with too many words and graphics will confuse and muddle visitors. Internet readers are lazy. They’ll leave in seconds for almost any reason at all. Oh, look. A cat.
Use your thesaurus to find a shorter, punchier word. Not the big impressive one – that was for High School English Papers.
Some things don’t change
Rules and best practices on Facebook and Google change. Websites become outdated. Platforms change. However, as Schwartz writes, “In effective advertising, though styles may change, strategy does not.” Speaking to the heart of your customer, tapping into their desires, and communicating with clarity continue to be good practice.