There’s a maxim in chess, often repeated to beginners, although it goes for all levels: every move you make must threaten the opposition’s king. Some moves will do so indirectly, especially the better the player gets.
In email marketing, everything you place on the landing page must be directed towards ensuring a customer acts in the way you want.
There are two ways of doing this: firstly, when designing a landing page you should ensure every image, every bit of text, heading, design feature and click-through is checked to ensure it is targeted. We’ll cover that now. The other method, post design review, will be for a later article.
Starting with the image; check whether it has been used before. If so, does the repetition help in any way? Reinforcement is a positive. If it doesn’t then replace it with one that is new and functions as a pointer towards completion.
Headings have the dual function of grabbing the attention, and encouraging customers to buy. Play with them, trying different words to get the right balance. One tip is to read it aloud. Headlines that are laboured, disjointed or uninspiring won’t pass this test.
When writing text, the most important aspect is to get the tone correct, or rather spot on for the segmented email marketing list you are designing for. Ensure you convey the information readers need, reflect their self-image and encourage them to buy.
The email marketing campaign will have a hook. Remember that it will have brought the subscribers thus far, so build on it. Repetition here is normally productive as it reminds the subscriber why they are there. However, don’t forget that secondary aspects tend to reinforce.
Click-throughs need to be obvious without glaring. Some email marketing companies seem to have a cruet set to shake them onto the email. If you have designed your landing page with the one target, ask yourself why you have three or four click-throughs.
Your work does not end when you have finished designing your landing page. You have to test all the alternatives. We’ll cover the secondary method of testing in a future article.
