Don't Make This Huge Mistake with Your Next Email Campaign
So many businesses – both large and small – put lots of time and money into creating compellingly written and well-designed promotional online marketing campaigns. But then they point prospects to their company’s home page. This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make! Here are 4 major reasons why:
- There’s a lack of congruence between your marketing message and the home page.
When it comes to online marketing, a well-constructed promotional email or online ad should include:- A single purpose
- A strong offer
- A clear sense of urgency
Yet if a prospect clicks through from your email or online ad to a company’s home page, they will likely find no consistency in messaging because the home page was created with a completely different purpose in mind. The home page typically provides general information about your business, includes multiple links, and does not speak only to a specific offer.
While the email’s purpose is to generate interest, the landing page must then seal the deal. In most cases, a home page will not accomplish this goal because it’s not clearly connected to the email or ad that brought your prospects there in the first place.
- You’re only confusing your prospects.
When a prospective customer gets directed to a company’s home page from an online marketing promotion, they are instantly bombarded with a lot of unrelated information, various links, other offers, images, service listings and advertising, which all compete for their attention. So if prospects interested in your online promotion click through to a generic home page that does not clearly speak to the offer, they are likely confused. You’re making them work too hard to understand and follow the steps necessary to follow through on your offer. Needless to say, this won’t bode well for your conversion rates. - Your sales pitch is ineffective.
The landing page provides you with the opportunity to give prospects enough information to choose to proceed to the next step – whether it’s to purchase a product, register for an event, subscribe to your online newsletter, or complete an information request form. A generic home page just can’t accomplish the same level of effectiveness a landing page dedicated to a single offer can. By focusing on the specific benefits of the promotion, as well including related content that helps build trust, you’ll eliminate all other distractions and make the sales pitch work for you.For information about how to optimize your landing pages, click on the following FulcrumTech links:
- You can’t accurately measure the response to your campaign.
When your online marketing campaign sends prospects to a generic home page, you can’t generate metrics to measure the response to that specific campaign. For example, if Google, other Web site links, and multiple marketing campaigns are pointing prospects to your home page, you have no idea who is responding from each marketing source. And this type of information is vital to the success of your marketing program.Similar to the campaign codes included in direct mail response cards and order forms, landing pages can also have codes integrated into their background forms. In this way, you can determine exactly which online advertising campaigns and which landing pages are delivering the best results and, thus, continue to improve your overall marketing program.
Ultimately, a dedicated landing page is a gateway to conversion. By integrating your online marketing campaigns with specific landing pages, you’ll help reinforce your message and maintain interest in the offer. Be sure to check out this FulcrumTech Case Study – Online Advertising Campaign Yields 58% Conversion Rate – which demonstrates how our landing page optimization can help maximize your conversion rates. Click here or give us a call today at 215-489-9336 to discuss specific ways FulcrumTech can help your online marketing campaigns succeed.