Let me make one thing clear from the very beginning: people are basically emotional beings. No matter how much science we put into ads and landing pages, if they cannot evoke an emotion, you won’t get any conversion. After all, the decision to join a mailing list or to buy a product is an emotional reaction.
Do you want proof of that? Here’s the proof. Logically and rationally speaking, we only need one pair of shoes. That’s it, one pair and we are properly attired to go out. Also, we cannot wear more that one pair of shoes at the same time. Yet, how many people out there have just one pair of shoes? I am not talking about the desperately poor, but regular middle class people. Every extra pair of shoes after the first one is an emotional purchase. These have a nice colour, the others go with my suit, and these were at an absolute bargain. See how emotions decided every purchase?
In the same manner, landing pages must create an emotional need for people to follow the call to action. Here are a few easy tips to achieve it:
1. Use photos that depict people
We are social beings and still have a herd instinct. If you use the photo of a happy couple having dinner to promote your seaside resort hotel, leads who see this photo will instantly wish they were like that couple: happy, relaxed, having fun. This type of reaction is a sort of “keeping up with the Joneses” emotional response: why shouldn’t I be just as carefree as those guys?
2. Give your leads a sense of esteem
If you A/B test a call to action for people to join your mailing list for special discounts and tailored offers, which one of the buttons “Join Now!” or “Become an Exclusive Member” will get more clicks? That’s right, the second one! People love to feel valued, to feel that they are unique and special. They need a strong emotional response to validate the decision to join your mailing list.
No one wants to be a number on a list, so make sure you don’t forget to add as much human touch and personal tone when writing the copy.
3. Make people feel safe
A privacy disclaimer, even if in smaller print and placed at the bottom of the landing page is very important. There are too many previous cases when unscrupulous marketers sold mailing lists to third parties. People don’t want to find their inbox overflowing with unsolicited offers and newsletters. So give them a sense of safety, state clearly that you are not giving their email away to anyone else.
4. Use the right colours
Colours evoke emotions even more powerfully than words. People will turn away from the best written copy if the background colour evokes negative emotions. For instance, bright red means excitement and energy, blue means trust and authority and yellow means confidence and optimism. Silver, black and purple are associated with luxury. You need to have a clear chart with all the emotions triggered by colours available so that you do not have a predominant landing page colour that clashes with the message.