If you’re running ads and directing traffic to your landing page, you’re going to want to make this journey as easy as possible for your audience. There are a few strategies you can use to do that. First thing to keep in mind is that people don’t want to work for it, so let’s start with a basic premise.
A Landing Page Without Fatigue
We’ve all seen one. A landing page that is just all over the place. You have no idea what you’re even getting from it. You scroll forever through the meandering informational fluff that’s padding out the page with testimonials and credentials. In the end, you don’t even see what was promised and the whole experience is ruined – naturally, you bounce.
A good landing page does not make you work. It’s lean, provides everything you need and is consistent with the ad. So consistent that it’s almost like a part of the landing page had ballooned away to find you. The ad looks and feels like it lives on the landing page. The tone-of-voice is aligned and the design elements and colour schemes are all consistent. As a rule, you should deliver your promise.
Your Landing Page & Content Promise
Nothing is more frustrating to a customer who follows your ad than being misled about the information. If you are offering something for free, do not have a landing page that asks something of them, like banking details or home address. It’s normally expected they should have to provide no more than an email if you are offering something free. But if they have to work for it, or if they find a landing page that appears incongruent with the ad message, you’re going to lose them.
Cognitive Biases & Good Communication
In the book, Thinking Fast and Slow, cognitive psychologist and economist Daniel Kehneman discusses our cognitive biases and assumptions. One of the main findings is that our brains struggle between two competing systems, let’s call them System 1 and System 2.
In System 1, there are all the hallmarks or intuitive or fast thinking. This type of thought is impulsive, emotional, automatic and conditioned through physical experiences. If I gave you a typical equation (1+1= ___ ) I’m almost certain you’d know the answer spontaneously, without too much effort being taxed on your brain.
System 2, however, is more deliberative. Here, we are encouraged to think a little more carefully. This is analytical, slow, considerate, risk assessed thought. If I gave you the equation (13 X 23 = ___ ) you wouldn’t have the answer on hand as readily as in system 1.
Our cognitive biases often lead us to taking the easy way out. There are several tests and puzzles that conclude this, for example:
A Bat and a Ball cost $1.10 together.
The Bat costs 1 dollar more than the ball.
How much does the ball cost?
The temptation here is to say the ball costs 10 c. In truth, the ball costs 5 c, since the bat costs 1 dollar more than the ball.
It’s our cognitive bias that leads us to answer 10 c, and the reason why so many customers bounce from landing pages that subvert their expectations. Don’t bounce just yet, (there’s no more math puzzles, I swear.)
Landing Page Expectations
When we arrive on a given landing page, the last thing we want to do is work for the information we were attracted by. The brain takes the easy way out and tries to use less energy. So don’t make the mistake of that easy way out being a closing window. Instead, cultivate a good approach that taps into these two modes of thinking.
The Brain, a Short Story
Our brains tell stories. Narratives are tied into how we function. There’s an assumption about people that grew out of the enlightenment and is long overdue for an update. That assumption is that humans are rational beings, that when presented with the facts, we can all come to the same conclusions. But that just isn’t the case, and in many instances, facts aren’t even that sexy – it’s values that ultimately help us to reason about the facts. If our values can’t make sense of the facts, we reject them. It’s not that we can’t think logically, but our assumptions about logic are wrong.
Imagine Star Trek’s Mr. Spock, the perfect, higher rational intelligence. The problem with this stereotype is that, without emotions, you wouldn’t know what to want. We know this from traumatic brain injuries, that people who lose their emotional abilities also lose their ability to reason. We have emotional brains and we reason with the values we have learned from our experiences. (For a deeper dive into the science here, check out my article on conceptual metaphors.) It turns out cold, rational, disembodied abstract thought is a myth. We are susceptible to our biases and emotions.
Which is why it’s important to frame your content appropriately.
Priming & Framing
Priming is about keeping the consistency of your CTA (call-to-action) in line with the ads you are running. If you’re running ads that are priming your audience to sign-up for early access or sign-up for free, they can expect the landing page to offer just that. It’s surprising how common it is this doesn’t happen. When you take a hero on their journey, reward them with information at each step, (almost there, did you know, etc.) Depending where they are in the funnel (if they’re problem aware, then you should be pushing on your solution) remind them and show them how their life will be improved. Show them what battles they will win when they hold excalibur. If you have primed them to be led to the sword in the stone, don’t then get in their way demanding a tip once they’re through the woods. Always update your landing page to reflect the primed CTA.
Frames set the tone for the content’s delivery, providing symbolic clues about the purpose and value of what it contains. A common frame for a product description may look like this:
Contains 10% Fat versus 90% Lean.
When asked which is better, it’s often surprising how few people say it’s a same thing about a single product, because their bias leads them to make preferential decisions.
visual cues
Another example of cognitive bias occurs with visual illusions. When asked which line is the longest or the shortest, many fail to recognise the two central lines are exactly the same size.
Framing is important, whether you’re messaging, discussing a topic or branding. Effective framing ensures you can make your case in a topic you enjoy discussing.
Sub-consciously, it can help your readers and listeners to understand a concept or a brand.
Conclusion
A good frame can change your customer’s perception and set your brand up for consistency. Get it right and it will show through your ads. It will help to keep your creatives lean, and won’t make your customers work hard to understand what they are buying. Keep it simple, lead with your most important keywords and know your target.
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