The AIMCLEAR Guide To Holiday Promotions: Landing Pages

Unfortunately, many businesses build a single, solitary landing page for the whole season, and then simply change out the header image for different holidays.

Bah Humbug!

It’s possible to do so much more, with just a little bit more effort.

A great place to start might be to build a landing page that contains everything pertinent to all your holiday shopping promotions, including gift-worthy products, coupon codes, info on sales, dates, shipping deadlines, and so on.

Update key inbound links (social media profile links, links in email signatures) that point to your homepage with a link to your new “Holiday Overview” page, and you can quickly start sending early holiday traffic here, instead of your homepage. 

Once you’ve done that, you can dig even deeper with more granular landing pages for specific uses. 

• Build a landing page that captures lead information (name and email) that can be used later. Maybe let shoppers download a PDF of your new shiny Holiday Gift Guide!
  
• Build a landing page (or series of landing pages) especially for visitors clicking through from email, and fill the page with special “email subscribers only” offers.
  
• Build a landing page for your “Holiday Gift Guide” promotion, that features only the products featured in your guide for easy shopping!
  
• If you plan on discounting an entire product line as part of your holiday promotions, create a landing page with the coupon code on it (so shoppers don’t have to dig around for it) and include the products that are included in the sale.

7 Tips For Effective Landing Pages

1. Consistency Is Key

We can’t stress enough the importance of having close alignment between the messaging and visual elements in your ads and the actual landing pages for those ads. 

If your paid search ads are constantly reminding shoppers about Black Friday deals, you should absolutely communicate that same sense of Black Friday urgency above-the-fold on the landing page. 

2. Keep It Minimal

Your landing page is meant to direct visitors to take a specific action, whether that’s filling out a form, or purchasing a product. For that reason, don’t include too many other links, options, or distracting elements. 

At AIMCLEAR, we often develop landing pages that look like they were created to exist in an isolation bubble:

• We minimize or remove the top navigation
• Move the social media icons to the footer
• Remove bright visual elements that aren’t buttons, or elements that encourage our ideal outcome

And the results? The more simplified design and direct the copy, the better they convert.

3. Add Testimonials/Reviews

Testimonials and reviews are a great way to reassure buyers that they’re making a smart decision. Unfortunately, most testimonials are too weak and generalized. Testimonials that say things like “WOW!!! LOVE THIS PRODUCT!” are ineffective at best, and totally unbelievable at worst.

You want to use testimonials that describe in great detail how your customers have benefited from their purchase. 

The more detail you provide, the more “human” testimonials  are… And the more human they are, the more believable they are.

So go ahead and remove that plugin that displays every review you’ve ever received, no matter how short, unreadable, or vague they may be. Instead, curate detailed, granular testimonials and use those on your landing pages.

4. Add Other Authority Markers 

Logos, badges and icons make people feel warm and cozy, like they’re huddled around a blazing fireplace. 

• Test adding “Trust Badges” (Icons for SSL, Safe Checkout, Secure Ordering, Satisfaction Guaranteed, etc. etc.) under/around your buttons 
• Test adding icons/logos for “Awards and Certifications”
• If you’ve been featured on television or other mainstream media, test adding “As Seen On” icons/logos for known media outlets

5. Test Countdown Timers

As we’ve already discussed, a countdown timer displaying how much time is left during a particular promotion works to create a sense of urgency, and reminds shoppers that it’s time to take action.

6. Finesse Your Buttons

You really want visitors to click the buttons on your landing pages. Buttons add items to a cart. They add a prospect’s name to your email newsletter, and they take visitors deeper into your funnel. With this in mind, your buttons should stand out in contrast from the rest of the elements on your landing page. 

Use heat-mapping software like Hotjar or CrazyEgg to test the effectiveness of these modifications, and adjust accordingly.

7. Simplify Your Checkout

This isn’t necessarily a landing page specific tip, but it’s critically important: 

You need to do everything in your power to simplify and streamline your checkout process. Monitor your data, and isolate areas where prospects are getting hung up, and test variants that work to address those roadblocks.

Download the complete guide, continue on to “Tips From The Trenches,” or browse through the chapters:

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The AIMCLEAR Guide to Holiday Promotions AIMCLEAR Guide to Holiday Creative” width=”248″ height=”300″ />

• Planning Your Promotions
• Messaging Strategy and the 4 Stages of Buyer Awareness
• 7 Delightful Holiday Campaign Ideas
• Ad Creatives
• Landing Pages
• Tips From The Trenches
• Closing Thoughts & Appendix