You managed to entice your email reader or web surfer to click your link or your ad. In today's cluttered web marketing world, that's quite an accomplishment. But don't start celebrating yet. It's what happens after the click that determines the success of your campaign.
And unfortunately, according to a recent SilverPop study, up to 50% of visitors leave your landing page within the first 8 seconds. So, what can you do to increase your conversions after the click?
First, don't panic, and don't feel too bad. A MarketingSherpa survey revealed that conversion rates for email campaigns average only 5.67 percent (11.31 percent for free offers). So you're definitely not alone in less than optimal campaign results. But if your conversions are significantly below these averages, you may want to take some time and implement a few of these changes:
1. Ensure that the text and promotional copy on your landing page match the text and promotional copy of your email campaign. Often times, the email message is written by a copywriter and the landing page is created by a web developer and the two messages are not in sync. One of the quickest fixes is to use the same headline on your landing page as you used in your email message.
2. Create a dedicated landing page for your campaign. If you are offering a widget on sale for $14, take the readers to the widget page. Do not dump them on your home page and expect them to crawl around looking for your widget.
3. Use the same look and feel in your email message or display ad that you use in your landing page. Landing pages that do not match the original ad end up confusing the visitors. They think they are in the wrong place and they end up clicking away from the page altogether.
4. Reduce your form fields as much as possible. Forms that require more than 10 fields result in significantly reduced conversions.
5. Eliminate navigation bars or other linking elements that might distract the visitor and cause him to click away.
