Day 9: Clarity Of Message And Your Landing Page

We have covered a lot of ground. Each piece matters to building a durable business, and as you put them in place you start to become a recognised voice in your market.

Now go back to step one and tighten the focus: who are you serving, where are you taking them, and how will you get them there.

Three steps to settle first

1. Identify your avatar
2. Determine the components of your brand messaging
3. Craft your irresistible offer

1. Identify your avatar

It is tempting to jump straight to ads, copy and landing pages. But without a clear customer you are guessing. Getting this clear affects almost every part of your marketing and sales.

You may need to actually talk to your customers to do it. Do not let that stop you starting.

In this process you will:

• Identify their goals and values
• Find where they get their information
• Fill in their demographics, and name them
• Identify their challenges and pain points
• List their objections and their role in the buying decision

2. Determine your brand messaging

Brand messaging is consistency of voice: not only how you sound but what you say.

Foundation. Behind every brand is a core message saying why it matters, what it stands for and how it differs. Start with mission, vision statement, values and voice.

Internal. Messaging starts with how you and your team describe the brand. Check it: does your core message offer anything different? Is it simple and easy to understand? Does it resonate with the people you are trying to reach?

External. The outward-facing statements: positioning statement, differentiators, value propositions.

Consistency. Your brand lives in your audience's mind. If the message is not shaping every touchpoint, the brand reads as inconsistent, and inconsistency reads as distrust.

3. Craft your irresistible offer

An irresistible offer is one where the value clearly exceeds the cost of access, so it is an easy yes for someone who needs it.

• Identify the outcome your client actually wants
• List the problems that come up in reaching it
• Reword those problems as solutions you can provide
• Consider the different ways you could deliver each solution
• Keep the solutions that are high value, whether low cost or high cost
• Name each one and stack them into your offer

Then build the landing page

A landing page is a standalone page built for one campaign, where someone arrives after clicking a link. Unlike a website, which invites exploration, a landing page has a single goal.

Before you build it you want your avatar, your brand identity, your lead capture form, your lead magnet, your offer stack, and your email and SMS follow-up ready.

The five core elements

1. A unique selling proposition. What makes this offer different and better. It is carried by your main headline, a supporting headline, and optionally a reinforcing statement mid-page and a closing statement at the end. Keep the headline short and direct about what the reader gets.

2. A hero image or video. The first thing people see. Ideally it shows the thing in use. Real people beat stock photography.

3. Benefits. Describe benefits alongside features. A feature is a quality of the thing; a benefit is the difference it makes. Lead with the benefit where you can.

4. Social proof. Direct quotes, case studies, video testimonials, customer logos, review scores. Two rules: do not fake it, and be specific. A testimonial works when the reader can identify with the person giving it, so use real names and real photographs.

5. One conversion goal. One call to action, as a button or a form. Avoid "click here" and "submit"; say what the reader gets. Keep forms short and include a privacy statement so people know what happens to their data. Small changes matter here, so this is worth testing.