We’ve all had our ecommerce email marketing fail at some point. You create an email campaign that is designed to sell a lot of products. You create an appealing HTML template, write captivating copy, and A/B test your subject line. You implement an obvious and compelling call to action.
After all that work, the email you directed people to has a high rate of bouncing back- or even worse, a low rate of conversion.
What gives?
The emails you’re sending might not be relevant to the people you’re sending them to. If you advertise a 15% discount on dog treats but don’t mention the discount on the linked page, your audience will be confused and will lose interest quickly.
If your email and landing page don’t have the same message, it will decrease your conversion rate.
You may already be aware that this is a problem, but feel that you do not have the necessary resources to match all of your offers with pages specific to the campaign. Fortunately, there’s an easy fix. If you want your ecommerce campaign to be successful, you need to make sure your emails match your landing pages. Here’s how you can do it effectively.
The Real Reasons Your Email Subscribers Aren’t Buying
Here are some of the common reasons email promos underperform:
1. Your storefront product page isn’t enough
Data indicates that, even with load times of less than two seconds, the average bounce rate is 9%. If you’re seeing higher bounce rates on the destination page of your email promos, it might be that you’re not linking to a relevant enough page in the first place.
You should avoid using your online store’s product pages for this purpose. They are often too brief, lack the specific details that were included in your original email, and do not provide a uniform experience from one click to the next.
2. You’ve got too many escape routes
One issue with your online store’s product pages is that it is easy for customers to get sidetracked and leave. There are many ways to escape the email, such as website menus, product navigation, and highlighted deals.
Your ecommerce landing page should be designed to be a distraction-free, conversion-optimized funnel. Always encourage your customers to go forward, not sideways.
3. You’re a victim of the paradox of choice
If you reduce the number of ways that people can leave your website, you may see fewer people leaving without converting. Barry Schwartz states in his book that more choices lead to more indecisiveness.
The same is true for your visitors. Landing pages with only one call to action tend to have higher conversion rates than those with multiple calls to action.
4. Your landing page is trying to do too much
If your landing pages are more targeted, you can use fewer words. If you have less text on your landing pages, it may result in a 14% higher conversion rate than if you have too much text, which has a 11% lower conversion rate.
Why Every Ecommerce Email Marketing Campaign Needs Its Own Landing Page
To summarize some of the things we’ve already covered, here are some of the biggest reasons that you should be pairing email promotions with dedicated landing pages:
- Avoid confusion and frustration . When someone clicks a CTA in your email for a specific offer, they don’t want to end up on a page that doesn’t mention that promo. They may wonder if the offer is even valid.
- Target specific customer groups . More specific landing pages help you hit on more customer segments. In one example below, you’ll see how Samuraw targeted specific customer groups with unique pages for each.
- Maintain purchase momentum . A customer clicking your email offers is further in the sales cycle than a customer who just discovered your product pages. Creating specific landing pages helps you target those customers who are more prepared to buy and streamlines their path to purchase.
How to Match Your Emails with Your Landing Pages (& Maximize Conversions)
Here are some quick tips for creating landing pages that convert more of your email subscribers:
- Be consistent in design . The first thing that visitors are going to internalize is how the landing page actually looks . When someone clicks on your CTA in the email, the last thing you want to do is surprise them. To create a seamless experience, include consistent design elements like colors, fonts, and images.
- Minimize navigation . This is a landing page, not a launching page. Yet too few ecommerce marketers seem to realize that: only about 16% of landing pages are free of a navigation bar. Be sure you’re not in the other 84%.
- Reduce friction . Automatically fill in whatever information you can for visitors on your landing page. For example, if they clicked on a coupon code, make sure it’s already applied to their cart. This reduces the amount of clicking a customer has to do when they’re placing an order.
- Make one offer per landing page . While 48% of landing pages make multiple offers , you can reinforce the specificity and consistency of your own promotion by focusing on just one offer per page.
- Make sure the offers match . Don’t make the mistake of promising a discount in an email without also mentioning it on the landing page. Keep the messaging precisely matched so customers don’t have to wonder if they’re in the right place.
4 Types of Ecommerce Landing Pages + Strategy
It is important for landing pages to be personalized to match the interests of the visitor, as well as to match where they are in the sales funnel. The landing page for someone who is new to your site and just exploring will be drastically different from the landing page of someone who has already visited your site and started shopping.
This means that you would use a different landing page for each marketing campaign. This would allow you to create specific campaigns for awareness, remarketing, upsell, and re-engagement.
The types of ecommerce landing pages are designed to achieve different objectives, from boosting brand awareness to encouraging customers to make another purchase. The content will vary depending on the CTA.
Here’s a breakdown of the 4 types of ecommerce landing pages:
1. Top of funnel landing page
The purpose of a top-of-the-funnel landing page is to introduce your ecommerce site to new visitors.
This page will be used for creating ads for campaigns that target audiences that are similar to your existing customers. The people in this group may not be familiar with your company yet, but they are probably interested in what you have to offer.
As this is your first impression, this page could include content like:
- Your brand story and why you exist
- Solutions your products offer
- Social proof to establish credibility
At this point in the marketing funnel, potential customers are not yet ready to make a purchase, so the CTA (call to action) should instead be focused on creating a connection and generating leads. An example of this would be if you offered a 10% discount on their first purchase when they sign up for your newsletter. Now they have a reason to come back, and you’ll have their email address so you can reach them without using advertising.
2. Mid-funnel landing page.
The purpose of a mid-funnel landing page is to persuade customers who have shown some level of interest in your site to take a desired action, such as making a purchase.
This page will be for retargeting campaigns . These allottees will be cognizant with your trade name, maybe even have a few widgets picked out, but still need auxiliary propitiating.
The content on this page should be designed to encourage those who are undecided to take action. This can include:
- Content around specific products (i.e. a headline like “If you can’t stop thinking about it, buy it”)
- Social proof to show who else has bought the product and positive reviews
- Sense of urgency or limited time offers (i.e. “Almost Gone”)
The CTA on this type of landing page will be designed to drive a purchase. For example, if you have a button that says “Buy Now.” Making the purchase process convenient and quick will encourage customers to check out immediately.
3. Bottom-funnel landing page.
The following text is about bottom-funnel landing pages. These are designed for customers who have visited your site, added everything they want to a shopping cart, but have not completed the purchase.
The purpose of this page is to sell more items to customers who are already interested in buying something. This is done by offering them additional products that they might be interested in.
The purpose of upselling content is to encourage customers to buy more, not just to buy. This includes:
- Bundle offers (i.e. Complete your order with….”)
- Content around related products (i.e. “Frequently Bought Together” items)
- A discount related to cart abandonment, such as free shipping
This page’s CTA focuses on closing the deal first. If possible, try to sell products that have a higher average order value. For example, a CTA saying “Make Your Order Complete” with content specifically promoting items related to the customer’s abandoned cart.
It is best to test the upsell before offering discounts.
4. Already purchased landing page.
The purpose of landing pages that have already been purchased is to keep your current customers satisfied and coming back to your site.
You can use this page to help keep customers coming back for more, and keep them loyal to your brand. By doing this, you can increase their lifetime loyalty and encourage them to make repeat purchases.
Since this page’s content is targeting existing customers, there is no need to go into detail about who you are and what you offer. Instead of focusing on content that might turn customers away, focus on content that will keep them as customers. This can include:
- Customer loyalty incentives (i.e. Earn points on every purchase)
- Sneak previews to new products
- Early access to sales or exclusive deals
- Category pages related to previous purchases
- Opportunities for customer referrals (i.e. Invite your friends and get rewarded)
Other stages of the sales funnel focus on the numbers and data, but the CTA stage focuses on the customer’s experience. It’s not as important to get customers to make a purchase immediately, as it is to build a strong, lasting relationship. Make customers feel valued and special. An example of this would be giving existing customers access to a sale before it is available to the general public, with the CTA saying “Start Shopping Early.”
Must-Try Best Practices For Your Landing Pages
Here are the must-try best practices:
1. Limit the clutter.
A HIGH-QUALITY landing page is easy to understand and follow. This means limiting the clutter on your page.
You don’t want to lose conversions because the text is overwhelming, or because visitors can’t find the “Buy Now” button.
Some tips for limiting the clutter include:
- Concise, to-the-point headlines
- Visible and clear CTA (more below)
- Removing site navigation links
- Relevant, high-quality images
- Bullet points for product details
It does not take long for someone to decide whether they want to stay on a website or leave. This text states that people are likely to skip over large amounts of text, rather than reading it all.
The chances are higher that they will quickly scan the page to see if it meets their needs. Every page element matters and has a clear purpose for why it is being included.
Stay focused on what is important and don’t add extra content just for the sake of it.
2. Include a visible, clear CTA.
As soon as visitors land on your page, they should be able to tell what your offer is and how they can take advantage of it.
To accomplish this include a visible, clear CTA.
Unlike other pages on your site, landing pages should not have multiple CTAs. Providing only a single option to visitors makes their decision process much simpler, as opposed to having to compare and select between multiple choices. The following is a more ideal way to advance visitors into the sales funnel without distractions.
The call-to-action (CTA) button should be placed in a spot where it will be highly visible to users, easy for them to find, and relevant to the specific group of customers you are targeting. This can be done by:
- Placing your CTA at the top of the page, above the digital fold
- Including multiple buttons for a single CTA throughout the page
- Using active voice for button text (i.e. Sign up for Free)
- Create a sense of urgency or exclusivity (i.e. Claim Your Offer Now)
3. Use high-quality images.
Images play a big role in convincing visitors on landing pages because of the limited time and space. As they say, an image is worth a thousand words.
Choose images that will help support the goal of the landing page. For example, if the page is discussing campaigns that are midway through the funnel for specific items, then using product images would be beneficial.
Be sure that images are optimized for all devices. Mobile commerce is becoming increasingly popular for transactions. Images should be the right size for the phone so that you don’t need to zoom out or scroll down.
Not only do images make things look more appealing, they also help people trust and believe in what they’re seeing. Some ways you can leverage social proof through images includes:
- Testimonials that include the customer’s photo
- User-generated content of customers using products
- Media recognition and trust seals (i.e. As featured in….)
- Endorsements with pictures of the celebrity or influencer
Only use images that will enhance your landing page. If an image is poor quality, has bad lighting, or doesn’t match the rest of the content, it’s best not to use it.
Ecommerce landing pages allow you to better reach your customers by giving them more options and satisfying their shopping needs.
This article provides best practices and examples for creating ecommerce landing pages. You can use these to create pages that fit your marketing campaigns and target audiences. It is important to understand your customers and personalize your website to persuade them to stay on your site and buy your products.
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