'The Young Writer's Workshop' Sales Page
By Brett Harris
Co-founder of the Young Writers Workshop
See Brett's winning page here
What we loved about this page:
Persuasive content architecture: telling a story & crafting an argument.
In the end, sales pages—likes salespeople—exist to persuade. They must relate to an audience, address objections/overcome barriers, promise value, and persuade people to take action. That is a tall order and it requires careful, strategic deployment of content. Brett's page does that masterfully.
Here's a high-level overview of how Brett has successfully structured his sales page:
- Header section: The header section contains an introduction to the offer ('A monthly membership site to help you write things you're proud of and then share them with the world') as well as a call-to-action (CTA) button.
- Social proof:Â Brett includes logos of publishing outlets, as well as video & text-based testimonials.
- Description of the offer:
- [Section] 1-2-3 process of how it works
- [Sections] What do you get: writing critiques, masterclass interviews, etc., which are also interspersed with additional social proof.
- Cost: Value Argument
- 60-day money back guarantee
- Pay-what-you-can policy
- Description of (2) bonuses
- Instructor profiles/bios
Powerful social proof.
In terms of establishing trustworthiness and credibility, this sales page comes out swinging.
Within the hero section, five brand logos display where past students have successfully published their work. How's that for illustrating the product's value and ability to deliver results? That's a home run.
Immediately thereafter, Brett includes not 3, but 4 real-world testimonials (1 text-based, and 3 videos)—a great strategy for reaching a range of readers. Not to mention that the content within the video testimonials is beautifully stitched together to form a compelling argument and help future students both self-identify with their peers and aspire to their success.
Brett also carefully interspersed additional testimonials in the form of social media screenshots throughout the page, so that as readers become more familiar with the course's content they also become more convinced of its value.
Strong price <> value comparison.
Speaking of value—halfway down the page, Brett begins to tackle the question of the price:value ratio. At this point, readers (1) understand who the offer is for (2) what the offer is and they're ready to begin considering whether the price:value ratio makes sense for them.
Here's how Brett tackles the argument:
- Section A: 'There's Never Been a Better Time To Be a Young Writer'
Facts & figures to support why writing is "essential" for a successful future
- Section B: 'YWW Helps Students Write More'
Real-world quotes from students to support the claim that the program produces more (and better writing
- Section C: 'What Does YWW Cost?'
Here's the pièce de résistance. Before revealing the cost of the course, Brett invites readers to 'review a few numbers' of what other comparable activities cost. He warms up by comparing the price tags of sports/music/dance lessons and then offering a side-by-side comparison of a college writing course. Brilliant.
What would make it even better:
Include the logo within the page's header/hero section.
While the page is stylishly and consistently branded, we did notice that there is no logo within the upper half of the page. Including it within the header section would help establish credibility and connect the page to whatever ad or traffic source directed a visitor there in the first place.
Keep the CTA button always within reach.
While the page does contain a whopping total of 6 CTA buttons, there is a large section near the middle of the page that requires multiple scrolls before you're able to opt-in. There may be an opportunity to include an additional opt-in opportunity there—perhaps in the form of a hyperlink or 'ghost button' (no-fill, outlined button).
'Get Hired Masterplan' Sales Page
By Irina Pichura
at Career Manifestations
See Irina's winning landing page here
What we loved about this page:
Distinct & consistent branding.
Alternating between peach and pink tones, Irina beautifully delineates between her content sections while staying consistent to her brand's visual identity: from her section backgrounds to her PDF mock-ups. She also beautifully incorporates jpeg images to add additional styling to her page, allowing her to display a wealth of content in a way that's not visually overwhelming.
Crystal clear offer accompanied by clear visuals.
Because information-based digital products, like a masterclass, are somewhat intangible, it can be hard to illustrate their value. Irina's page does an excellent job of describing in both words and images exactly what is contained within each module of her course and listing out the deliverables in an easy-to-read list. She even denotes which elements are 'standard' and which are 'bonuses' and by doing so, communicates how she'll over-deliver to her customers.
Engaging copywriting and a persuasive argument.
Irina's writing is emotionally evocative, crafted for the web (with short-form paragraphs and bulleted lists that offer numerous entry points), and infused with a casual tone that would resonate with her target audience.
What would make it even better:
Include a variety of testimonial formats.
Irina has chosen to include 3 video-based testimonials within her section 'What Get Hired students are saying...' While these video interviews are powerfully compelling, they also demand more engagement from the site visitors in order to extract the message. We'd recommend including a variety of testimonial formats—such as pull-0ut quotes with profile images—so that the 'drive-by-readers' can't help but pick up a little social proof along the way.
'Maze Digital Free Consultation' Sales Page
By Jonathan Mifsud
XERO Developer and Integration Expert at Maze Digital
See Jonathan's winning page here
What we loved about this page:
Clear message match to the target audience.
Highly targeted towards XERO software users, this page does a near-perfect job of honing in on a niche target audience and speaking to directly to that audience's pain points. From the headline 'Use Xero? Want More of Your Time Back?' to the myth-busting bullet points that are based on real-world customer feedback, everything about this page is designed to resonate and elicit a response: 'yes! That's me! I want your help.'
Clever design.
Sleekly designed with custom fonts, a well-placed emoji, and clever use of buttons, this page beautifully demonstrates how web design works wonders to engage an audience and create a seamless flow from the top of the page to the very bottom. We also gave Jonathan bonus points for his clever use of call-to-action buttons into a myth-busting interactive element as well as beautiful parallax image background sections with an overlay.
What would make it even better:
Book a free consult with the Calendly widget.
Rather than connecting the call-to-action button to an email-capture pop-up, we'd recommend using the new Leadpages Calendly widget that allows your audience to schedule an appointment directly from your landing page. No intermediate step, no unnecessary delays—just smooth sailing and seamless appointment booking.
'IB Bootcamp' Sales Page
By The Affine Team
Elite finance and tech bootcamps administered by leading industry professionals.
See the Affine Team's winning page here
What we loved about this page:
Irresistible, multi-layered offer.
Subject matter aside, when it comes to crafting an irresistible offer, this sales page has a number of valuable lessons to teach. Rather than merely offering a 4-week online bootcamp with a price tag, the Affine team has layered in significant value-adds and addressed barriers to purchase by offering:
- A compelling bonus:
"For the top 5% graduates from each bootcamp track, we will personally recommend them to top-tier investment banks, consulting firms and other relevant companies..."
- A money-back guarantee:
"If you wish to un-enroll, email us within 24 hours after your first live session ends for a full refund. No questions asked..."
- A referral offer:
"Refer 3 friends to sign-up for this bootcamp too, and we will give you a 70% refund on the bootcamp fee you paid. Just email..."
- Transparent pricing & strong price:value argument
Recognizing that some audience members may wonder what sets this program apart from others like it, the Affine Team dedicates an entire section to 'Our Bootcamps vs. DIY Online Courses.' They call out four key differentiators and then lead into their pricing section which clearly breaks down the market value of each element.
- Strong, consistent illustrations
Well-branded from top to bottom, the Affine Team makes beautiful use of illustrations to accompany their text-heavy sections.
- Clever use of Leadboxes/pop-ups
Typically pop-ups are used exclusively for opt-in opportunities and email capture. However, the hero section of this page does something quite interesting indeed. It contains 3 buttons, one of which is used to display a pop-up modal and communicate that enrollment for January has ended. In addition to informing the audience, it also introduces an element of scarcity: enrollment is capped and the last course is sold-out, better reserve your spot quick!
What would make it even better:
Contrasting color for the desired CTA button.
While we love the clever use of pop-ups, it's also important to focus visitors' attention on a single next-action. That's why we recommend isolating a single CTA button (in this case: 'Reserve your spot for March 2019') with a contrasting color.
'Asian-Inspired Whole30 Cookbook' Lead Generation Landing Page
By ChihYu Smith
Founder of IHeartUmami.com
See the whole page here
What we loved about this page:
Beautiful use of imagery: to convey the offer & author's credibility.
As one of the leading voices in Asian-inspired Paleo cuisine and a growing social media influencer, ChihYu's profile picture would be recognized and hold clout with her online following. It also happens to be the same hero background image used on her website, which establishes a strong connection to her business and brand. The page itself also contains a wealth of social proof (in the form of social media screenshots) that would be relevant and recognizable by the ChihYu's online following. Not to mention...doesn't her food look absolutely yummy? We thought so.
We also appreciated that she mocked up the cover page of her cookbook to help make her digital file feel more tangible, and went through the trouble of changing her pages' favicon to her logo.
Conversion-optimized pop-up.
When it comes to optimizing a pop-up for conversion, the simpler and shorter—the better. In this case, ChihYu is simply asking 'Where should I send your FREE cookbook?' and requesting that a visitor input 2 form fields, rather than 5. She even included a completion bar to instill a sense of progress and persuade the visitor to click once and cross the finish line.
Offer is well-aligned with the landing page content.
In this case, offering a free cookbook PDF in exchange for a name and email address doesn't require a lengthy sales page to persuade a visitor to take action. ChihYu has matched the content on her page to her offer and kept things simple. We're often asked: how long should my landing page be? The answer: as long as it has to be, and not a word more.
What would make it even better:
Shorten the copy of the CTA button.
Data from tens of thousands of pages has taught us that CTA buttons are best kept to under 25 characters. So, we'd recommend shortening the copy used on the final CTA button and making use of a subheader instead.
Conclusion
Competition for the top five winning landing pages in the 2018 Leadpages Awards was fierce. While it took our judges a number of rounds to ultimately determine the winners, these five pages ultimately took home the prize.
We'd love to hear from you:
So—what did you think? Was there anything else among these five winners that you found to be particularly awesome? What's one takeaway lesson you'll be using in your own digital marketing efforts? We'd love to hear from you in the comments section below!
Also: Don't forget to stay tuned to the Leadpages blog as we roll out more of our favorite pages and honorable mentions so that you can learn from other small business marketers who are making their way in the world.
