The purpose of a sales page is to convert a page visitor into a client for one specific consulting, coaching or training/teaching service or a related product, such as an elearning course, a book or a program. To accomplish this, the sales page needs to demonstrate how this specific offer solves a particular problem that the sales page visitor might face. For that reason, you really need to know your target audience and which problems they would like to be solved in order to create a sales page that converts successfully.
Sales pages are usually directly connected to social media or google ads, leading pre-qualified traffic (people who clicked on your ad because they have the problem you can solve) to the page. It is never enough just to create a sales page. You also need to figure out how you will generate a high level of traffic for your sales page. And there needs to be a smooth transition from a your ad to your sales page so that people find themselves in the expected environment (same imageriy, same language, same tone, same style) after clicking on an ad they felt attracted to on social media.
Let’s tackle some of the main questions when creating a sales page that converts the right visitors into happy clients.
Finding The Right Format Of A Sales Page
While some sales pages might be relatively short, others are extensive, sometimes seem endless because they go on and on.
Short-form sales pages are similar to landing pages where you will find just a few elements leading to a call-to-action button. Long-form sales pages, however, are slowly building up the page visitor’s desire to make the click and buy to solve their problem.
Always bear in mind that sales pages are entirely different from a website or homepage where you have your “About” page and all your services. This is because your homepage is supposed to attract a much wider audience at very different levels of their client journey. It is also your “digital home” with various content forms, a place where you publish your blog posts to showcase your expertise and present the full spectrum of your offers. A sales page usually focuses on just one thing (!) and is specifically tailored to sell this one thing and nothing else.
Long sales pages allow you to better connect with the visitors and show them that you know and understand their pain points. Also, you can highlight the benefits of your coaching, consulting or teaching service.
The downside to longer sales pages is that some people will not want to read through all your long copy. They might leave the page before letting their pain points click on your call-to-action button. Therefore, the advantage of short-form sales pages is that you provide a quick and concise overview of the benefits. That works for people who are already aware of their pain points and really want them to be solved. After reading that you got the solution for them, they will want to make their buying decision rightaway.
Ultimately, the type of sales page you make will depend on what you offer to whom. A shorter landing page is an excellent fit for simple, self-explanatory, relatively inexpensive services that appeal to people wth a specific, clearly defined problem or pain point. A long-form landing page is ideal for a service that is more complex and relatively high cost. You might need to create awareness first, why people struggle, what the core of their problems is.
Key Conversion Elements Of A Sales Page
Whether long or shot, the key elements of sales pages are similar regardless of the service you’re selling. Let’s dive in …
1 – Your Value Proposition
A value proposition is a short statement of the benefit you provide and how you solve your clients’ problem. Maybe add, why you’re the best person to do so. This short phrase will guide the rest of your copy. It can be at the start of the sales page but should also be repeated.
2 – A Catchy Headline
A compelling headline is the essential aspect of your sales page and addresses the specific problems or pain points your sales page visitors might have. Especially you longer sales page will only matter if you get people to read it. So write something that really resonates with your target group.
Put the same effort into subheadings which also should be to the (pain) point.
3 – The Underlying Pain Points
Next, validate your potential clients’ pain points. If you chose a short-form sales page, you might have a tagline or slogan that hits on the pain points and then clearly states who the your coaching, consulting or teaching services are ideal for.
If you are working on a long sales page, you can start with a background story about how you once struggled with a similar problem like your ideal client does today. This story will set you up to demonstrate how you overcame these pain points, and the clients can achieve the same with your service.
To make it even more relatable, use client testimonials about the pain points they experienced before and how you improved their situation. This will make your audience feel that they have finally found the solution (you) to their problem who can help them solve it.
You want people to feel emotions. So you will need to deepen their pains or frustrations. Describe specific examples and be empathetic, showing that you really get them and know how to help.
4 – The Key Benefits
The next step is to show more in detail how you mastered your own pain points. But don’t go into detail. Only describe your relief now that all is good.
Then turn to your audience. Explain the benefits and value behind each aspect of your offer. This is where you’ll reiterate the core problems your sales page visitors face and break down your solution. Focus on the benefits not the features of your coaching or consulting service. You could go even further and describe the benefits of the benefits. Will your service save them time or money? And what will your clients be able to do with the extra time or money? Just an example!
If you have a short sales page, use bullets to show the key benefits. But make sure to find very specific benefits and use powerful words.
5 – Social Proof for More Trust
Case studies, testimonials or any form of social proof are vital conversion elements on sales pages. They help clients identify with others who found relief through your service.
Whenever you create a sales page for a new service, ask some people to review it. Make contact with previous clients and ask for testimonials about your service and your personality as a coach, consultant or educator. Give them clear guidance on which information would be helpful for future clients. Ask them to write how your service positvely affected their life/business. Testimonials should also tap into more profound pain points that your target audience will resonate with.
Some sales pages incorporate feeds or screenshots of comments on social media. You could do this if you have got lots of testimonials or recommendations there.
6 – FAQs to Handle Objections
Towards the end of your sales page, you should overcome any objections that potential clients might have. This can be nicely done by setting up a FAQ element. Ask past clients what their most common objections were before buying from you. What questions do clients usually ask you in discovery calls? You could also scan through social media groups or forums where people are discussing similar services.
Then work these objections into questions and answer them in your FAQs. Focus on the pain points in the questions, and on the benefits in the answers
7 – Target Group vs This Is Not For You
Last but not least, you should specify once more who your service is for and also add who your service is NOT for. This deters people who aren’t your target audience and will reduce any issues with unhappy clients. More importantly, it encourages the right people to say “yes” to your service offer because they can clearly see to which group they belong: that they are going to be like all your other happy clients if they do not fulfill the characteristics you describe as “not an ideal fit”. They will feel even stronger that your offer is right for them and convert from visitors to clients.
8 – Call-To-Actions (CTA) throughout Your Sales Page
Ideally, it would be best if you had CTAs throughout your sales page, especially if you are creating a long-form sales page. The idea is to make it easy for visitors to buy at whatever point they become convinced. But the most important one is the one at the end of your sales page, as this one should close the deal.
A CTA shows the benefit of clicking by using action words and highlighting value. The wording of your CTA is crucial, so consider something like “Yes, I want to overcome XYZ and …”.
To create urgency, you could use a countdown timer or bonuses that are only available if someone buys straightaway. A time-limited offer fuels that a fear to miss out, increasing conversions. And there is scarcity, a limited supply of whatever you offer. This all very much depends on your sales strategy and what kind of first relationship you would like to have with your future clients.
If you don’t want to work with anything that creates pressure on future clients, focus on more value and lower the threshold. Repeat your value proposition and add bonuses that make your offer irresistible. Monthly payment offers, for example, lower the treshold when offering expensive programs. Also, a money-back, risk-free guarantee could do the trick to hit the button.
9 Popups to Reengage (Exit Intent)
Exit intent are basically popups that show once someone tries to leave your sales page. The idea is to reengage visitors and lead them to a solution straightaway, prompt them to get in touch with you or offer them a discount. If the CTAs did not do the trick, the reengage popup is your last resource to win users back.Think creatively what a potential client might find easy enough to agree to. If they stayed for quite a bit on your sales page, they will be interested but either find your offer to expensive, too soon, taking too long etc. Look again on your list of objections and try to find something to get people back in.
10 – Buttons, Colours and Fonts of your Sales Page
Finally, here are some design tips that will support your sales success. There is a lot of conflicting research out there, which type of buttons, what colours and even fonts convert the best. Either choose one source you trust and want to follow in detail. Or make some sensible choices that are good enough for a great start.
You could google the psychological impact colours can have on how consumers perceive a brand. So you might choose your colour scheme following these recommendations.
Then there are tests which suggest that button colours need to pop and should be different than the overall branding colours. So aim for high-contrast against our background colour. Also, pick a complementary colour, one that is opposite to your dominant brand colour on the colour wheel. Most studies suggest that red or orange buttons perform best.
High contrast is also key regarding the font sizes and colours. Make sure, your sales page is easy to read, even in bright daylight and on the mobile phone. Blue is the most commonly used colour for hyperlinks. Therefore, most people will click on blue font. Don’t confuse your users by using the same colour for non-clickable items, such as headings.
Keep in mind some of the basic website guidelines and create a good website user experience, which is critical for conversions.
11 Images And Videos Bring Your Sales Page to Life
Visuals create emotions and that is something you should definitely make use of. According to a variety of research, over 80% of consumers have made a purchase after watching a video. So think about recording a video that includes all the different elements of your sales page.
12 Monitoring Tools Will Guide You Further
Now that you’ve created a sales page, monitor how people behave on your page. A/B test various aspects of your client journey using A/B testing tools that come with many landing page building software. For example, change the headline, the images, the CTA wording, the button colours or even the testimonials, and see what works best. You can also test your pricing. But to get precise results, you should only change one thing at a time. So these things take time and effort but pay out in the end.
If you want to do more, add a heatmap to track how far people scroll down on a long-form sales age and how many you lose before reaching the final CTA. If there is any spot where people quit scrolling, test different options to see how you can reduce these bounces.
Another thing to pay attention to is your traffic generation. If you’re using social media ads to drive traffic, test different ads, CTAs within the ads or even ad audiences. There is always room for improvement. It takes a long time until a social media ads reach their full potential. Be prepared!
Conclusion
A great sales page takes a lot of time and effort to create. First, you’ll have to do in-depth research to learn what underlying pain points your target audience might have and how you can help. Rather than explaining all the nitty-gritty details of your consulting, coaching or teaching service, you should explain how it will make your prospective client feel. How will they get help with their underlying pain points? Why are you the right person to help?
Also, try to anticipate your clients’ main objections before they might decide not to buy from your. Once you got these content elements researched, think about copy, layout and design elements that will guide your sales page visitors to the all-important call-to-actions: one click, and the game is on.
