I noticed how many of you leaped on the Reed Floren course I recommended this week and it reminded me that basic ‘how-to’ training is fundamental to your success.
With that in mind, I scoured the net this week for some how-to type stuff that may not be covered in courses and the like.
First up is what I consider a vital art and that is creating a clear call to action (CTA). Without one, your prospects and buyers will not do what you want them to do…which is generally sign up and/or buy!
Here is an excellent primer on the subject:
http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/call-to-action-optimization-ht
And a useful list of examples of effective CTAs:
http://blog.crazyegg.com/2013/07/24/call-to-action-examples/
Another thing you absolutely must get right is your squeeze page layout – you’ll find loads of advice on this, a lot of it conflicting, but there are some excellent pointers here:
http://www.garyhyman.com/how-to-generate-more-conversions-with-solid-squeeze-page-design/
This is also a comprehensive look at how you can create a high-converting Social squeeze page that includes a link to another element I consider vital – writing a great headline:
http://backlinko.com/social-squeeze-page
And here are some good examples of great squeeze pages and why they work:
http://www.codrutturcanu.com/13-best-squeeze-page-examples/
There is one thing that everyone agrees on and that is that simplicity is key which is why image-based squeeze pages with just an opt-in box and a call to action have become so popular.
There are a lot of paid solutions out there to help you create these and other types of squeeze/landing pages such as two-step optins but not too many free ones. I have dug around, however, and here is a nice recent round-up of free plugins for those of you using WordPress:
http://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/free-landing-page-plugins/
Images are, of course, vital in all areas of marketing and most especially social (I know I keep saying this but it is SO important you get this one right!). To help you create eye-poppingly fabulous images, here’s an excellent tutorial:
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/create-graphics-for-social-media/
We’ll finish this week with another vital how-to…Julian Treasure’s TED talk on How To Speak So That People Want To Listen:
