Conversion Optimization - Instapage Blog https://instapage.com/category/conversion-optimization/ Thu, 08 Aug 2024 11:25:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 7 Lead Generation Tips for B2B Brands https://instapage.com/blog/lead-generation-tips/ Tue, 30 Jul 2024 08:30:00 +0000 https://instapage.com/?p=141475
Highlights Without quality leads, your marketing efforts mean nothing Learn the best lead generation tips for this year Get content marketing ideas to build into your strategy Plus, is anyone still watching videos? The answer may surprise you Every marketing and sales strategy begins with one common goal: to generate leads. Leads are the lifebloodRead More >]]>

Highlights

  • Without quality leads, your marketing efforts mean nothing
  • Learn the best lead generation tips for this year
  • Get content marketing ideas to build into your strategy
  • Plus, is anyone still watching videos? The answer may surprise you

Every marketing and sales strategy begins with one common goal: to generate leads. Leads are the lifeblood of B2B brands because without good leads in the marketing funnel, you have no:

  • Potential customers to nurture and convert into paying clients
  • Data to analyze and optimize your marketing and sales strategies
  • Revenue to sustain and grow your business
  • Feedback to improve your products or services based on customer needs
  • Brand awareness and reputation in your target market

Your business could be offering a game-changing product or service, but without any leads, you may as well have nothing. Without a steady stream of high-quality leads your overall business growth will stagnate.

Experimenting with the following lead generation strategies will help attract leads and get your B2B brand noticed in 2024.

Use LinkedIn for ads and thought leadership

LinkedIn isn’t just a marketplace for jobs. It is a robust social media platform that can be a powerful marketing tool to build brand awareness and foster connections with potential customers.

If it isn’t already part of your marketing strategy, you should be using LinkedIn in the following ways:

Lead generation ads:

With LinkedIn lead gen ads, you have the opportunity to reach potential customers directly with highly segmented targeting.

Filter by professional demographics like job title, company, industry, title, or more traditional demographics. Utilize lead gen forms that auto-populate with profile data and measure the ROI of your campaign. Not only is this a great tactic for building brand awareness, but LinkedIn ads convert 3x more than other ad platforms.

Salesforce uses a lead gen ad to promote their annual State of Marketing Report to marketing professionals who may be interested in the topic. A user who clicks the ‘Download’ CTA is taken to a Lead Gen Form where the fields are auto-populated based on that user’s profile data.

This image shows Salesforce ad promoting their marketing report

B2B thought leadership content:

As a B2B marketer, fostering a connection with your target audience begins with building trust and credibility. One way to do that is to focus on thought leadership content posted on LinkedIn.

The content gives you a chance to educate readers on industry topics you’re knowledgeable about. It’s also a way to attract readers who are interested in specific topics and a powerful way to rack up more organic leads. Thought leadership content can be delivered in the form of a post, a video, a link to a report, blogs, and more.

Network security company Cloudflare used their LinkedIn page to post a video about DDoS attacks and how they can hurt companies. They assert themselves as experts in this topic while simultaneously touting their ability to help potential customers keep their own networks secure.

This image shows Cloudflare's LinkedIn post screenshot

Use Meta ads to attract the right leads

Meta (formerly Facebook) remains a powerful platform for B2B lead generation due to its vast user base and sophisticated targeting options. Here’s how to leverage Meta ads:

Targeted lead generation ads:

Similar to LinkedIn, Meta lead gen ads allow you to collect leads directly on the platform through forms that auto-fill with users’ information. You can target potential leads based on job title, company size, industry, and other specific demographics, ensuring your ads reach the right audience at the right time.

Hootsuite uses a Meta ad to entice potential customers with a free demo of their social media monitoring tool.

This image shows Hootsuite's Meta ad screenshot

Use content marketing to your advantage

To build brand awareness, increase traffic to your website, and attract potential customers, you’ll want to use tactics that get your name above the competition in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Creating marketing campaigns using compelling content can help you attract outbound leads and rank favorably on SERPs.

leading landing page builder

What kind of content is good for B2B campaigns? Here are some ways to create compelling content marketing campaigns:

  • Case Studies: Detailed case studies show how your product or service has solved specific problems for other businesses and demonstrate how and why you have a successful offering. This builds credibility and shows potential leads how they might use your product or service.
  • Webinars: Hosting webinars on relevant industry topics allows you to engage directly with your audience, showcase your expertise, and collect lead information from attendees. Webinars allow you to educate your audience in an interactive way; including a live Q&A section allows potential leads to engage with you and get a glimpse of what it might be like to be your customer.
  • Guest Posting: Writing guest posts for reputable industry blogs or websites helps you reach a broader audience and positions you as a thought leader in your field.
  • Podcasts: Many marketers are embracing podcasts as a great medium for conveying thought leadership content and having personal, entertaining, and meaningful conversations with other industry professionals. This is another way to build credibility and position yourself as an expert in your field.
  • Videos: A recent survey found that 88% of B2B buyers have watched a video to learn about a company’s products or services. 97% of those viewers felt more receptive to hearing from a company’s sales team.

Spotify uses listener information to create one of the most famous content marketing campaigns we’ve seen in recent years—Spotify Wrapped.

At the end of every year, Spotify listeners get a personalized round-up of their most-listened music of the year. Their data and playlists are made to be shareable and, year after year, it creates a viral moment that everyone wants to get in on.

This image shows a screenshot of Spotify 2023 personalised round-ups for users

At Instapage, we love to feature our customer’s success stories on our own website.

Instapage customer story for Generation

Offer product trials and demos

Free trials and demos are powerful tools for reducing conversion friction and attracting more leads. They give potential customers a risk-free way to experience the benefits of your product or service firsthand and a compelling reason to pay for your product or service once the trial is over.

  • Free trials: Offering a limited-time free trial allows potential customers to explore your product’s features and functionalities without any financial commitment. This hands-on experience can significantly increase the likelihood of conversion, especially if they are able to tap into the full range of functionalities and are able to see tangible benefits during the trial period.
  • Product demos: Personalized product demos tailored to a potential customer’s specific needs can address their unique pain points and showcase how your product can provide a solution. In addition, they give potential customers face time with your brand, which can lead to a sense of trust and a willingness to commit.

Headspace offers a free trial of their meditation app and they succeed in conveying their value proposition, remaining transparent (they clearly list their pricing options), and using a direct CTA to guide the lead to the next step.

This image shows Headspace free trial screenshot

Get customers to refer you

Word of mouth can work wonders for your lead generation. Encourage your existing customers to refer your product or service to their network.

Consider implementing a referral program that incentivizes customers to refer your business to others. Offer rewards such as discounts, free products, or other perks for successful referrals.

Dropbox famously grew its user base through a referral program that offered additional storage space to both the referrer and the referred. This not only attracted new leads but also encouraged existing users to engage more with the product.

This image shows a screenshot of Dropbox referral program offer

Encourage customers to leave you reviews

People rarely buy something without vetting the service first. Think of how many times you’ve looked at reviews for a restaurant, product, or service before engaging with it further. Ask your customers to leave positive reviews on third-party review sites as a way to build trust and attract new leads.

Review platforms like G2, Capterra, or Trustpilot are commonly referenced throughout the buying process. Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on these platforms. Positive reviews can significantly influence a leads’ decision-making process and make conversions more likely.

Below is an example of a user’s review of Instapage, left on review site Capterra.

This image dempnstrates Instapage user review on Capterra

Create more videos

Videos are getting increasingly popular in the B2B space for brand awareness and lead generation.
Leverage the power of video to humanize your brand and get more eyeballs on your content. Two popular types of videos are:

  • Explainer Videos: Create short, engaging videos that explain how your product or service works and the benefits it offers. These videos can be shared on your website, social media channels, in email campaigns, and on dedicated YouTube pages.
  • Customer Testimonials: Showcase customer success stories through video testimonials. Seeing real customers speak positively and authentically about your product can be a powerful motivator for potential leads. Leads may see themselves in your customer’s shoes and may want to replicate their experience by committing to your brand.

Zendesk uses a simple, straightforward YouTube video featuring an employee giving a quick overview of their workforce management tools. This approach humanizes the brand and helps them appear welcoming.

Incorporate landing pages into your lead generation strategy

Generating leads is essential for the growth and sustainability of any B2B business. As part of your strategy, you should be thinking about the post-click experience. In other words, what happens once a potential lead clicks your ad, watches your video, listens to your podcast, and so on?

Creating custom, dedicated landing pages that match the messaging in your ad can have a tremendous impact on your conversion rates.

Payment-processing company Paystone recently ran a campaign incentivizing users to switch over to them because of their better value and for a chance to win Amazon gift cards. The copy, colors, and image used in the ad were replicated in the landing page, offering a great example of how to tie landing pages to relevant ads.

Paystone landing page lead form screenshot
This image shows a screenshot of Paystone LinkedIn ad

Instapage is a leading landing page builder that makes it easy to create and optimize landing pages without needing to hire additional resources. Instapage users love these intuitive features:

  • An easy to use drag-and-drop interface
  • Built-in data analytics
  • AI content generation to help with headlines, buttons, and more
  • The ability to experiment and optimize via A/B testing
  • Insights to match copy to visitor-level data like keywords, firmographics, and demographics, and more!

Best of all, no coding is necessary, so you won’t need to rely on a developer.

Ready to start incorporating dedicated, custom-branded landing pages into your marketing strategy? Get started with a free 14-day trial of Instapage today.

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5 Steps to Nailing a CRO Audit https://instapage.com/blog/cro-audit/ Wed, 24 Jul 2024 15:12:20 +0000 https://instapage.com/?p=195442
CRO audit checklist Identify the conversion actions that matter to your business Focus on the touchpoints that matter Understand user behavior with heat maps and A/B tests Gather voice of customer (VoC) data Put your data into action As marketers, we often find ourselves scratching our heads over insufficient conversions. Imagine an e-commerce website withRead More >]]>

CRO audit checklist

  • Identify the conversion actions that matter to your business
  • Focus on the touchpoints that matter
  • Understand user behavior with heat maps and A/B tests
  • Gather voice of customer (VoC) data
  • Put your data into action

As marketers, we often find ourselves scratching our heads over insufficient conversions.

Imagine an e-commerce website with 20,000 monthly visitors but only a 1% conversion rate. It means only 200 of its visitors become paying customers each month. A CRO audit can help reveal hidden issues with the website, such as unclear call-to-action buttons, non-intuitive navigation, distracting elements, and more.

Did you know that the average conversion rate for a website is 2.3%? If you’re below that benchmark, it’s probably time for a CRO audit.

What is a CRO audit?

A conversion rate optimization audit is an in-depth examination of your website, landing page, or app that aims to uncover any barriers in the way of conversions.

Are you getting adequate traffic, but the conversion numbers are down? Are visitors abandoning their carts? Is your bounce rate high?

These questions can keep marketing teams wide awake at night.

In fact, according to research, only 22% of companies are actually satisfied with their conversions. The rest of us mortals are on a perpetual optimization quest for conversions.

By systematically analyzing user behavior, website performance, and conversion paths for page visitors, a CRO audit provides a roadmap to improving your website’s effectiveness and ultimately boosts your bottom line.

Why your business needs a CRO audit

Having a website or landing page that looks good is no longer enough. To thrive, your business needs to ensure that visitors are converting into paying customers. This is where a CRO audit comes into play. It helps you:

Maximize your ROAS

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is a crucial metric for any marketing campaign. A CRO audit helps you maximize your ROAS by pinpointing areas within your website or marketing funnel that need improvement, such as a broken thank you page link. When you optimize these areas, you get more value from every marketing dollar spent, driving higher revenue and making more efficient use of your budget.

Improve user experience

A thorough CRO audit evaluates the user experience at every funnel touchpoint, from landing pages to checkout processes. By identifying and rectifying issues that come in the way of a seamless user journey, you can significantly enhance the overall user experience.

Smoother navigation, faster load times, and intuitive design all contribute to keeping visitors engaged and moving them toward conversion. Here you can read more about conversion rate optimization.

Clean up your marketing pixels. Ensure you are using the latest versions of tracking scripts and remove those you don’t need anymore. Keeping outdated pixels can not only cause page-loading delays but also create vulnerabilities and security risks.

Michele Barnes - Conversion Experience Manager at Instapage

Uncover conversion barriers

One of the primary goals of a CRO audit is to uncover factors that prevent users from converting, such as:

  • Non-responsive page design leading to poor user experience on mobile devices
  • Underwhelming product images or descriptions
  • Lack of clear and compelling calls to action
  • Hidden or complex checkout processes
  • Limited payment options
  • Lack of trust signals, such as customer reviews or security badges
  • High shipping costs or long delivery times
  • Mandatory account registration for checkout
  • Overwhelming amount of choices which can cause decision paralysis
  • Intrusive pop-ups or advertisements that disrupt the user experience
  • Poorly designed forms

By identifying and addressing these issues, you remove friction points that could cause potential customers to abandon their journey, thus increasing your conversion rates.

Evaluate your landing page value proposition to make sure it is not only in alignment with the ad but also with your target audience. When crafting a value proposition, try answering these three questions for your target audience:

- Relevance: What is the customers’ problem?
- Define Value: How do we solve that problem? What are the benefits of our service?
- Differentiator: Why do they want to choose us over our competitors?

Michele Barnes - Conversion Experience Manager at Instapage

Gain insights into marketing campaign effectiveness

Analyzing conversion rates at different stages of the customer journey can provide answers to numerous questions.

Are your ads bringing in traffic but failing to convert? Is there a particular stage in the conversion process where users drop off? A CRO audit provides the data needed to understand these patterns, allowing you to fine-tune your strategies for better results.

This image shows a visual representation of CRO audit example

For example:

  • A clothing brand runs multiple marketing campaigns across different channels. A CRO audit reveals that while social media ads drive significant traffic, email marketing campaigns have higher conversion rates.
  • By reallocating more budget towards effective email campaigns and refining social media strategies, the company improves overall campaign performance and ROI.

Identify industry best practices and competitive benchmarks

By understanding where you stand and what top-performing companies are doing right, you can implement strategies that differentiate your brand. This drives greater conversion success and positions your business as a leader in your field.

Example:

  • A travel platform wants to improve its booking conversion rate.
  • A CRO audit reveals that the platform lacks personalized recommendations compared to its competitors. Implementing this feature and adding dynamic pricing on top allows the travel platform to boost bookings and gain a competitive edge.

This image shows adding personalization  on a travel platform based on a CRO audit

Stay agile and responsive to trends

By continuously assessing and adjusting your website and digital marketing efforts, you ensure that they remain aligned with the needs and expectations of your target audience, stay on top of trends, and maintain relevance and effectiveness over time.

Consider the following CRO audit scenario:

  • An online meal kit service notices a decline in subscriptions during a period of changing dietary trends. Through a CRO audit, the company identifies a growing interest in plant-based diets.
  • They respond by introducing new plant-based meal kits and adjusting their marketing to highlight these options, significantly increasing new subscriptions.
  • This image shows how staying responsive to trends can improve conversions as a result of a CRO audit

    Prioritize your optimization efforts

    Finally, a CRO audit provides actionable insights and measurable results, allowing you to focus on areas with the most significant impact and leading to more efficient use of resources. This targeted approach ensures that your optimization initiatives yield tangible outcomes and sustainable growth.

    5 steps to performing a conversion rate optimization audit

    Step 1: Identify the conversion actions that matter to your business

    Setting clear conversion goals and defining your micro and macro conversions provides a solid foundation for a proper conversion audit.

    Understand which conversions to track and set clear goals

    Pinpoint which conversions are the most valuable for your business. This step involves analyzing your business model and customer journey to determine the actions that lead to meaningful outcomes.

    Clear conversion goals help measure success and guide your optimization efforts. Imagine you run an online bookstore. Before starting a CRO audit, you need to decide which conversions to track. For instance:

    • Primary conversion goal: Completing a purchase
    • Secondary conversion goals: Adding a book to the cart, signing up for a newsletter, or creating a user account

    Setting these goals allows you to focus on optimizing actions that directly influence revenue while also nurturing potential customers through secondary conversions.

    Define micro and macro conversions

    Micro conversions are smaller, preliminary actions that indicate a user’s interest and engagement but do not immediately result in revenue. When optimized effectively, micro conversions often lead to macro conversions.

    Macro conversions are the primary, high-value actions that directly contribute to your business’s objectives, such as sales or lead submissions.

    Continuing with the online bookstore example:

    Micro conversions:

    • Clicking on a book’s detailed description
    • Adding a book to the wishlist
    • Downloading a sample chapter
    • Signing up for a newsletter

    Macro conversions:

    • Completing a purchase
    • Subscribing to a monthly book club membership
    • Referring a friend via a referral program

    This image shows a screenshot of an online bookshop as an example of tracking micro and macro conversions

    You can better understand user behavior and optimize the entire conversion funnel by prioritizing and tracking micro and macro conversions.

    Step 2: Focus on the touchpoints that matter

    With clear goals in mind, it’s time to evaluate the touchpoints where users interact with your brand. These include your website, landing pages, social media channels, email campaigns, or any other touchpoint relevant to your customer journey.

    Audit the pages with the most potential to impact your conversions

    Not all pages on your website are equally important when it comes to driving conversions.

    To make the best use of your resources, concentrate on auditing the pages that have the most significant impact on your conversion goals. These typically include landing pages, product pages, checkout pages, and other high-traffic areas of your website.

    Let’s go back to the travel booking platform from our previous example. The key pages they’d want to audit are:

  • Landing pages: First impressions matter. Optimizing these pages is crucial as they are the entry point for many users, including those who come from paid ads (talk about ROAS).
  • Ensure that the landing page clearly articulates and focuses the visitor on the value proposition and call-to-action. Does your call to action clearly convey the next step a visitor is taking when they click? Avoid generic CTAs such as “Learn More”. Use the blur test to determine which areas on your landing page are highest in the visual hierarchy. Are there items pulling attention away from your primary CTAs?

    Michele Barnes - Conversion Experience Manager at Instapage
    • SEO pages: Users often decide to book based on search results—improving the usability and relevance of your top-ranking pages can go a long way.
    • Booking pages: This is where the final decision is made. Ensuring a seamless experience here can significantly boost conversion rates.

    Narrow down the list of pages you need to audit

    To efficiently allocate your optimization efforts, consider two main factors: the amount of traffic a page gets and its role in the user journey.

    • Traffic volume: Pages that receive a significant amount of traffic present more opportunities for optimization. High-traffic pages have more data for analysis, providing clearer insights into user behavior and potential issues.
    • Role in the user journey: Always prioritize pages that lead directly to conversions. Understanding the user’s path to conversion helps you identify which critical touchpoints.

    Returning to the online bookstore example:

    • High-traffic pages: The homepage, popular book categories, and bestsellers pages.
    • Critical pages in the user journey: Product detail pages and checkout pages.

    By focusing on these pages, the online bookstore can work on optimizing areas where users spend the most time and are most likely to convert.

    Step 3: Understand user behavior with heat maps and A/B tests

    To make informed decisions during a CRO audit, it’s vital to gain deep insights into how users interact with your website. Tools like heat maps and A/B tests provide invaluable data on user behavior, helping you identify what works on your landing pages and what doesn’t.

    Heat maps

    Heat maps (or heatmaps) visually represent how users interact with your web pages by tracking where they click, how they move the pointer, and how far they scroll. This data helps you understand which elements attract the most attention and which areas are ignored, allowing you to identify potential issues and opportunities for improvement.

    Instapage provides built-in heat map tools to help marketers measure visitor interactions with landing pages and optimize user engagement by tracking:

    • Mouse movements: To identify the elements that captivate visitors the most.
    • Clicks: To discover the key elements that inspire action on a page.
    • Scroll depth: To help you understand when visitors leave and how to keep them engaged longer.

    This image shows how to use a heat map to measure interactions and improve user engagement

    Use your heat maps to answer the following questions. Are visitors clicking on elements with no action? This can cause frustration. Either add an action or provide clarity on the page to direct the visitor’s attention to the priority elements. Are the majority of visitors scrolling to the bottom of your landing page without taking action? This could indicate that they are not being provided with enough information to help them make a decision or the right information to motivate them.

    Michele Barnes - Conversion Experience Manager at Instapage

    A/B tests

    A/B testing involves comparing two versions of a landing page or its specific element to see which one performs better. By systematically testing variations (e.g., different headlines, images, or CTAs), you can determine which changes lead to higher conversion rates.

    When commencing an A/B test, keep the following in mind:

    • Before starting, ensure you have a clear hypothesis on what change you expect and why
    • Test one change at a time to accurately determine its impact
    • Make sure your test runs long enough and reaches enough users to collect statistically significant data
    • Segment your audience when possible
    • Look beyond the surface-level metrics and understand the deeper implications of your test results
    • Learn from every test: regardless of the outcome, every test provides valuable insights

    Instapage’s A/B testing tool allows you to compare landing page variations with alternative page elements, layouts, or designs. In addition, you can leverage
    AI and machine learning
    to run A/B tests and dynamically route ad traffic to top-performing versions.

    This image is a screenshot showing Instapage A/B testing functionality

    Step 4: Gather voice of customer (VoC) data

    This step involves collecting feedback directly from your customers to gain insights into their needs, preferences, and pain points. By understanding the customer’s perspective, you can make informed decisions that align with their expectations and improve your website’s conversions.

    Why gather VoC data?

    VoC data provides a qualitative view of the user experience, complementing quantitative data from analytics tools. It helps you understand why users behave the way they do and uncover issues that may not be apparent through data alone.

    Let’s imagine your online furniture store struggles with high cart abandonment rates. While analytical data highlights the issue, it doesn’t explain why customers abandon their carts. By gathering VoC data through surveys and feedback forms, you discover that customers find the shipping costs unexpectedly high at checkout.

    Armed with this insight, you can address the issue by clearly displaying shipping costs earlier in the process or offering free shipping for orders over a certain amount.

    Methods to gather VoC data

    • Surveys and questionnaires: Ask customers about their experience on your site. Questions can range from overall customer satisfaction to specific elements such as ease of navigation, page load times, and checkout processes.
    • Feedback forms: Implement feedback forms on key pages, such as product and checkout pages, to capture real-time user insights. Simple prompts like “How can we improve this page?” can provide valuable feedback.
    • Customer interviews: Conduct one-on-one interviews with a selection of customers to learn more about their experiences and gather detailed insights that surveys alone may not capture.
    • Exit intent pop-ups: Exit intent pop-ups are targeted messages that appear when a user shows signs of leaving your website, such as moving their cursor toward the browser’s tab panel. Use these pop-ups to ask website visitors what frustrates them.
    • Social media and review analysis: Monitor social media channels and review sites to gather spontaneous feedback from customers. This can reveal common concerns and areas for improvement.

    This image shows an example of an exit popup used in attempt to improve user engagement on a website

    Step 5: Put your data into action

    After gathering and analyzing all relevant data during your CRO audit, the next crucial step is to implement your learnings into actionable changes to your customer touchpoints. This involves making informed adjustments based on your findings and continuously iterating to refine your strategy.
    These changes could involve redesigning pages, refining calls to action, or improving content based on user feedback and user behavior analysis data.

    Example

    A SaaS company identifies through its CRO audit that customers are dropping off at the pricing page due to confusion over the subscription tiers. Based on this insight, the company decides to:

    • Redesign the pricing page: Simplify the layout to make it more user-friendly
    • Refine messaging: Provide clearer explanations of each pricing tier’s features and benefits
    • Add testimonials: Include customer testimonials to build trust and demonstrate value

    By implementing these changes, the company improves the clarity and appeal of its pricing page and brings in more trial users.

    If you don’t get the desired results, gather more data and create a new hypothesis

    Implementing changes doesn’t guarantee immediate success. If you can’t achieve the desired results, take a step back to gather more user data, analyze it, and develop a new hypothesis for testing.

    Conversion rate optimization is an iterative process, so be ready for continuous adjustments and occasional hit-and-miss situations.

    Ready to kick off your conversion audit?

    Optimizing your website and landing pages for conversions is an ongoing process that requires a blend of strategic analysis, user insights, and iterative improvements.

    Tools like Instapage make obtaining the necessary metrics and user behavior data easy with features such as heat maps, A/B testing, AI experiments, conversion analytics, integrations with Google Analytics, and more. Start your 14-day free trial today and explore the platform.

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    Instagram Reel Dimensions—Why They Matter For Your Social Campaigns https://instapage.com/blog/instagram-reel-dimensions/ Thu, 11 Jul 2024 12:21:22 +0000 https://instapage.com/?p=195262
    From looking for a man in finance, Cillian Murphy moments, and all those Stanley cups—Instagram Reels have proved to be an extremely popular video format in 2024 for all industries and business verticals. Instagram Reels help you showcase short, captivating videos brimming with entertainment and ingenuity to show off your brand personality, promote your offers,Read More >]]>

    From looking for a man in finance, Cillian Murphy moments, and all those Stanley cups—Instagram Reels have proved to be an extremely popular video format in 2024 for all industries and business verticals.

    This image shows the best Instagram Reel examples

    Instagram Reels help you showcase short, captivating videos brimming with entertainment and ingenuity to show off your brand personality, promote your offers, and, if you have luck by your side—go viral.

    To make the best use of the video format, you need to make sure you choose the right Instagram Reel size and your video dimensions are perfect.

    Why do Instagram Reel sizes and dimensions matter

    Creating an Instagram Reel takes a lot of work. You have to find an attention-grabbing hook, set up characters, act it out, select catchy background music, and add other enhancements like text or stickers.

    All of your prep can go to waste if your Reel images or videos look stretched or distorted because you uploaded the assets with the wrong dimensions or size.

    If the Reel video is too large, you could experience an awkward crop, or if you have low-resolution assets, your final Reel could look pixelated or blown up to fill the screen.
    If you want your Reel to fulfill its reach potential and attract attention, you need to be mindful of the Instagram reel sizes and dimensions in 2024.

    Also, be mindful that Instagram goes through regular updates so these specs could change.

    Instagram Reels dimension and size specs 2024

    Instagram Reels currently accept video uploads in MP4 or MOV file formats. Both allow for easy, high-speed uploading without stripping detail and compromising the quality of the video.

    Instagram Reel cover size

    Recommended upload size: 1080 pixels x 1920 pixels
    Aspect ratio: 9:16

    This image shows an example of an Instagram reel cover image

    This vertical aspect ratio is ideal for viewing Reels on mobile devices. Here’s how to select your Instagram Reel cover:

    1. Create an Instagram Reel and tap Next
    2. Go to the share settings. Tap on the preview image (the one that says Cover)
    3. Add a frame from your video, or tap Add from the camera roll to browse through your photos
    4. If you want to crop the image, just tap Crop profile image on the Share settings screen and then reposition or zoom in or out

    Instagram Reel Thumbnail size

    Recommended upload size: 1080 pixels x 1920 pixels
    Aspect ratio: 1:1
    Display size: 1080 pixels x 1080 pixels

    This image shows an example of an Instagram reel thumbnail

    Once you’ve selected your preferred image for the Instagram Reels cover, you can crop it for a grid-worthy thumbnail for your main feed.
    While the cover is in 9:16 proportion, the thumbnail visible on your feed crops is a 1:1 square. So, to get the best visual results you should select an image that’s 1080 pixels x 1920 pixels but has a 1080 pixel x 1080 pixel area so you have enough room for a comfortable crop.

    Instagram Reels compression size

    Instagram will automatically size down any visual asset over 1080 pixels wide to 1080 pixels. Your images and videos also need to be a minimum of 320 pixels wide; if you upload something smaller, it will be resized up to 320 pixels automatically.

    When you upload a photo with a width between 320 and 1080 pixels,
    Instagram keeps the photo at its original resolution
    as long as its aspect ratio is between 1.91:1 and 4:5 (e.g., a height between 566 and 1350 pixels with a width of 1080 pixels).

    However, if your photo’s aspect ratio isn’t supported, it will be cropped to fit a supported ratio. If you share a photo at a lower resolution, the platform enlarges it to a width of 320 pixels. If you share a photo at a higher resolution, they size it down to a width of 1080 pixels.

    Instagram Reels size ratio: 9:16

    In full-screen mode, the Reels appear in a 9:16 ratio.

    However, when an Instagram user looks at your Reel in their main feed, the video is cropped to a ratio of 4:5. That’s almost two-thirds of the size of a full-screen viewing experience, so it’s best to keep the vital parts of the video away from the edges of the frame.

    Instagram Reel length

    Instagram allows your Reels to be from 15 to 90 seconds long when you’re recording your Reel directly from Instagram’s camera.
    But if you upload Reels through a third-party tool, like CapCut or VEED, your Reel can be anywhere from 3 seconds to 15 minutes long.

    Instagram Reels caption length

    Adding a caption helps you add context to your reel. You can include emojis for visual engagement and hashtags for visibility. You can type a caption up to 2,200 characters (including spaces and emojis) to describe your Instagram Reel.

    This image shows an example of an Instagram reel caption

    Use Instagram Reels to engage audiences

    Instagram Reels allow you to hop on trends, entertain prospects, and show off the bits that make you different.

    If you want to use the engagement from the Reels to help you with conversions, start setting up Instagram ads and connecting them to dedicated landing pages.

    Sign up for an Instapage 14-day free trial and start converting more ad clicks into customers with all the intuitive experimentation, optimization, reporting, and growth tools you need—all in one place.

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    17 Best Email Subject Lines to Inspire Your Next https://instapage.com/blog/email-subject-lines/ Mon, 10 Jun 2024 16:30:04 +0000 https://instapage.com/?p=28821
    Every interaction with users before you land in their inbox happens in your space. The ad they saw, the landing page they arrived on, the form they entered their info into—it’s all on your turf, and there’s no other brand trying to lure your audience’s attention away once they are on the page. This changesRead More >]]>

    Every interaction with users before you land in their inbox happens in your space. The ad they saw, the landing page they arrived on, the form they entered their info into—it’s all on your turf, and there’s no other brand trying to lure your audience’s attention away once they are on the page.

    This changes when they’ve left the page and you send them an email—so many other brands, offers, and messages are trying to grab their attention. Whether or not you get them to choose you over the others depends heavily on your subject lines.

    Here’s what an average inbox looks like:

    This image shows what an average inbox looks like

    This 50 character subject line is the difference between your lead seeing your offer and connecting with you and your email just sitting in their inbox, snubbed and unread.

    And because there’s so much riding on your subject lines, the internet is filled with best practices that help you optimize the lines, and almost as many tips and tricks you’ll find on landing page CTA button colors. These tips only work when you consider individual visitor needs and brand messaging.

    This is what this post will help you do—create the best email subject lines for your campaigns by featuring a handful of optimized subject lines that will help inspire yours.

    What are email subject lines?

    Your email subject line is the first line of text your subscribers see when you send them an email—it’s placed next to the sender’s name and meant to give subscribers a teaser of the email content.

    This image is an example of an email subject line that intrigues and provokes emotion

    In addition to hinting at the email content, the best subject lines need to grab your recipient’s attention with emojis, good copy, the right tone, and segmentation.

    Think of your email subject lines as you do your landing page headlines. Your headline needs to be message-matched, relevant to your offer, and highlight your UVP so that visitors will continue with the rest of your page.

    Similarly, if you fail to make an impact with your subject line, users will abandon opening your email, which will, of course, impact your overall conversion rates.

    Inbox rules are changing, how to ensure your email subject lines get you conversions?

    With more and more businesses starting an email newsletter and inboxes getting crowded with emails, the new Gmail spam filters are making it tougher for marketers to get their messages into leads’ inboxes.

    Since February 2024, Gmail has implemented new regulations for bulk senders (brands sending over 5,000 messages a day) to enhance email security and reduce inbox spam. he new requirements include mandatory email authentication to confirm the sender’s identity, a simplified unsubscription process for users to a single click available in their inbox, and a strict spam rate threshold to minimize unwanted emails.

    This means it’s getting harder than ever to get your subscribers to notice you in their inbox—just two or three random and irrelevant subject lines, and you risk them hitting the unsubscribe button, which is now conveniently available next to the subject line.

    This image shows how to unsubscribe from a newsletter in the inbox

    When your subject lines hit the right spot and intrigue subscribers just the right amount, your email open rates increase. When the email offer is relevant to your leads, your click rates go up. When your email landing page
 is optimized, and they click on your CTA button, your conversions go up, and users move down your marketing funnel.

    Good Email Subject Line ➡ High open rates ➡ High click rates ➡ landing page conversions ➡ High campaign ROAS.

    It’s a conversion loop that starts with your email subject line and, if all goes well, increases campaign return on ad spend.

    So, what makes a click-worthy subject line?

    To create an impactful email subject line, you need to phrase it to stand out in your subscribers’ inbox and grab their attention. Generic phrases and boring sentences won’t cut it—shock and awe combined with relevance and the proper customer segmentation make your subject line worthy of the click.

    Your email subject line and body copy should also follow the rule of one—one audience, one offer, and one CTA button. This is what makes your email relevant and personalized to your offer and the audience.

    And now the finale—best email subject line examples that will help you inspire your next.

    17 Best email subject line examples

    3 Best funny and irreverent email subject line examples

    Humor and laughter trigger positive feelings for your subscribers, which creates an instant connection between your brand and them. This connection fosters engagement, emotional connection, and memorability, making your email more likely to be opened and acted upon.

    When creating funny email subject lines, consider your brand voice, go as far as you can safely go, and sprinkle in emojis for the right effect.

    This image provides several examples of funny email subject lines that provoke emotions

    3 Best retargeting email subject line examples

    Retargeting campaigns are all about getting lost customers back to your offer or their abandoned shopping carts. The subject lines retargeting leads need to be relevant to their experience on your website or the items in their cart.

    Use discount offers and product UVPs to get leads to reconsider your brand.

    This image shows examples of email subject lines that serve remarketing purposes

    You can also use short, vague subject lines to intrigue them enough to click.

    This image shows an example of an email subject line

    4 Welcome email subject line examples

    These email subject lines need to introduce your brand to your new leads. Start with a welcome note and throw a discount to get them to click.

    This image shows several examples of email subject lines that help in raising brand awareness

    5 Sales email subject lines

    Sales email subject lines don’t necessarily have to be overly salesy. Mention your discount and hint at the offer, but it’s best to talk about value in your brand voice so subscribers want to click.

    This image shows several examples of email subject lines urging prospects to take action

    Optimize your email subject lines to get your leads moving down your funnel

    A lot rides on your 50 character email subject line—you need to make it relevant for individual subscribers (use segmentation), wow them with phrases that stand out in their busy inbox and are true to your brand voice, and use emojis to warm their hearts.

    Another thing you must do after you’ve decided on your email subject line and drafted your email copy is to connect all your email offer CTA buttons with relevant landing pages. Landing pages continue the conversation about your conversion goal beyond the email and convince subscribers to take your desired action.

    For this, you need to create your landing pages at scale, just like your email campaigns, and for that, you have Instapage.

    You can use Instapage’s Global Blocks and Instablocks™ to quickly and easily create a high volume of optimized landing pages. Global Blocks makes it easy for advertisers and marketers to manage and update your landing pages in a single click.

    Create a custom block, use it globally across all your landing pages, and update all those pages with one click. This helps you with high-volume, high-velocity campaigns and create, manage, and update global brand templates at scale.

    This image shows how to insert Global Blocks using Instapage

    Start scaling your landing page creation process without additional team help today. Sign up for an Instapage 14-day free trial.

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    6 Simple Tips for Creating Insanely Good CTA Buttons https://instapage.com/blog/cta-buttons/ Thu, 07 Mar 2024 14:00:23 +0000 https://instapage.com/?p=178300
    All your landing page elements have designated jobs to do—the headline is meant to grab visitor attention with your UVP, the form collects lead information, and your CTA button converts visitors into leads and leads into customers. How does one button perform such an important task? Let’s find out. What is a CTA button? ARead More >]]>

    All your landing page elements have designated jobs to do—the headline is meant to grab visitor attention with your UVP, the form collects lead information, and your CTA button converts visitors into leads and leads into customers.

    How does one button perform such an important task? Let’s find out.

    What is a CTA button?

    A CTA or call to action button is a clickable button on your landing page, email, website, display ad, social media post, and blog post that prompts users to take a desired action.

    Depending on what the campaign goal is, the CTA button action can range from requesting a demo to signing up for a webinar, to putting down a $5 reservation on a pre-order.

    Have you ever clicked a button that said ‘Learn more’ or ‘Sign up here’ or ‘Download now’? If so, you’ve interacted with a CTA button.

    Why is a call to action button important?

    As marketers, we want to capture audience attention for as long as possible, and a CTA button is what helps turn your visitors into leads and leads into customers.

    For example, if you send an email to a targeted list of users hoping to convince them to sign up for a free trial, you need to include a CTA button that would lead them to your free trial landing page, where a free trial page button will take your email subscribers to your sign-up page.

    Your CTA button connects your marketing funnel touchpoints with each other so you can move visitors down your funnel.

    For example, this Marie Forleo email encourages subscribers to sign up for B-School at a discounted price of $27/month. The email CTA button leads visitors to the B-School landing page. The landing page CTA button takes visitors to the Check-Out section.

    This image shows the process outlined in a Marie Forleo email, encouraging subscribers to sign up for B-School.

    This image shows a promotional message encouraging subscribers to sign up for B-School at a discounted price and guiding them through various CTAs to the landing page and check-out section.

    In addition to connecting your marketing funnel, CTA buttons also let users know what the logical next step is without them having to think about it or having to search for that information on their own.

    How to create a compelling CTA button?

    It is clear that a CTA button is a must-have in any marketing campaign or piece of content. Now, how can you ensure that you are creating the most captivating call-to-action possible? There are several considerations you must make:

    Placement

    True or false: A CTA must always go at the bottom of your page. The answer: It depends. Some experiments have shown that call-to-actions that are placed at the bottom or towards the right of content perform better than buttons placed elsewhere.

    However, the important thing to consider is that your CTA should follow a logical sequence. It should appear after copy that is relevant to the desired action you want your user to take and after they’ve had a chance to read all the important information you’d like them to.

    You never want a user to have to backtrack to find the CTA button they need.

    As a best practice, you can include your CTA button in the hero section after the headline and sub-headline and once after your product benefits and social proof section. Like Peleton does with its email offer.

    This image shows the best practice example of CTA placement, as demonstrated in a Peloton promotional email, with CTAs strategically positioned after the headline, sub-headline, product benefits, and social proof sections, offering readers multiple opportunities to take action.

    Peloton includes two CTAs in a promotional email offering a discount on their packages. This gives the reader two opportunities to take action. The first CTA is placed immediately under a short, but clear paragraph describing the offer. If the reader chooses to keep scrolling, they will be given various options for packages to buy, with another chance to click the CTA following those details.

    This ensures that a conversion opportunity is available whether or not the user reads the entire email.

    Copy

    Coming up with short, enticing copy for your CTA button can be a challenge. CTA button copy is limited to just a few words, and these words need to be relevant to your offer and let visitors know what to expect next—i.e., download, read, learn, apply, etc. Remember to be direct, make it exciting, and be selective about the words you choose.

    The Salesforce pricing page has multiple CTAs. Each conveys a specific and obvious action the user can take and does it in a way that is not overwhelming. It’s worth noting that Salesforce has the luxury of including so many CTAs on their page because they are such a well-known brand, and they have enough insights to know the popular actions users on their page are typically looking to take.

    For lesser-known or new brands, it’s wise to limit the number of CTA buttons on your page.

    This image shows the CTA strategy implemented on the Salesforce pricing page, featuring multiple CTAs that convey specific actions for users without overwhelming them. This approach is facilitated by Salesforce's well-established brand recognition and insights into user behavior, allowing them to include numerous CTAs. However, for lesser-known or new brands, it's advisable to limit the number of CTA buttons on the page.

    Source: Salesforce

    Size

    You want your CTA to be noticeably different from other copy on your page, but not obnoxiously so. The size of your call-to-action should make sense with the other elements of your page and will also depend on whether it is appearing in an email, a landing page, a display ad, and so on.

    Make your text large and easy to read, but no need to overdo it.

    Color

    The color of your CTA button matters. Again, just like with size, you want your CTA button to be noticeable and attention-grabbing but not in an off-putting way. You want the color of your call-to-action button to be on-brand, and in contrast with the rest of the colors on your page Plenty of people have studied whether or not certain colors drive better results, and there’s not a clear answer. Green tends to be a popular choice, but it’s not guaranteed to perform better. That’s because there are so many variables at play, including your brand colors, the gender of the person looking at your page, and even culture.

    Many brands use color psychology to influence their choice. We know that orange is often used to convey cheerfulness, green evokes health and nature, and blue is associated with dependability and trust. However, it is worth repeating that there can be no one-size-fits-all approach to the color of your CTA button.

    The best thing you can do after you’ve chosen something that’s on-brand and contrasting is perform A/B tests. This way, you can get deep insights into what resonates with your target audience, and you can make a data-driven decision that will make your campaigns more successful.

    Cottonelle is successful at remaining consistent across two different ads displayed in different locations on the same page. Although the ads themselves use varying color schemes, they share the same yellow color CTA buttons that contrast with the page background. And even though the copy within the two yellow CTAs also varies, the user is able to recall the consistent elements quickly and be enticed to take action.

    This image shows the consistent CTA strategy employed by Cottonelle across two different ads displayed in separate locations on the same page. Despite variations in color schemes and ad copy, both ads feature yellow CTA buttons that contrast with the background, facilitating user recognition and encouraging action.

    This image shows the consistent CTA strategy employed by Cottonelle across two different ads displayed in separate locations on the same page. Despite variations in color schemes and ad copy, both ads feature yellow CTA buttons that contrast with the background, facilitating user recognition and encouraging action.

    Examples of CTA Buttons

    Popular types of CTA buttons include:

    Lead Generation

    Think of this as introducing yourself to your target audience. This type of CTA button encourages users to explore. It gives the marketer the opportunity to cookie the user for retargeting or even capture some of their information via a form. Use these on exit overlays, banner ads, display ads, social ads, or landing pages.

    Read More

    These are highly popular for driving traffic to a site or landing page and for keeping users on the site for longer periods of time. For marketers who are promoting a blog post, an eBook, or a report, showcasing a snippet of content with a CTA to read more is a powerful way to entice users and get them to engage with your content.

    Demo Request

    Brands who are selling their product or services to users often want to give a sneak peek of what their product can do before expecting a user to commit fully. This is why it is popular to see CTA buttons that offer a demo request. Many IT or software companies do this on landing pages, in social posts, on banner ads, and in emails.

    This image shows a Hootsuite landing page designed to direct users to request a demo. The page informs readers about what to expect from a demo request and features a clearly labeled CTA button, indicating the next step in the process.

    Hootsuite uses a landing page to direct users to their demo requests. They let readers know what they can expect from a demo request before filling out a form, and the CTA button is clearly labeled ‘Next Step’, implying that further action will occur.

    Social Request

    You can find this on almost every company’s website, usually in the form of icons that lead to a company’s social media page on popular platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Brands like to invite users to follow them on social media to engage with their content and get to know their personality.

    On our homepage, we have our social media CTA buttons displayed at the bottom of our page below our footer, which is a common placement for these icons.

    This image shows the social media CTA buttons on the Instapage homepage, located at the bottom of the page below the footer, a common placement for such icons.

    Lead Nurturing

    The work does not end once a lead has been captured. That lead must be nurtured and taken through the funnel, to the point where they become a customer. For that reason, lead nurturing calls-to-action are used to prompt leads to take further action that will bring them further down the funnel, such as signing up for a trial or contacting a sales team member.

    Convert to Customer

    When a marketer has leads who have reached the decision phase of the funnel, CTA buttons are used as a motivator for leads to take that final action of becoming a customer.

    This may look like a ‘BUY NOW’ button to initiate a subscription to a product or a “contact sales”’ button that’ll get the lead on the phone with a representative who will help them move forward.

    Fintech company Klarna hopes to convert leads to customers instantly with their ad that quickly describes how their service works and prompts readers to get started right away.

    This image shows a Klarna ad designed to instantly convert leads to customers by providing a quick description of their service and prompting readers to get started immediately.

    Event Promo

    Some companies will host annual events as a value-add for existing customers and/or as a way to promote their services and deliver valuable insights to prospects in the industry.

    Salesforce hosts a popular conference called Dreamforce every year. On their Dreamforce landing page, they use two ‘Sign up’ CTA buttons to give interested parties the opportunity to register for the event. Anyone visiting the page knows exactly where to click if they want to be a part of Dreamforce.

    This image shows the Dreamforce landing page by Salesforce, featuring two 'Sign up' CTA buttons for interested parties to register for the event, providing clear directions for visitors on where to click to be a part of Dreamforce.

    Related Content

    Many companies use their blog as a way to draw potential customers in and keep them scrolling through their pages for a period of time. Blogs present a great opportunity to showcase thought-leadership content, industry best practices, product use cases, customer testimonials, and so on.

    Well-written, engaging, and valuable content can be a powerful way to hook leads and reel them in. Once you’ve interacted with a company’s blog content, you may notice an offer to read related content on the site, even after you’ve left their page.

    Depending on a lead’s funnel stage, retargeting ads or follow-up emails may be deployed to draw their attention back to their site with a ‘read more’ CTA leading to content similar to what they’ve already viewed.

    6 Call-to-Action button best practices to get the click

    To create the most compelling call-to-action buttons, remember to follow these six best practices:

    Avoid friction words

    You want your CTA to inspire action and to use positive language. You don’t want to lead with a negative or turn your lead away. Avoid restrictive language and words like “Don’t” or “No”. Focus always on the exact action you want your audience to take and make it personal whenever possible (i.e., Book My Demo).

    Sock and apparel company Bombas wants to give first-time customers a discount on their first purchase. They clearly convey this with an overlay window and a personalized CTA that reads ‘Get My 20% Off’. The reader knows exactly what’s in store for them if they click that button.

    This image shows an overlay window on the Bombas website, offering a personalized CTA button clearly conveying the discount offer and prompting them to take action.

    Use sticky CTAs with relevant copy in each section

    Be direct and stick to the offer at hand. Although you may have an idea of a specific path you’d want your audience to go down, just take it one step at a time.

    Your CTA should be relevant to the immediate next step the lead will take and should relate to the content that came before it. For example, let’s say an accounting software company is creating a landing page to promote a financial industry trends report.

    It would not make sense for the CTA on that page to be about signing up for a free trial of the software. Instead, the CTA should focus on accessing the report to get insights.

    Be logical and to the point.

    Create urgency and scarcity when necessary

    You want your potential customers to take action now, so use language that inspires them to do just that. Create a sense of urgency and/or scarcity around your offer by using words like ‘Now’ ‘Limited Time Only’ or ‘Just for Today”.

    You may even entice potential customers by offering something extra for the first group of people to opt in (like 10% off for the first 100 customers, for example). This tactic is often used for event registrations, with incentives given for people who sign up early or urgency created by using language like ‘limited spots available’.

    The Chamberlain Coffee CTA button features the price decrease.

    This image shows the CTA button on the Chamberlain Coffee website, highlighting a price decrease.

    Add your value prop on the button

    What exactly are you offering your potential customers? Why should they be interested in and excited about your product? Let them know in your CTA. For example, if they’ll be receiving a discount or a free trial, let them know upfront. You can and should convey your value proposition anytime you’re able to.

    The Well Woven CTA button encourages visitors to choose their runner patterns.

    This image shows the CTA button on the Well Woven website, prompting visitors to choose their preferred runner patterns.

    Use ample white space

    We mentioned this earlier, but you want your CTA button to stand out and grab attention. In addition to using the right size and color, you want to use ample white space around your CTA button so that a user’s eye goes directly to that space, and so the button doesn’t get lost amongst your other content. Don’t make it an awkward amount of space, but make sure it gets the focus it deserves.

    Test your button

    Can’t emphasize this enough. Test, test, test always in all ways. Make sure your CTA button works (we know this is like asking if you tried turning your computer off and restarting, but it needs to be said). Does it go where you want it to go? Does it work on mobile and on desktop? How responsive is it? Then, A/B test the heck out of it. Try different copy, colors, sizes, and placement. Find the sweet spot and optimize your CTA button to deliver the results you’re looking for.

    What do different CTA buttons look like in your marketing funnel

    A big reason CTA buttons are so important and popular is that they help move leads through a marketing funnel. Remember, conversions don’t solely refer to a person making a purchase. A conversion could be signing up for a newsletter, downloading a report, or simply following a social media channel.

    For marketers to be able to nurture their leads, they need to understand where in the journey they are and what can be done to move them along into the next phase. This is a critical part of a CTA strategy and will inform what kind of CTA is used and where.

    It’s likely that a marketing team already has a strategy for what kind of marketing materials to deploy at different stages of a funnel.

    For example, emails may be used for prospecting and nurturing, homepages may be used in the top of the funnel for building awareness, landing pages may be used in the middle of the funnel when a lead is in the consideration stage, and display ads may be used in the bottom of the funnel when a lead is ready to make a decision.

    Being armed with this type of information will help a marketer match their CTA to their funnel strategy. If they know that display ads are mainly used for bottom-of-the-funnel campaigns, then they can design those ads to have a more urgent ‘BUY NOW’ message.

    If emails are used for nurturing, they may include CTAs that entice the reader to download a report or sign up for a free trial.

    If thank you pages are used after a conversion event, then a marketer might take that opportunity to present related content to their customer with ‘READ MORE’ messaging.

    To get the best results from your CTA buttons, it’s important to be intentional about the time, place, and manner in which you serve them.

    Add relevant, action-packed CTA buttons on your pages

    CTA buttons take up such little real estate that it’s easy to overlook them. However, the buttons are complex and require a well-thought-out strategy.

    Did you know that in addition to helping marketers create amazing, results-oriented landing pages, Instapage can also make adding CTA buttons to pages a breeze?

    Instapage customers can add Shopify or PayPal buy buttons to drive their audience to make purchases, add a click-to-call, email, or text button for instant access to support team members, add customizable form options for easy lead capturing, and much more.

    This image shows the advanced event tracking capabilities of Instapage, enabling users to monitor conversions triggered by Button Clicks or Form Submissions with precision.

    Sign up for a free 14-day trial of Instapage today and start building incredible landing pages with insanely good CTA buttons now.

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    What Is User-Generated Content & How to Use it on Your Landing Pages https://instapage.com/blog/what-is-user-generated-content/ Mon, 01 Jan 2024 13:45:00 +0000 https://instapage.com/?p=65589
    What is user-generated content? User-generated content (UGC) refers to original material used in campaigns, such as images, videos, reviews, and testimonials, created by actual product users instead of marketing teams. UGC harnesses real users’ POVs and experiences to engage and persuade prospects. Leveraging UGC builds brand awareness and fosters a vibrant community, attracting new customersRead More >]]>

    What is user-generated content?

    User-generated content (UGC) refers to original material used in campaigns, such as images, videos, reviews, and testimonials, created by actual product users instead of marketing teams. UGC harnesses real users’ POVs and experiences to engage and persuade prospects. Leveraging UGC builds brand awareness and fosters a vibrant community, attracting new customers through genuine endorsements of satisfied users.

    As more intrusive marketing draws the ire of consumers. UGC is used by all the top brands, from Pepsico to Apple, Disney, and Warby Parker.

    The value of the global UGC market in 2022 was $4.4 billion and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 29.4% from 2023 to 2030.

    Why is user-generated content important?

    Consumers are constantly bombarded with advertising and marketing messages from brands. With so many competing messages, consumers often disengage from ads and other marketing materialsb. But they do engage with each other. According to the State of Social & User-Generated Content 2023, consumers rank authentic UGC as the most trustworthy content.

    UGC is essential for building trust, fostering engagement, enhancing authenticity, boosting conversion rates, cost-effective marketing, broadening reach, and leveraging social proof to influence potential customers positively. Incorporating UGC into marketing strategies can significantly contribute to a brand’s overall success and sustainability.

    Enhanced trust and credibility

    User-generated content enhances trust and credibility by providing authentic experiences from real users. Potential customers are more likely to trust the opinions of their peers over traditional advertising, making UGC a valuable tool in building a trustworthy brand image.

    Increased brand engagement and loyalty

    UGC fosters increased brand engagement and loyalty by encouraging active participation from customers. When users contribute content, they feel a sense of ownership and connection to the brand, leading to sustained loyalty and a thriving brand community.

    McDonald’s “Raise Your Arches” campaign, launched in January 2023, cleverly capitalized on the iconic golden arches that symbolize the brand. The critical element of the campaign was having customers playfully raise their eyebrows, mirroring the shape of McDonald’s famous arches, without explicitly mentioning the brand.

    This unique communication method gained significant traction, with over 1,000 Instagram posts and over 5 million TikTok views featuring customers “raising their arches” in solidarity with their love for McDonald’s. The campaign, spanning over 30 global markets, highlighted the universal appeal of the invitation to enjoy McDonald’s, conveyed without uttering a single word.

    The social-first campaign celebrated this non-verbal invitation with a series of through-the-line ads and activations designed to encourage people to join in and raise their arches. Teasers featuring a simple graphic ”eyebrow raise” adaptation of the iconic McDonald’s logo were used on social channels and TV end frames, contributing to the campaign’s overall success and widespread engagement.

    Amplified authenticity and relatability

    The authenticity of UGC makes it relatable to a broader audience. Real stories, images, and videos shared by users create a genuine connection, making the brand more relatable and resonant with the diverse experiences of its customer base.

    The company encouraged users to share their unique and memorable travel moments on social media platforms using the campaign hashtag. By showcasing real experiences from their community, Airbnb effectively built trust among potential travelers and inspired them to explore new destinations.

    This UGC campaign boosted brand visibility and positioned Airbnb as a platform that goes beyond traditional accommodations to offer genuine cultural immersion.

    Improved conversion rates and purchase intent

    UGC positively influences conversion rates and purchase intent. Potential customers are more likely to purchase when they see others enjoying and endorsing a product or service. UGC acts as social proof, validating the value and quality of the offerings.

    Cost-effective marketing tool

    Utilizing UGC is a cost-effective marketing strategy. Instead of investing heavily in creating brand-generated content, businesses can leverage the creativity of their user base, reducing production costs while maintaining a steady flow of engaging material.

    Broader reach and scalability

    UGC enables brands to reach a broader audience and scale their marketing efforts. User-created content often gets shared across social media platforms, extending the brand’s reach beyond its immediate audience. This organic sharing increases visibility and brand awareness.

    Social proof and influence

    UGC serves as powerful social proof, influencing the perceptions and decisions of potential customers. Positive reviews, testimonials, and shared experiences create a persuasive narrative, convincing others to choose a product or service based on the positive experiences of their peers.

    Types of User-Generated Content

    User-generated content comes in various forms, reflecting how individuals engage with and contribute to a brand’s narrative. Whether through written reviews, social media updates, videos, images, or even creative artwork, users play a crucial role in shaping and amplifying a brand’s story.

    Reviews and testimonials

    Users share their opinions and experiences with a product or service through written reviews or testimonials. This type of user-generated content provides valuable insights for potential customers and builds credibility for the brand.

    Social media posts

    Users create content on various social media platforms, including updates, tweets, and posts that showcase their experiences with a brand. Social media is a dynamic space for user-generated content, fostering community engagement and brand advocacy.

    Burger King’s “You Rule” campaign celebrates everyday royalty, placing the customer at the forefront of the brand’s focus. The campaign, launched in October, has modernized the tagline and draws inspiration from the classic “Have It Your Way” jingle from the 1970s. This new approach is reflected in various posts to maintain brand unity.

    The campaign emphasizes that “You Rule” goes beyond traditional marketing efforts at Burger King. The brand aims to integrate this theme into every touchpoint of the guest experience, encouraging team members to spread the joy associated with the “You Rule” concept through in-person greetings or expressions of gratitude in the drive-thru.

    The aspect of the campaign capturing the hearts and minds of social media users is the accompanying jingle, which has gone viral. Titled “You Rule,” the catchy tune is a reimagined version of Burger King’s original 1970s-era jingle “Have it Your Way“. Featuring a singer listing various Burger King menu items, it has become a certified earworm, permeating social media and even finding its way into NFL game commercial breaks.

    Social media users are creating “Whopper Whopper” content, with some mashing up the jingle with popular songs, showcasing its infectious and widespread popularity. The campaign effectively combines a fresh take on a classic jingle with a broader theme of customer appreciation, making it a notable success for Burger King. Another TikToker, @neelsamba, was inspired to pair Dua Lipa’s hit “Levitating” with the jingle.

    Videos and vlogs

    Users produce videos or vlogs to share detailed experiences, unboxings, or tutorials related to a product or service. Video content is engaging and visually represents user satisfaction, making it a powerful form of user-generated content.

    Images and photos

    Users share images and photos capturing their interactions with a brand or its products. This visual content is often shared on social media platforms, adding a personal touch and authenticity to the brand’s image.

    Creative content and artwork

    Some users express their appreciation by creating original artwork or creative content inspired by a brand. This can include illustrations, graphics, or other artistic expressions that showcase the user’s talent and enthusiasm for the brand.

    How to get user-generated content

    Collectively, these strategies create an environment where users are motivated to generate content for your brand. Whether through contests, shareable experiences, branded campaigns, direct feedback, or success story showcases, actively involving your audience in creating content fosters a sense of community and enthusiasm around your brand. social listening tools and media monitoring is essential for gathering and collecting user generated content.

    Heinz’s “#TipForHeinz” campaign encouraged the American public to voice their preference for Heinz ketchup by adding a ”$1 tip for Heinz ” to their restaurant bills if the establishment lacked its ketchup. Participants then submitted a picture of the receipt to www.tipforheinz.com or shared it on Instagram with the hashtags #TipForHeinz or #sweepstakes.

    Heinz committed to reimbursing the $1 and restaurant tips (up to $20) and even covered the entire bill for some lucky customers, totaling $125,000 in tips throughout the campaign. Heinz also awarded a year’s supply of ketchup to the first 10 restaurants that switched during the campaign.

    This lighthearted and social media-friendly campaign showcased Heinz’s skill in involving people and creating a positive incentive for engagement. By harnessing the opinions of diners, Heinz aimed to highlight its superiority over generic competitors.

    The campaign’s clever tactic utilized social media and out-of-home activations to encourage consumers to tip for Heinz and potentially win gratuity reimbursement or have their bills paid in full.

    The initiative aligned with Heinz’s playful approach in other campaigns, ultimately emphasizing the brand’s product value and justifying its higher cost than competitors.

    Run engaging contests and challenges

    Organize contests or challenges that encourage users to create and share content related to your brand — for instance, a photo contest where users share creative uses of your product. Offer enticing prizes to motivate participation and generate a buzz around your brand. Nearly 70% of marketers agree social contests and campaigns boost engagement and conversions.

    Cadbury’s Worldwide Hide is a unique virtual Easter egg hunt that allows participants to hide digital eggs anywhere in the world using Google Maps and share them. The campaign promotes generosity and meaningful connections, particularly during Easter, one of Cadbury’s peak sales periods.

    Participants can choose locations worldwide, from remote areas to bustling city streets, and mark their digital eggs on Google Maps. The launch involves a 20-second TV ad and digital billboard advertising in target cities, featuring virtual eggs hidden in real locations. The campaign aims to engage various customer interests through creative partnerships, including collaboration with the famous ”Instagram egg” for social media promotion.

    Cadbury Worldwide Hide operates on a three-step process:

    1. Participants hide their digital Easter eggs on Google Maps using Street View
    2. They write a clue to help recipients find the hidden eggs and provide an email for notification
    3. The egg hunt begins for recipients, who, if the sender opted for the paid version, may receive a real Easter egg by mail

    The virtual option is free, but participants can also purchase and send physical Easter eggs through the platform.

    The campaign encourages user-generated content, with participants posting their found Easter eggs on social media platforms such as Instagram and X.

    Create shareable experiences

    Craft experiences that users naturally want to share. This could be through unique events, product launches, or interactive online experiences. For instance, hosting an exclusive event or providing early access to a new product can create excitement, prompting users to share their experiences.

    Does any brand capitalize on its high engagement levels better than Doritos? We doubt it. Doritos consistently demonstrates it understands how to leverage social media, with fans eagerly awaiting its newest social media campaign.

    In 2023, to promote the launch of a new flavor, “Sweet and Tangy BBQ,” it launched #DoritosTriangleTryout, which went viral on TikTok with over five billion views. Superfans were tasked with re-creating their show-stopping version of “the triangle-inspired dance” to the tune of the Doritos commercial song “Let’s Get It.”

    Over 700 videos were uploaded to its Let’s Get It TikTok channel. And the winner got to star in Doritos’ 2023 Super Bowl ad!

    Leverage branded hashtags and campaigns

    Encourage users to use branded hashtags when sharing content related to your brand. This can help you easily track and collect user-generated content. For example, Starbucks’ #RedCupContest prompts users to share their festive Starbucks cup photos during the holiday season, creating a viral campaign.

    Solicit direct user feedback

    Actively seek feedback from your users. This can be through surveys, reviews, or direct requests for opinions on social media. By engaging users in conversations, you gather valuable insights and create opportunities for them to share their experiences organically.

    Showcase user success stories

    Highlight the success stories of your users. This could include before-and-after scenarios or personal achievements related to your product or service. Share these stories on your website, social media, or in marketing materials, showcasing real-world examples of how your brand positively impacts you.

    How to integrate user-generated content into your marketing strategy

    Integrating user-generated content into your marketing strategy involves building a community, leveraging social media campaigns, collaborating with influencers, featuring content on product pages, and systematically measuring performance. These approaches strengthen brand-consumer relationships and contribute to the overall success and authenticity of your marketing efforts.

    Build a community around UGC

    Establish a dedicated space for your community to contribute and engage with user-generated content. For example, GoPro has a community platform where users share action-packed photos and videos. This builds a sense of belonging and encourages continuous participation.

    Create UGC-focused social media campaigns

    Launch campaigns that specifically encourage users to generate content on social media platforms. With its annual #RedCupContest, Starbucks prompts users to share their creative photos with the iconic red holiday cup, turning customers into brand ambassadors and creating a festive social media buzz.

    Collaborate with influencers and advocates

    Partner with influencers or brand advocates who actively create and share user-generated content. Watchmaker Daniel Wellington has perfected this marketing strategy, actively using influencers and brand ambassadors to promote its brand from its earliest days.

    Recognizing the competitive market and operating on a limited budget, founder Filip Tysander saw the potential of Instagram even in the early days of the platform in 2011.

    Tysander’s strategy focuses on micro-influencers, individuals with around 5,000 followers in specific niches. Influencers are offered a free watch in exchange for posting about the brand. Daniel Wellington leveraged its own social media channels, including Instagram, to organize competitions under the hashtag #DWPickoftheDay. This encouraged influencers and regular users to share pictures of their Daniel Wellington watches, further enhancing the brand’s global awareness.

    Daniel Wellington has sold over 6 million watches in 25 countries, with an impressive Instagram following of 4.8 million as of August 2022. The hashtag #danielwellington has garnered 166 million views on TikTok and over 2.4 million posts on Instagram. Notable figures like Hailey Bieber, Selena Gomez, and Lee Jong have been seen wearing Daniel Wellington watches.

    Daniel Wellington utilized the content generated by influencers on their social media and even on the brand’s website as product images, showcasing the effectiveness of their influencer marketing approach.

    Feature UGC on product pages

    Integrate user-generated content on your product pages to provide social proof. For instance, fashion retailer ASOS displays user-generated photos of customers wearing their products on product pages. This showcases the products in real-life scenarios and helps potential buyers envision themselves in those items.

    Measure and analyze UGC performance

    Utilize analytics tools to measure the performance of user-generated content. Airbnb encourages hosts to include user-generated photos in their listings. By analyzing the impact of these visuals on booking rates and user engagement, Airbnb can refine its approach and continuously enhance the user experience.

    Best Practices for UGC

    Determine the goal of your UGC campaign

    UGC’s effect on your business depends on what kind you plan to collect and how you’ll use it. If your goal is to boost brand awareness, a hashtag campaign like Loews Hotels’ #TravelForReal on Instagram can help create buzz about your product or service.

    If your goal is to boost website conversions, a campaign that solicits customer reviews, like this one from Amazon, can help you earn the social proof you need to make the sale.

    Create a system to collect UGC

    T-Mobile received over 100,000 break-up letters by the end of its campaign. To use them effectively, the company needed a system to collect and organize it all.

    Your collection method doesn’t have to be highly technical—many companies use a branded hashtag. However, collecting UGC on social media with a branded hashtag can be tricky since ownership rights over photos and posts can be harder to earn. By collecting user-generated content via an app or portal, companies ensure the content can be used in official advertising campaigns without legal issues.

    Be clear about what you want and what you’re willing to offer

    Some companies, like GoPro, are breeding grounds for UGC. This type of content is built into their product design.

    But for most brands, earning user-generated content requires an offer in exchange. If you run a campaign to collect UGC, ensure the rules are clear to your audience and offer a reward proportional to the effort involved in creating the content.

    Consult legal specialists

    Running a UGC campaign can be complex from a legal standpoint. Rules surrounding giveaways may be complicated, depending on your location and medium of collection, as are your rights to any content generated by your users. You should consult legal specialists before using any UGC in your marketing.

    Learn from negative UGC, but showcase the positive

    UGC allows consumers a more authentic buying experience, but at the end of the day, you’re still a marketer. Content that criticizes your brand, product, or service may be shared with internal teams if they can learn from it and improve your product, service, or process, but not spread externally.

    Monitor your submissions closely and pick only the best pieces of UCG to work into your company’s marketing campaigns.

    Get started with user-generated content

    Collecting valuable user-generated content takes more than coming up with a hashtag. Good UGC adds value to the brand. UGC can show people the capability of a particular product or service, spread awareness, and boost social proof during purchasing.

    Always connect all your ads to personalized landing pages to lower your cost per customer acquisition. Start creating your dedicated landing pages. Sign up for a 14-day trial.

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    The Ultimate Guide to Color Psychology in Marketing with Examples https://instapage.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-color-psychology/ Sat, 16 Dec 2023 19:59:38 +0000 https://instapage.com/?p=9802
    Color psychology is more than a trend, when used correctly, it’s a powerful marketing tool that helps you increase user engagement and conversions. Thoughtful color choices also play a pivotal role in helping customers distinguish your brand from competitors. Psychological effects of color also have an impact on moods and feelings both positively and negatively—andRead More >]]>

    Color psychology is more than a trend, when used correctly, it’s a powerful marketing tool that helps you increase user engagement and conversions.

    Thoughtful color choices also play a pivotal role in helping customers distinguish your brand from competitors. Psychological effects of color also have an impact on moods and feelings both positively and negatively—and influence user attitudes toward brands. According to research, 90% of customers make product decisions based on color alone, proving that it is crucial for marketers to understand the psychology of color in marketing and use it to their advantage.

    Today’s post will help you understand what color psychology is, why different colors have varying impacts on people, how to use it to get prospects to engage and convert on your landing pages, and examples of brands using the right colors to their advantage.

    What is color psychology?

    Color psychology is the study of how different colors affect our moods, choices, and behavior. It might sound pretty straightforward at first glance, but there’s more to it than you might think. There’s a whole world behind why certain hues make us decide one thing over another.

    So, if you’ve ever wondered why you feel a certain way when you walk into a room painted yellow or why you’re more likely to hit the buy on a red sale button, dive into the world of color psychology with us.

    Exploring the psychological effects of color

    Sir Isaac Newton took us from using colors based on gut feeling to understanding them scientifically. He figured out that white light is a blend of various colors. How? By splitting light with a prism, he showed us that each color has its unique wavelength.

    This discovery started the scientific journey into the psychology of color. It highlighted that every hue isn’t just a pretty shade. Each one has its own unique identity and meaning.

    Understanding color theory

    Newton’s work with the prism was the groundwork for what we now call the color wheel. The circle maps out the spectrum of colors, showing us how different hues connect and play off each other.

    What is a color wheel?

    A color wheel is a circular diagram that displays the arrangement of colors, typically organized by their chromatic relationship, making it a visual tool for understanding color theory and combinations.

    It exists in two primary forms:

    • RYB: a traditional wheel that includes primary colors Red, Yellow, and Blue
    • RGB: tailored for digital applications with its Red, Green, and Blue hues

    These are primary hues. They are unique and cannot be created by blending other colors.

    This image shows primary hues, secondary hues, tertiary hues.

    As we delve deeper into the color wheel’s mysteries, we find that when these primary colors are combined, they give rise to secondary hues such as orange (red & yellow), green (blue & yellow), and purple (red & blue). Furthermore, tertiary hues emerge from the fusion of a primary and an adjacent secondary color.

    Color harmony in action: What is a color combination?

    Our brain naturally rejects information that is too dull or overwhelming, highlighting the need for a balanced visual approach. Excess visual elements can result in chaos, while a lack of them can lead to disinterest. This principle also applies to color psychology.

    Understanding how colors combine and work together makes it easier to achieve color harmony:

    • Complementary and analogous colors
      Complementary colors, found opposite each other on the color wheel, like blue and orange or red and green, create a striking, high-contrast look that draws the eye. In contrast, an analogous color palette, which utilizes three adjacent colors on the wheel, such as red, orange, and yellow, provides a harmonious appearance but requires careful selection to avoid overwhelming the viewer.

    This image shows complementary and analogous color wheel.

    • Monochromatic color schemes
      Designers often use monochromatic colors to create a more subtle and sophisticated effect. This approach uses different shades, tints, and tones of a single color, creating a unified and elegant look.

    Monochromatic scheme uses colours to create a more subtle and sophisticated effect.

    • Triadic and tetradic color schemes
      Triadic and tetradic color schemes allow for achieving a bold and dynamic effect. A triadic scheme uses three evenly spaced colors on the wheel, like red, yellow, and blue, providing a vibrant and lively feel while maintaining balance. On the other hand, a tetradic scheme uses four colors, typically two complementary pairs, such as blue and orange, with red and green. This results in a rich, complex visual experience of contrast and energy, ideal for attractive designs.

    Picture represents triadic and tetradic color schemes.

    • Warm and cold colors
      Color temperature also plays a significant role in setting a design’s mood and atmosphere. Warm colors, like reds, oranges, and yellows, are often associated with energy, passion, and warmth, reminiscent of the sun and fire. They can create a sense of comfort and excitement. Cool color tones, such as blues, greens, and purples, make you feel calm, and evoke feelings of tranquility and freshness, similar to water and the sky. They are frequently used to create a serene and professional atmosphere.

    Warm and cold colors scheme.

    • Loud and quiet colors
      Loud colors, like bright red, are highly saturated and often mixed with black or white to catch the eye and raise excitement. Quiet colors like soft blue are calming pastel shades with low saturation, creating a peaceful atmosphere. For a harmonious and effective use of color, it’s advisable to balance loud and quiet colors.

    Picture shows loud colours example.

    Picture shows quiet colours example.

    Finally, the individual character of a color in a design depends on its hue (the pure color), saturation (the intensity or purity of the color), and luminance (the brightness or darkness of the color). A highly saturated bright red may create a sense of urgency, while a less saturated, darker red might convey elegance and subtlety.

    Picture shows example of hue, saturation, luminance of colours.

    Adjusting these elements allows designers to fine-tune their work’s emotional and visual impact and create compelling, emotionally resonant designs that effectively convey their intended message and aesthetic.

    How color palette impacts consumer behavior

    Did you know that our DNA might determine how we see colors? This idea gets some backing from a study called “Color Compatibility From Large Datasets,” suggesting that most people prefer warm, bright colors and cyan hues and dislike monochromatic schemes.

    But there’s a twist. Our individual backgrounds and cultural contexts greatly influence how we perceive colors. Aspects like gender, where we’re from, the climate we’re used to, and even our language shape our different color preferences. Take red, for example. In North America and Europe, it’s the color of passion and strong emotions (love or anger). Meanwhile, in Asian countries, particularly in China, red stands for prosperity, luck, and honor, and it’s the chosen color for wedding dresses, symbolizing fertility and a lasting union.

    Understanding color-related cultural differences is critical in retail and e-commerce. Tapping into color psychology is the key to influencing customer behavior and amplifying the shopping experience. In retail and e-commerce, the clever use of color can:

    • Encourage purchases. Certain colors can stimulate or dampen purchasing behavior. For example, red is often used in sale signs because it creates a sense of urgency and excitement. It’s also believed to convert better on buttons than other colors.
    • Set the mood. Different colors evoke different emotions. For instance, blue can create a sense of trust and reliability, while yellow might create a feeling of happiness and optimism.
    • Assign a specific connotation to a product. The color chosen for branding can often communicate its identity subconsciously to consumers. For instance, the combination of color black and gold conveys exceptional elegance. So, if a high-end watch manufacturer aims to communicate sophistication and premium value, these colors are its best bet.
    • Craft brand identity. Consistent use of specific colors can reinforce brand identity and boost brand recognition.

    What are the psychological effects of specific colors?

    The use of color in marketing and branding isn’t a random choice—it’s a strategic decision based on the knowledge of how colors impact human behavior. That’s why advertisers use the color white to convey the idea of healthiness and sterility while promoting medical products and services. Similarly, eco products often come in green packaging, as green is associated with nature and health.

    While there is no rule of thumb for selecting colors in marketing strategies, and many beliefs about color psychology don’t have strong evidence to back them up, people associate certain hues with specific qualities. Understanding color associations is crucial in how consumers perceive brands and products. Let’s review the primary colors and meanings we usually assign them:

    • Blue gives off the feeling of credibility, trust, and communication. On the flip side, blue can carry negative implications. The scarcity of the color blue in natural foods leads to its appetite-suppressing effect. Using the wrong shade of blue can make your brand look aloof and unfriendly.

    Example of brand logo in blue colour.

    • Red is a vital color in nature, serving as a signal for warnings and ripe fruit due to its evolutionary importance for primates. It also accelerates breathing, boosts heart rate, and stimulates appetite, explaining why many fast-food chains choose this color for their branding.

    Red color brand logos CNN, Target, Coca-cola.

    • Yellow is associated with something cheerful and embodies optimism, sunshine, and warmth. Businesses use yellow when they want to grab people’s attention, as it does the job better than any other color.

    Yellow color brand logos Hard rock cafe, BIC, Lyle Scott.

    • Orange is a warm and stimulating color known for its energetic qualities. It’s eye-catching and often used in significant contexts, like traffic signage, due to its ability to draw attention. Along with red and yellow, orange is the color children prefer the most.

    Orange color brand logos Nickelodeon, Penguin, Dunkin.

    • Green is commonly associated with nature and the environment, as well as with wealth and good fortune. It shares the soothing qualities of blue shades, offering a sense of tranquility. Intriguingly, green’s association with positive attributes like nature and calmness is a relatively recent development, as historically, its dyes contained lethal arsenic, but this hazardous aspect has faded, allowing for its current, more favorable symbolism.

    Green color brand logos Starbucks, Iherb, Grammarly.

    • Purple is tied to wisdom, creativity, and the mystical. It also represents royalty and luxury; many brands use it to convey exclusivity in their products. Inclusive and energizing, digital lavender—another variety of color purple—is now one of the most popular colors among Gen-Zers.
    • White is the color of optimism in color psychology. When it comes to branding, white suggests simplicity in high-tech products, hygiene in healthcare and beauty products, and freshness and purity in food-related items. When paired with black, white is often used to create a look of contrast and balance. This combination is classic and timeless, conveying a sense of sophistication, elegance, and modernity.

    Black and white color brand logos Apple, Chanel, Lexus.

    How to choose the right colors for your brand

    Visual branding is essential for making your company stand out. Remember when KFC launched that funny campaign in 2019? They poked fun at all the chicken shops in the UK that were copying their style. It was a great way to show the importance of having your unique look and colors.

    So, if you’re considering picking colors for your brand, here’s what you must remember.

    • Engage with your audience through color choices

    Understanding your audience’s perception of your brand colors is a crucial marketing strategy. Take Pepsi as a prime example: after listening to customer feedback, they underwent their most significant logo revamp in 15 years, reverting to older designs and colors that resonated more with their customers. This move highlights the importance of tuning into customer preferences and its impact on brand appeal.

    • Embrace trends while maintaining uniqueness

    While general color preferences evolve, it’s vital to maintain a unique brand identity. Each era had its trend, from the cool pastels symbolizing prosperity in the 1950s to the bright pastels of early 2000s techno-optimism. However, the trick is to stay updated with trends, like the latest Pantone releases, without losing your brand’s unique voice in a sea of similar aesthetics.

    • Stay consistent across your marketing assets

    Consistent use of brand colors across all platforms is crucial for establishing a solid brand identity. Consistency not only bolsters brand recognition but also helps companies build trust. Despite most organizations having branding guidelines, only a quarter enforce them consistently. Interestingly, organizations with consistent branding have seen an average revenue increase of 23%.

    • Know your competitors

    Researching your competitors’ brand colors is crucial before finalizing your own. This color research helps you understand industry trends and avoid colors heavily associated with competitors. Distinctive color choices ensure your brand stands out and is not mistaken for another.

    • Avoid potential legal pitfalls

    Trademark laws can protect brand colors, making it vital to avoid shades too similar to those used by competition. Consulting an intellectual property attorney is essential to ensure your brand’s color palette doesn’t infringe on the rights of others, safeguarding your brand’s unique identity.

    • Test and experiment

    Testing your brand colors across various platforms ensures consistency and visual appeal in different contexts. Please don’t overlook the importance of A/B testing techniques to evaluate their effectiveness across multiple platforms. This method involves comparing two versions of a color scheme to see which performs better in terms of engagement and brand recognition. This method ensures consistency and visual appeal and guides you in making data-driven decisions, potentially leading your brand to stand out in a crowded market.

    How to design your page with color psychology?

    Harnessing the power of color psychology isn’t just about knowing the facts—it’s about applying them in ways that make an impact. When it comes to your landing page, the right color choices can significantly tip the scales in favor of better engagement and higher conversions. Let’s go over some general strategies for selecting and applying colors that can transform your landing page from good to great:

    • Stay mindful of the emotion you want to stir. Align the color and emotions it creates with the feeling your product/service is trying to convey. For example, green can be a good choice if you sell eco-friendly products.
    • Limit the number of colors. Too many colors can distract or disorient landing page visitors. Using primary, secondary, and accent colors is a good rule of thumb.
    • Follow the 60-30-10 rule. This interior design principle can also apply to web design. Use your dominant color for 60% of the space (usually the background), a secondary color for 30% (headers, footers, menus), and an accent color for 10% (CTAs, icons).
    • Maintain brand consistency. Your landing page colors should align with your brand’s existing color palette to ensure consistency and brand recognition.
    • Use whitespace effectively. White space helps focus attention and can lead the viewer’s eye toward important information or CTAs.
    • Highlight calls-to-action (CTAs). Use colors for your CTA buttons that contrast sharply with the background to make them stand out. They should draw the user’s attention immediately.
    • Make your page accessible. Ensure your color choices are accessible to all users, including those with color vision deficiencies.
    • Run A/B Tests. Always test different color schemes to see what works best for your audience because what works for one audience segment might not work for another.

    Examples of landing pages using color psychology the right way

    Now that we know what color psychology is and what impact it has on marketing, let’s explore a few standout examples where the intelligent use of color on landing pages truly shines:

    Klarna

    Picture of Klarna landing page.

    How they use color psychology: The purple-pink gradient creates a vibrant, dynamic background.

    Purple often signifies creativity, luxury, and wisdom, while pink is associated with playfulness and warmth. The gradient blend suggests innovation and a modern approach, inviting a sense of inclusivity and friendliness. This color combination exudes trustworthiness and calmness due to the use of cooler shades, which can positively influence a visitor’s decision to engage with the brand. The text stands out on the darker purple background, ensuring readability and focus.

    The black button adds a sense of sophistication and simplicity, making the CTA bold and straightforward. The white CTA contrasts less with the background, suggesting it is a secondary option.

    Blue Apron

    Picture of Blue Apron landing page.

    How they use color psychology: The landing page uses a light blue background that sets a calm and trustworthy tone, aligning with the brand’s message of quality and reliability. Text colors in dark blue or black against the light background enhance readability and add a touch of cleanliness and simplicity to the design. Moreover, the vivid imagery of the food set against the blue backdrop draws the eye and encourages users to explore the meal plans further.

    The CTA button in navy blue offers a subtle yet effective contrast, maintaining the page’s professional look while ensuring the CTA stands out.

    Petcube

    Picture shows Petcube landing page.

    How they use color psychology: The landing page presents a welcoming and energetic atmosphere through its color choices. The pastel beige and cream background conveys warmth and simplicity, setting a calm stage for the more lively elements. The pops of orange bring in a sense of playfulness and energy, which is well-suited for a brand centered around pets and their dynamic nature.

    The images of the pets provide a burst of life and color, drawing the visitor’s eye and creating an emotional connection. The pet images come together with the orange CTA, which draws attention and resonates with the vibrant energy pet owners often appreciate.

    Notion

    Picture represents Notion brand colours.

    How they use color psychology: The landing page presents a minimalist design with a clean, white background paired with black text and monochromatic illustrations. This contrast creates a modern and professional look, suggesting clarity and efficiency, which could resonate with users looking for a productivity tool.

    Using black text and black-and-white illustrations against the white space highlights the platform’s ease of use and organized nature. The color choice for the CTA button is likely selected to evoke feelings of trust and calm, inviting users to try the service without feeling pressured.

    Understanding color psychology in web design is about honing your aesthetic instincts and drawing inspiration from expertly designed landing pages. Check out these additional examples of landing page trends if you want inspiration or need a better sense of what works best.

    Use the best colors on your landing pages to make the most conversion impact

    Remember that the colors on your landing page—from headers to CTA buttons—are silent ambassadors of your brand message. They can quietly influence decisions and stir emotions in ways words alone cannot.

    Want to discover more insights into the secrets of a highly convertible landing page or need a head-start creating one? With Instapage, you can launch campaigns faster with professionally designed landing page layouts built to increase conversions for many industry-based use cases. Sign up for a free 14-day trial with Instapage.

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    How to Create Landing Page Copy With Instapage AI Content Generator https://instapage.com/blog/how-to-create-landing-page-copy-with-instapage-ai-content-generator/ Wed, 06 Sep 2023 19:07:46 +0000 https://instapage.com/?p=189577
    Savvy marketers understand that a good landing page is the most critical part of a campaign. After all, the landing page is where visitors ultimately take action, whether they’re coming from organic search or a social media ad. But building pages can be a time-consuming process. That’s where AI can give your team an extraRead More >]]>

    Savvy marketers understand that a good landing page is the most critical part of a campaign. After all, the landing page is where visitors ultimately take action, whether they’re coming from organic search or a social media ad. But building pages can be a time-consuming process. That’s where AI can give your team an extra edge.

    In this blog post, we’ll explore some ways to enhance the landing page creation process for your digital ad campaign and discuss how AI tools can take your campaign results to the next level.

    Start with a clear objective

    Before setting out to design your landing page, you need to define a clear objective. What action do you want your visitors to take? Whether it’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or requesting a demo, your objective will shape the structure and content of your landing page.

    When you set out to build a page on Instapage, choose a layout that matches the right objective and use case from our library of options. The right layout gives you a head start toward a strong landing page.

    Craft a compelling headline and subheadline

    Your headline and subheadline are often the first things your visitors read on the page, and they should immediately convey the value proposition of your product or service. Grab attention with a clear, concise, and benefit-driven message.

    AI-powered tools can analyze data from past campaigns to suggest headline variations that have been proven to generate higher conversions, helping you optimize your messaging. The AI Content Generator can create headline variations in just a couple of clicks, helping you to ideate the perfect first impression for your page.

    Use AI to generate personalized content

    One of the powerful applications of AI in landing page design is the ability to create personalized content for different segments of your audience. If you know your audience, you can craft custom messaging that speaks to their values, goals, and pain points.

    When using the AI Content Generator, be sure to include information about your audience in the Audience field. Just a few words can help to sharpen the recommendations that the system creates, taking you one step closer to the perfect turn of phrase.

    Optimize your Call-To-Action (CTA)

    Your call-to-action is the key element that prompts visitors to convert on your page. While “Get Started” and “Learn More” can be useful starting points, a bold call-to-action sets a confident page apart from the rest.

    Experiment with different CTAs with the AI Content Generator. Once you’ve got the CTA ideas in place, run experiments to see which phrasing prompts the best outcome. Combine your AI-generated call-to-action text with an Instapage AI Experiment for an end-to-end AI conversion experience.

    Conclusion

    Designing a landing page for your digital ad campaigns requires careful planning and a deep understanding of your target audience. By incorporating AI into your process, you can optimize your landing page for higher conversions in a fraction of the time.

    Remember, AI is a powerful tool, but it’s important to stay mindful of its limitations and use it as a complement to your own marketing expertise. With the right balance of human ingenuity and AI-powered optimizations, you’ll create landing pages that command attention and drive results.

    Sign up for an Instapage 14-day trial and start leveraging AI today.

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