Original Source: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2019/04/design-landing-page-mobile-conversion/

Design A Lead Gen Landing Page For Mobile That Converts

Design A Lead Gen Landing Page For Mobile That Converts

Suzanne Scacca

2019-04-22T12:00:16+02:00
2019-04-24T13:41:22+00:00

There is a huge difference between a website (which can generate leads) and a lead capture page (which is only supposed to generate leads).

Websites tell visitors:

This is all of the stuff we can do for you. Have a look around and let us know when you’re ready to spend some money!

Lead capture pages, instead, tell visitors:

We have this one super valuable thing we want to give you for free. Share your name, email address and maybe a couple of other details and we’ll hand it straight over!

There’s also a significant difference in how the two are designed.

Unbounce has a nice side-by-side comparison that shows this difference in design between the two:

Unbounce contrasts the design of a web page with a lead capture page. (Source: Unbounce) (Large preview)

The only problem with this is that it depicts the design from a traditional desktop perspective. Just as you would consider the differences in conversion between a desktop and mobile website, you have to do the same for their landing pages.

In the following post, I’m going to give you some points to think about as you design lead capture pages for mobile audiences. I’ve also analyzed a number of landing pages on mobile so you can see how the design criteria may change based on what you’re promoting and who you’re trying to promote it to.

The Difference Between A Website And Lead Capture Page

This is the SnackFever website:

The home page of the SnackFever website. (Source: SnackFever) (Large preview)

It takes a few scrolls to get through all of the content:

The SnackFever website highlights their products. (Source: SnackFever) (Large preview)

And some more scrolling…

More information from the SnackFever website. (Source: SnackFever) (Large preview)

This is a content-packed home page, even for mobile. A page like this must mean that they’re prepared to have visitors wade through all of the options and opportunities available on the website. As you know, this can be a gamble on mobile what with conversion rates historically lower on those devices.

Then, compare this to SnackFever’s free gift lead capture page:

The lead capture form on the SnackFever website. (Source: SnackFever) (Large preview)

Only one swipe of the screen is needed to see the full page:

The lead capture page on the SnackFever website. (Source: SnackFever) (Large preview)

Technically, this is a lead capture pop-up. However, on mobile, SnackFever has turned this into a full page design (which is a much better choice).

This is a pretty awesome example of why you should be designing different experiences for different devices.

You can see that this is much more succinct and easy to stay engaged with as it has a singular purpose. The goal here is to capture that lead ASAP. This is not designed to give them room to walk around the site and ponder other decisions.

This is exactly why you should be building lead capture pages away from the website. It doesn’t matter what kind of lead generation you’re using to lure visitors there:

eBooks, white papers and other custom reports
Courses or webinars
Checklists
Calculator or quiz results
Discounts or coupons
Demos or consultations
Free trials

By moving potential leads over to a distraction-free landing page full of highly targeted messaging and visuals, you can improve your chances of converting them into leads. It might not be a purchase, but you’ve helped them take that first step.

Design Tips For Lead Capture Pages On Mobile

Before you do anything else, I’d urge you to take a look at your website’s Google Analytics data. Specifically, go to Audience > Mobile > Overview and look for this:

Google Analytics Mobile Session Duration data. (Source: Google Analytics) (Large preview)

This is the average amount of time your mobile visitors spend on your website.

This data point will be helpful in determining, realistically, how long you have to capture and hold the attention of your mobile visitors.

An even better way of doing this is to go to Behavior > Site Content > All Pages. Then, set the Secondary Dimension to Mobile (including Tablet) and click on the new dimension filter so that the “Yes” values go to the top:

Google Analytics mobile visitor page- and time-related data. (Source: Google Analytics) (Large preview)

This lets you see how individual pages perform in terms of time on page with mobile visitors.

Look closely at any pages that have a strong and singular CTA, like a dedicated service or product page. You can use those times as an average benchmark for how long mobile visitors will stay engaged with a page that’s similarly structured (like your lead capture page).

Now that you have an idea of what your mobile visitors’ threshold is, you’ll be better prepared to design a lead capture page for mobile. The only thing is, though, it’s not that cut-and-dried.

I wish it were as easy to say:

Write a headline under 10 words.
Write a memorable description under 100 words.
Add a form.
Design an eye-catching button.
You’re done.

Instead, you’ll have to think dynamically about how your lead capture page will best convert visitors to it.

Here are the various things to consider as you design each part of your mobile landing page:

#1: Navigation

The navigation menu is a critical part of any website. It allows visitors to move around the site with ease while also gaining a better understanding of all that’s available within the walls of it.

But lead capture pages don’t exist within a website’s navigation. Visitors, instead, encounter promotional links or buttons on web pages, in emails, on social media and via paid ads in search. Upon clicking, they’re taken to a landing page that’s reminiscent of the website, but has a unique style of its own.

Now, the question is:

Should your lead capture page include the main website’s navigation atop it?

If the goal of a lead capture page is to capture leads, then it should have just one clickable call-to-action, right? Wouldn’t logic dictate that a navigation menu with links to other pages would serve as too much of a distraction? And what about the brand logo? After all, any other links will send the signal:

“Hey, it’s okay if you want to abandon this page.”

Instead of saying:

“We weren’t kidding. Look at how amazing this offer is. Scroll down and claim yours now.”

I’d say that the navigation should only be included when the website is already successfully converting visitors into paying customers/subscribers/members/readers. If the lead gen is merely there as a bonus element, then it’s not a big deal if visitors want to backtrack to the site.

The logo should be fine to keep as it’s more of a branding element than a competing link in this context though. Take, for instance, this sweepstakes giveaway on the Martha Stewart website:

Martha Stewart promotional ad for sweepstakes giveaway. (Source: Martha Stewart) (Large preview)

This clickable promotional element takes visitors to the lead capture page where the navigation element has disappeared and only the logo remains:

Martha Stewart’s lead capture page for its sweepstakes giveaway. (Source: Martha Stewart) (Large preview)

In general, if you need this lead gen offer to truly be a vehicle to grow your email list, the navigation should not be there. Nor should other competing links that draw them away from conversion.

#2: Copy

All of the usual rules for typography in mobile web design apply here — that includes size, spacing, color and font face. All of the rules you’d adhere to in terms of formatting a page for mobile apply as well. For example:

Very succinct headlines;
Short and punchy paragraphs;
Bulleted or numbered lists to describe points quickly;
Header tags to break up large swaths of text;
Bolding, italics, hyperlinks and other stylized text to call attention to key areas.

What about the amount of copy on the page though? Typically, the answer for mobile is:

Write only as much copy as you need to.

That is indeed the case with mobile lead capture pages… but there’s a catch.

Some lead gens are easier to “sell”, which means you shouldn’t need much more than the following to get people to convert:

A short and descriptive headline;
A paragraph explaining why the lead gen is so valuable;
Three to five bullets breaking out the benefits;
A short form asking for the basics: name, email and maybe a phone number.
A brightly colored and personally worded call-to-action button.

There are other cases where the lead gen offer requires more convincing. Or when the brand behind it decides to use the page’s copy as a way to qualify leads. You’ll see this a lot if the lead gen is something that requires an investment of time on the part of the brand. For instance:

Product demos
Consultations or audits
Webinars (sometimes)

In these cases, it makes more sense to write a lengthy lead capture page. Even then, I go back and forth on this because I’m just not sure that’s the smartest move for mobile visitors. So, what I’m going to suggest is this:

If you’re building a lead capture page for a well-established brand that’s known for overly-long pages and whose leads are valued at over $1,000 each, a super lengthy lead capture page is fine.

If you’re building a lead capture page for a newish brand that simply wants to grow their email list fast, don’t make visitors wait to convert.

Get a look at this landing page from Nauto for a free eBook:

Nauto’s eBook lead capture page. (Source: Nauto) (Large preview)

It does a great job summarizing the lead gen offer above the fold. Scroll down one screenful and you’ll find this eye-catching form:

Nauto’s eBook lead capture form. (Source: Nauto) (Large preview)

It could’ve been as simple as that. However, Nauto continues on with more copy after the CTA:

Nauto includes additional copy after its lead capture form. (Source: Nauto) (Large preview)

What’s interesting here is that this part of the page essentially rewrites the intro at the top of the page. My guess is that they did this to strengthen the SEO of the page with a longer word count and a reiteration of the main keywords.

Either that or they found that visitors weren’t immediately filling out the form and needed a little more encouragement. That would explain why a couple more scrolls down take you through a closer look at the content of the eBook as well as another link to download it (which just returns you to the form):

Nauto includes another CTA for the lead capture form. (Source: Nauto) (Large preview)

Clearly, you can still write a whole bunch of copy after the lead gen form, so long as there’s a good reason for it.

#3: Lead Capture Form

Nick Babich has a great piece on how to design forms for mobile. Although the guide pertains more to e-commerce checkout forms, the same basic principles apply here, too.

There are a number of other factors you should consider when designing forms to capture leads on a dedicated landing page.

Where should you place the form?

I’ve mostly answered that question in the above point about copy. But, if we want to be more specific, the lead capture form should always appear within no more than three swipes on mobile.

Realistically, the initial glance at a lead capture page should be an engaging visual element and headline. The next swipe down (if needed) should be an explainer paragraph and short list of benefits. Then, you should take them right to the form.

This is an example from GoToMeeting’s eBook lead capture page:

GoToMeeting lead capture image and headline. (Source: GoToMeeting) (Large preview)

They’ve truncated all of those key intro elements into the top header design.

Can you write the labels differently?

No, labels should never be tampered with, especially on mobile. Keep them clear and to the point. Name. Email. Business. # of employees. Etc.

What you can and should do differently, though, is to create more engaging form titles and CTAs. Or you can encapsulate the form within brightly-colored borders.

The whole point of this page is to convert visitors on a single element. While you can’t play with the field labels, you can increase their engagement with the outlier text and design.

How many fields should you include?

The answer to this is always “only the ones that are necessary”. However, you don’t want to go too far towards the simple side if the purpose of the lead gen is to qualify leads.

If all you’re doing is growing an email list, sure, Name and Email will suffice. If your goal is to provide something of value to the people who really need it and, later, follow up and start them on the sales journey, the lead capture form needs to be longer.

Here’s another look at the GoToMeeting landing page:

GoToMeeting’s lengthy lead capture form. (Source: GoToMeeting) (Large preview)

You can tell right away they’re not trying to give this eBook out to any and everyone. This is for a specific kind of business and they’re likely going to filter the leads they receive from it based on job title and country, too.

Don’t feel as though this is only something you can use for B2B websites either. Get a look at this custom wedding checklist lead capture form from Zola:

The first page of Zola’s lead capture form. (Source: Zola) (Large preview)

The first page of the form asks for your name. The second page of the form asks for your spouse-to-be’s name:

The second page of Zola’s lead capture form. (Source: Zola) (Large preview)

The final question then asks for your scheduled or tentative wedding day:

The third page of Zola’s lead capture form. (Source: Zola) (Large preview)

On the final page, Zola let’s you know that you can receive your custom wedding checklist if you’re willing to create an account:

Zola requires an email address and password before sending the custom checklist. (Source: Zola) (Large preview)

It’s a simple enough series of questions, but also not the kind you would find on most lead capture forms. So, don’t be afraid to break outside the norm if it improves the value of the lead gen offer for the visitor and helps your client collect better data on their leads.

#4: Trust Marks

Trust marks are often used around mobile e-commerce checkout forms. That makes a lot of sense since the goal is to make mobile visitors comfortable enough to buy something from their smartphones.

But are trust marks necessary for lead capture pages?

I think this boils down to what kind of lead gen you’re giving away and what kind of communication you intend to have with the lead after they’ve filled out the form.

Take the SnackFever example above. It’s a fun little game they’ve put on their site that exchanges a discount for an email address. There’s no reason for SnackFever to put a Norton Security or SSL trust mark next to the form. It’s very low stakes.

But when the lead gen’s value is dependent on the knowledge and skills of the company behind it, it’s very important to include trust marks on the page.

In this case, you want to demonstrate that there are satisfied customers (not leads) who are willing to vouch for the capabilities and prowess of the company. If you can leverage well-known brand logos and flattering testimonials from individuals, your landing page will more effectively capture the right kinds of leads (i.e. the ones willing to enter the sales funnel after they get their lead gen).

It’s no surprise that someone like Neil Patel would leverage these kinds of trust marks — he has a lot of high-profile and satisfied customers. It would be silly not to include them on his lead capture page.

This is the top of his “Yes, I Want More Traffic” lead capture page:

Neil Patel’s lead capture page sets the stage. (Source: Neil Patel) (Large preview)

It goes on and on like this for about a dozen scrolls. (As I mentioned before, if you’re known for writing overly long content on your site, you can get away with this.)

Neil Patel provides valuable data to demonstrate the value of his offer. (Source: Neil Patel) (Large preview)

Eventually, he gets to a point where he lets others tell the visitor why they should pursue this offer. The first block of trust marks come in the form of short quotes and logos from well-known companies:

Neil Patel shows off his high-profile clients and quotes they’ve provided about him. (Source: Neil Patel) (Large preview)

The next section puts the spotlight on “smaller” clients that are willing to divulge what kinds of impressive results Neil has gotten for them:

Neil Patel includes data-driven testimonials from other clients. (Source: Neil Patel) (Large preview)

While I wouldn’t suggest the length or style of this page for your clients, I do think there’s a great lesson to be taken away here in terms of leveraging the words and reputations of a satisfied client base to build trust.

#5: Footer

While I have a hard time justifying the use of a navigation on a lead capture page, I actually do think a footer is a good idea. That said, I don’t think it should be the same as your website’s footer. Again, we want to avoid any design element stuffed full of links that can distract from the goal of the page.

Instead, you should use the footer to further establish trust with leads. Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and other data management policy pages belong here.

I’m including this final example from Drift because, well, it’s the most unique lead capture “page” I’ve encountered thus far — and because the footer is as simple as they come.

This page promotes Drift’s upcoming and previous webinars:

A link to an older webinar by Drift. (Source: Drift) (Large preview)

If you attempt to “Watch the Recording” of an old webinar, it’s fair to assume that Drift is going to want to capture your email address. However, Drift is in the business of developing conversational marketing tools for business. While they could’ve created a conversational landing page (sort of like what Zola did with its form above), it went a different route:

Drift’s chatbot asks visitors for their email address to get to the webinar. (Source: Drift) (Large preview)

Visitors interested in the webinar lead gen are taken to a DriftBot page. It’s very simple in design (as any chat interface should be) and includes the simplest of footers. While Drift’s link is there, the only other competition for attention is the “Privacy Policy” and it’s clear that Drift wants that to be an afterthought based on the font color choice.

One more thing I want to note about this example is that if you were to go through these same steps on the desktop website, DriftBot doesn’t ask you for an email address. It simply gives you a link:

Drift’s desktop chatbot doesn’t ask for an email address. (Source: Drift) (Large preview)

This is further proof that you should be designing different experiences based on the expected outcomes on each device. In this case, they probably have data that shows that desktop visitors watch the webinar right away while mobile visitors wait until they’re on a larger-screened device.

Wrapping Up

While adhering to basic mobile design principles is the best thing to do when designing something new for your clients, be mindful of the purpose of the new element or page too.

As you can see in many of the examples above, there’s a stark difference between the kinds of lead gen offers your clients may want to share with visitors.

The simpler exchanges (e.g. give me your email/get this checklist) don’t require much deviation from the designs of other mobile web pages. More high stakes exchanges (e.g. give me your information/get a custom quote, consult or demo) may require some non-mobile-friendly design techniques.

I would suggest you do your research, see how long you can realistically hold your visitors’ attention on mobile and design it. Then, start A/B testing your design to experiment with form construction, page length, and so on. You may be surprised at what your mobile visitors will go for if the lead gen offer is juicy enough.

(ra, yk, il)

Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Designrfix/~3/5fltLL4fyuo/98-off-get-the-project-management-certification-bundle-for-only-49

They say great leaders are born, not made. While there is some truth to that, it isn’t always the case. An effective project manager is a good decision maker, has effective communication skills and strong leadership skills. All of these skills can be learned and harnessed over time. The Project Management Certification Bundle offers some […]

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Original Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/abduzeedo/~3/dkWDtybVq2Q/fully-immersive-brand-identity-revolution-hotel

Fully-Immersive Brand Identity for The Revolution Hotel

abduzeedoApr 19, 2019

Adam&Co. is a Boston-based multi-disciplinary creative consultancy founded and led by award-winning creative director, Adam Larson in partnership with executive producer, Allison Doherty. With 20+ years working with clients across nearly every industry, The Revolution Hotel is Adam&Co.’s first fully-immersive brand identity project.

The Revolution presented Adam&Co. the opportunity to build a new, dynamic hotel brand from the ground up, extending their expertise into the physical realm through a multifaceted approach to experiential branding. Adam&Co. created and managed the strategic vision, branding, design, and art curation for the first-of-its-kind, boutique hotel in Boston’s historic South End.

About the Project

Boston has a unique way of defining and breaking convention, dating back to the American Revolution in 1775. It’s rich history is why so many people travel from all over the world, to visit the city that started it all. Adam&Co.’s creative vision for the hotel celebrates the city’s vibrant past and it’s continued efforts toward shaping the future.

Catering to today’s experience-seeking global travelers, The Revolution was built to evoke the city’s revolutionary spirit through the integration of art and installations, showcasing historical figures, innovations, and events specific to Boston, recontextualized and juxtaposed through modern applications, creating a balanced mix of the old and the new. Featured artists include Tristan Eaton, The Individuals Collective, and Adam&Co.

The Revolution was built to evoke the city’s revolutionary spirit through the integration of art…

About The Revolution Hotel

The Revolution boasts a variety of room options, including standard king with private bath, quads and triples with bunk beds and shared bathrooms, and long-term stay lofts with kitchenettes, and oversized bathrooms. The hotel also features a cafe, a gym, a large co-working space with a bar, as well as a forthcoming restaurant with outdoor patio for dining and events.

Also in the works is a proprietary augmented reality app that will allow visitors a chance to navigate the content of the hotel in more depth through curated video content.

The building’s history and architecture became a great source of inspiration when approaching the design of the hotel. An adaptive reuse project, the building itself dates back to the 1880’s when it became one of the first YWCAs in the country, a place dedicated to the empowerment of women. In 1953, a Mid-Century Modern addition was added to serve as a dormitory for young women who were joining the workforce after WWII. The developers, architects and design team all took great care to celebrate its original use as well as to embrace, preserve, and expose its original architecture.

Adam&Co. commissioned world-renown Los Angeles’ street artist Tristan Eaton to create a 65 ft. mural that is the centerpiece of the hotel’s lobby, and the first Boston mural by Tristan. Inspired by the famous murals at the nearby Boston Public Library, and created entirely by freehand spray paint, the mural combines carefully rendered portraits of influential Bostonians with various excerpts of the city’s history, and contributions to pop culture. Tristan also designed custom carpeting that lines the halls of the guest floors.

Here is an exclusive BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH TRISTAN EATON  

To celebrate our lineage in science, technology and innovation, Adam&Co. partnered with Boston-based Individuals Collective to create a three-story sculptural installation featuring objects that represent significant inventions from the area. The “Innovation Tower” includes everything from microwaves and car parts, to old computers, microchips, transmitters, telephones, safety razors, Converse sneakers, basketballs, volleyballs, and typewriters.

Additional art throughout the hotel includes custom wallpapers, custom stencil murals, and framed art installations all designed by Adam&Co. Adam&Co.

The Revolution Hotel is the first hotel on the east coast to be managed by the boutique hotel management company Provenance Hotels. It is owned and was developed by the Mount Vernon Company, with Creative Direction provided by Adam&Co., designed in partnership with PCA Architects.

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Original Source: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2019/04/user-perspective-story-structure/

The User’s Perspective: Using Story Structure To Stand In Your User’s Shoes

The User’s Perspective: Using Story Structure To Stand In Your User’s Shoes

John Rhea

2019-04-16T16:00:16+02:00
2019-04-19T16:36:08+00:00

Every user interaction with your website is part of a story. The user—the hero—finds themselves on a journey through your website on the way to their goal. If you can see this journey from their perspective, you can better understand what they need at each step, and align your goals with theirs.

My first article on websites and story structure, Once Upon a Time: Using Story Structure for Better Engagement, goes into more depth on story structure (the frame around which we build the house of a story) and how it works. But here’s a quick refresher before we jump into implications:

The Hero’s Journey

Most stories follow a simple structure that Joseph Campbell in his seminal work, Hero with a Thousand Faces, called the Hero’s Journey. We’ll simplify it to a hybrid of the plot structure you learned in high school and the Hero’s Journey. We’ll then take that and apply it to how a user interacts with a website.

Once upon a time… a hero went on a journey. (Large preview)

Ordinary World
The ordinary world is where the user starts (their every day) before they’ve met your website.

Inciting Incident/Call To Adventure
Near the beginning of any story, something will happen to the hero that will push (or pull) them into the story (the inciting incident/call to adventure). It will give them a problem they need to resolve. Similarly, a user has a problem they need to be solved, and your website might be just the thing to solve it. Sometimes though, a hero would rather stay in their safe, ordinary world. It’s too much cognitive trouble for the user to check out a new site. But their problem — their call to adventure — will not be ignored. It will drive the user into interacting with your site.

Preparation/Rising Action
They’ve found your website and they think it might work to solve their problem, but they need to gather information and prepare to make a final decision.

The Ordeal/Climax
In stories, the ordeal is usually the fight with the big monster, but here it’s the fight to decide to use your site. Whether they love the video game news you cover or need the pen you sell or believe in the graphic design prowess of your agency, they have to make the choice to engage.

The Road Back/Falling Action
Having made the decision to engage, the road back is about moving forward with that purchase, regular reading, or requesting the quote.

Resolution
Where they apply your website to their problem and their problem is *mightily* solved!

Return With Elixir
The user returns to the ordinary world and tells everyone about their heroic journey.

The User’s Perspective

Seeing the website from the user’s perspective is the most important part of this. The Hero’s Journey, as I use it, is a framework for better understanding your user and their state of mind during any given interaction on your site. If you understand where they are in their story, you can get a clearer picture of where and how you fit in (or don’t) to their story. Knowing where you are or how you can change your relationship to the user will make a world of difference in how you run your website, email campaigns, and any other interaction you have with them.

Numerous unsubscribes might not be a rejection of the product, but that you sent too many emails without enough value. Great testimonials that don’t drive engagement might be too vague or focused on how great you are, not what solutions you solve. A high bounce rate on your sign up page might be because you focused more on your goals and not enough on your users’ goals. Your greatest fans might not be talking about you to their friends, not because they don’t like you, but because you haven’t given them the opportunity for or incentivized the sharing. Let’s look at a few of these problems.

Plan For The Refusal Of The Call To Adventure

Often the hero doesn’t want to engage in the story or the user doesn’t want to expend the cognitive energy to look at another new site. But your user has come to your site because of their call to adventure—the problem that has pushed them to seek a solution—even if they don’t want to. If you can plan for a user’s initial rejection of you and your site, you’ll be ready to counteract it and mollify their concerns.

Follow up or reminder emails are one way to help the user engage. This is not a license to stuff your content down someone’s throat. But if we know that one or even seven user touches aren’t enough to draw someone in and engage them with your site, you can create two or eight or thirty-seven user touches.

Sometimes these touches need to happen outside of your website; you need to reach out to users rather than wait for them to come back to you. One important thing here, though, is not to send the same email thirty-seven times. The user already refused that first touch. The story’s hero rarely gets pulled into the story by the same thing that happens again, but rather the same bare facts looked at differently.

So vary your approach. Do email, social media, advertising, reward/referral programs, and so on. Or use the same medium with a different take on the same bare facts and/or new information that builds on the previous touches. Above all, though, ensure every touch has value. If it doesn’t, each additional touch will get more annoying and the user will reject your call forever.

Nick Stephenson is an author who tries to help other authors sell more books. He has a course called Your First 10K Readers and recently launched a campaign with the overall purpose of getting people to register for the course.

Before he opened registration, though, he sent a series of emails. The first was a thanks-for-signing-up-to-the-email-list-and-here’s-a-helpful-case-study email. He also said he would send you the first video in a three-part series in about five minutes. The second email came six minutes later and had a summary of what’s covered in the video and a link to the video itself. The next day he emailed with a personal story about his own struggles and a link to an article on why authors fail (something authors are very concerned about). Day 3 saw email number four… you know what? Let’s just make a chart.

Day
Value/Purpose
Email #

1
Case Study
1

1
Video 1 of 3
2

2
Personal Story and Why Authors Fail Article
3

3
Video 2 of 3
4

4
Honest discussion of his author revenue and a relevant podcast episode
5

5
Video 3 of 3
6

6
Testimonial Video
7

7
Registration Opens Tomorrow
8

8
Registration Info and a pitch on how working for yourself is awesome
9

By this point, he’s hooked a lot of users. They’ve had a week of high quality, free content related to their concerns. He’s paid it forward and now they can take it to the next level.

I’m sure some people unsubscribed, but I’m also sure a lot more people will be buying his course than with one or even two emails. He’s given you every opportunity to refuse the call and done eight different emails with resources in various formats to pull you back in and get you going on the journey.

I’ve Traveled This Road Before

It takes a lot less work to follow a path than to strike a new one. If you have testimonials, they can be signposts in the wilderness. While some of them can and should refer to the ordeal (things that might prevent a user from engaging with you), the majority of them should refer to how the product/website/thing will solve whatever problem the user set out to solve.

“This article was amazing!” says the author’s mother, or “I’m so proud of how he turned out… it was touch-and-go there for a while,” says the author’s father. While these are positive (mostly), they aren’t helpful. They tell you nothing about the article.

Testimonials should talk about the road traveled: “This article was awesome because it helped me see where we were going wrong, how to correct course, and how to blow our competitor out of the water,” says the author’s competitor. The testimonials can connect with the user where they are and show them how the story unfolded.

This testimonial for ChowNow talks about where they’ve been and why ChowNow worked better than their previous setup.

“I struggled with the same things you did, but this website helped me through.” (Large preview)

So often we hear a big promise in testimonials. “Five stars”, “best film of the year,” or “my son always does great.” But they don’t give us any idea of what it took to get where they are, that special world the testifier now lives in. And, even if that company isn’t selling a scam, your results will vary.

We want to trumpet our best clients, but we also want to ground those promises in unasterisked language. If we don’t, the user’s ordeal may be dealing with our broken promises, picking up the pieces and beginning their search all over again.

The Ordeal Is Not Their Goal

While you need to help users solve any problems preventing them from choosing you in their ordeal, the real goal is for them to have their problem solved. It’s easy to get these confused because your ordeal in your story is getting the user to buy in and engage with your site.

Your goal is for them to buy in/engage and your ordeal is getting them to do that. Their goal is having their problem solved and their ordeal is choosing you to solve that problem. If you conflate your goal and their goal then their problem won’t get solved and they won’t have a good experience with you.

This crops up whenever you push sales and profits over customer happiness. Andrew Mason, founder of Groupon, in his interview with Alex Bloomberg on the podcast “Without Fail”, discusses some of his regrets about his time at Groupon. The company started out with a one-deal-a-day email — something he felt was a core of the business. But under pressure to meet the growth numbers their investors wanted (their company goals), they tried things that weren’t in line with the customer’s goals.

Note: I have edited the below for length and clarity. The relevant section of the interview starts at about 29:10.

Alex: “There was one other part of this [resignation] letter that says, ‘my biggest regrets are the moments that I let a lack of data override my intuition on what’s best for our company’s customers.’ What did you mean by that?”

Andrew: “Groupon started out with these really tight principles about how the site was going to work and really being pro customer. As we expanded and as we went after growth at various points, people in the company would say, ‘hey why don’t we try running two deals a day? Why don’t we start sending two emails a day?’ And I think that sounds awful, like who wants that? Who wants to get two emails every single day from a company? And they’d be like, ‘Well sure, it sounds awful to you. But we’re a data driven company. Why don’t we let the data decide?’ …And we’d do a test and it would show that maybe people would unsubscribe at a slightly higher rate but the increase in purchasing would more than make up for it. You’d get in a situation like: ‘OK, I guess we can do this. It doesn’t feel right, but it does seem like a rational decision.’ …And of course the problem was when you’re in hypergrowth like [we were] …you don’t have time to see what is going to happen to the data in the long term. The churn caught up with [us]. And people unsubscribed at higher rates and then before [we] knew it, the service had turned into… a vestige of what it once was.”

— Without Fail, Groupon’s Andrew Mason: Pt. 2, The Fall (Oct. 8, 2018)

Tools For The Return With The Elixir

Your users have been on a journey. They’ve conquered their ordeal and done what you hoped they would, purchased your product, consumed your content or otherwise engaged with you. These are your favorite people. They’re about to go back to their ordinary world, to where they came from. Right here at this pivot is when you want to give them tools to tell how awesome their experience was. Give them the opportunity to leave a testimonial or review, offer a friends-and-family discount, or to share your content.

SunTrust allows electronic check deposit through their mobile app. For a long while, right after a deposit, they would ask you if you wanted to rate their app. That’s the best time to ask. The user has just put money in their account and are feeling the best they can while using the app.

“Money, money, money! Review us please?” (Large preview)

The only problem was is that they asked you after every deposit. So if you had twelve checks to put in after your birthday, they’d ask you every time. By the third check number, this was rage inducing and I’m certain they got negative reviews. They asked at the right time, but pestered rather than nudged and — harkening back to the refusal of the call section — they didn’t vary their approach or provide value with each user touch.

Note: Suntrust has since, thankfully, changed this behavior and no longer requests a rating after every deposit.

Whatever issue you’re trying to solve, the Hero’s Journey helps you see through your user’s eyes. You’ll better understand their triumphs and pain and be ready to take your user interactions to the next level.

So get out there, put on some user shoes, and make your users heroic!

(cc, il)