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berthastover · 6 years ago

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How to Create Landing Pages for a Facebook Ad Campaign

When it comes to marketing and advertising, nothing seems to work better these days than social media. People love social channels, and the latest numbers give solid proof to the concept. There are over 2 billion monthly active users on Facebook and most of them spend more hours a day on the platform than on any other website whatsoever. As of consequence, it’s only obvious to use Facebook as solid marketing and advertising platform.

Facebook is the most popular social media platform with over 79% of the Americans using it. More than half of the US residents check with their Facebook accounts several times a day.

Are these numbers, combined with the fact that almost half of the users follow at least one brand page giving proof that you should use the platform? Sure they are. And, since Facebook offers an advertising channel as well, one that is easy to use and target the right audience, you can also focus on this if you have a budget for such expenditures.

A Facebook ad is nothing without a Facebook landing page. You need to attract people to click on your message, but at the same time, you’ll need to keep them interested once they do it.

How?

Well, with this article, I will try to show you how to create that landing page for a successful Facebook ad campaign.

What is a Facebook landing page?

Before digging into the subject, it’s only logical to start with the basics. In this context, you may wonder about the concept of a landing page and its usefulness.

Let’s try to answer first the most important question: What is a Facebook advertising landing page?

Definition:

A Facebook landing page is/should be created as an interface that drives in visitors’ action. It can be a standalone page on an external website or a custom tab within an already existing Facebook page. It compels the audience to follow up on what the ad was asking them to do, sign up for a newsletter, donate money, buy a product or a service or just share something like a piece of news or another page.

Today, we’re going to focus on Facebook landing pages, the landing tabs that are created within a Facebook page to drive in the traffic generated by an advertising campaign.

Here’s an example from Disney’s Facebook Shop landing page::

Why you should create a Facebook landing page

Well, we know or at least we should already know that every ad campaign should have a personalized landing page that meets the user intent.

Why create such a page on Facebook and not on a standalone website?

Well, there are a lot of people using Facebook as their main gateway to the world and who don’t wish to leave the platform whatsoever. They might not like to be guided to an external website but they’d most certainly read a page that seems in many ways familiar to them. I am talking about a page hosted on Facebook itself, the platform they’ve seen the ad on.

On the other hand, this one may not be your only campaign. Maybe there are many other campaigns to follow. Leading your audience on a free and easy to set up platform such as Facebook, will allow you to save precious time and money by not having to pay for domain names, hosting and of course, website development.

In other words, it’s easier to set up a landing page on Facebook.

Easier than doing it on your own platform, of course.

How to create an effective Facebook landing page?

There are, of course, many ways in which you can create a landing page. And, there are many landing page types that can prove to be effective for an advertising campaign. Your success may depend, however, on several factors such as the visuals of choice and of course, the professionality of the design and your target audience.

Also, there are a couple of steps that might help you deal with these factors. Let’s try and list them:

1. Choose the landing page that better suits your campaign.

In other words, make sure your landing page properly suits the aim of the advertisement. Ask yourself: What do you want to get from the visitors? What would you want them to do upon landing on that page?

Do you want them to sign up for a newsletter? Then it should be your main focus and the main objective to build the page around. Do you want them to contact you and ask for a price offer? Then this should be your main focus. Whatever your goal is, it needs to be clearly stated on the landing page and at the same time, convincing for the visitor.

The advertisement may have convinced them to click and follow up on your offer but the landing page will convince them to take the next step.

Here’s an example of a great landing page that invites the audience to subscribe to Gary Vaynerchuk’s calendar of future events:

It’s a great example of building a personal brand. Also, it gives you enough incentive to start doing it yourself.

Why is it a good example and why did I choose it?

Well, regardless of the popularity Gary has nowadays, it wasn’t always like this. He built his personal brand piece by piece, and got to the point that most of today’s Internet users know him.

The example, however, is a great one to follow, regardless of the person it advertises. It shows a landing page with precisely thought-out elements.

The elements I’m referring to are:

The text is readable and easy to understand. It occupies the central part of the page and cannot be missed.

The visuals of the main page are visible and occupy the center of the view. In this case, we’re able to see the main account image and colors.

There are a bunch of buttons that give easy access to the calendars available on Google and Apple. Since this is the main goal of the advertisement, they are quite welcome and well placed within the landing page.

2. Create/Design your visuals

This step actually starts with the main advertising banner and expands to the creation of the landing page as well. All the specific visual elements of a campaign should be found in all parts of the marketing strategy.

And, the most important elements, in this case, are the banners and the promotional pages.

Here’s an example from Fox news:

As you can see, the visuals are the same on the landing page and the Facebook ad.

The logo is present in both, the ad and the landing page ad, and so are the brand colors.

1. The Facebook Ad. It’ll be the first thing the audience sees, coming into contact with your campaign. You can design your banners right from the Facebook ad manager or, you can include some third-party visuals. Regardless of this choice, here are some of your best options:

You can choose to work with professional designers that you can either hire via recruiting platforms or via Dribble or Behance.

You can hire freelance professional designers and marketers on Facebook or via dedicated platforms such as GetResponse Marketplace, Upwork or Fiverr.

Nevertheless, you can choose to hire a professional agency specialized in this kind of banner advertising, like Smartketer, Mint or Voy Media.

Depending on your working habits, your professional and technical skills, and of course, on your money and time, you can design your own banners with Photoshop, Bannersnack or Snappa.

2. The visual elements of the landing page. As you probably imagine, there are a bunch of visual elements you can include on your landing page. They depend on the type of your campaign but keep in mind they should be in line with the banner. Some of the most important elements that should be found on all landing pages are:

The logo. This is the most important one. You need to make sure it’s on the banner and the landing page. It doesn’t matter how small the logo is. What’s important is its presence.

The visual style of the copy on the landing page.

The colors.

Other branded visuals/images. You may choose to include specific images in your campaign. If they are included in the Facebook banner ads, you can consider including them on your landing page as well.

3. Choose the right tools to build your landing page

There are, of course, several ways in which you can design your landing page. There’s one harder, direct way and there’s one where you get the option to use tools that could make it all easier.

Let’s start with the hard way:

1. Create the tab via Facebook developer

As you may already know, Facebook landing pages can be created as tabs within you already existing page. Tabs are available under the profile picture and they act similarly to a website navigation menu.

Step 1: The first thing you need to do is to create the content to be displayed on your landing page. In many ways, the tab is similar to an iFrame, which loads inside the Facebook page. Create a web page outside of Facebook. Later, you’ll tell Facebook to display the contents of this page within the newly created tab.

TIP: If you already have a domain name and a hosting platform, you’re almost ready to start designing your page. But, make sure that you have a secure URL as Facebook requires it to let you create your custom tab. A secure URL will usually start with https:// instead of HTTP://. If you’re still using a regular connection, consider acquiring an SSL certificate first.

(Learn how to track your Facebook campaign and landing pages.)

Step 2: Log in to Facebook developer page to get started. Use your own Facebook credentials for this step.

Click the green button to add a “new app”

There are some options to choose from. But, to complete the setup, you’ll need a basic understanding of web development, CSS and Facebook API. Or, you can hire a developer who knows this environment and who’ll be able to help you create the right landing page for your ad campaign.

2. Use GetResponse’s professional tool to create your landing page

The easy way, and when I say “easy” I don’t mean unprofessional, is to use a dedicated tool to build your landing page.

GetResponse provides you with such a tool and lets you create responsive landing pages with ease and professionalism. It features all the elements and side tools you need and a complete list of free templates to get you started.

The above image depicts some of the templates available via the GetResponse landing page creator.

Here’s a demonstrative video that shows the app at work:

Other key elements to consider

Building an effective landing page is a task that takes more than a professional tool or the right coding skills. You’ll also need to take care of issues your success may depend on, such as:

1. Responsive design

We all know how important the mobile community is. At least half of your potential audience will follow through your Facebook ad on mobile devices. This means that you need to take care of this aspect and make sure you’re able to deliver a mobile responsive landing page.

While third party tools and apps will take care of this issue for you, if you choose to build the page by yourself, it’s a thing you need to consider.

2. An enticing offer

Usually, a banner ad carries a deal. An offer that should entice the audience and convince them to follow up on your link. The landing page should meet this expectation and give your audience exactly what they were searching for when clicking on the banner ad. Here’s an example from Jeep with a beautifully constructed landing page and a clear offer:

3. A sub-headline

When it comes to content marketing in general and advertising in particular, clearly stated headlines are one of the best ways to score a deal and convince your audience that you can deliver as promised. Headlines break the text in specific pieces and make your offer more noticeable on a first look.

4. A powerful call to action

Nothing speaks louder in advertising than a CTA. But only if you know how to choose your CTA copy and how to make it visible, readable and understandable in as few words as possible and on the right part of your page.

Here’s an example from Nutella that has many different calls to action, but all of them are clear and visible:

5. Trustworthiness

According to this report, the online environment is considered to be the least trustworthy among consumers. What does this mean?

Well, it means that you should make sure every tiny piece of information on the banner and the landing page is valid and true. Don’t lie, don’t make promises you can’t keep, make sure your offers are legit and trustworthy. Don’t make them seem too good to be true.

6. Other details

Apart from the above advice, consider this as well: try to keep up with what your audience may need or want based on your offer. Make sure your contact details are available, readable and easy to spot, if you need them to follow up on your offer with an email or a phone call. Also, keep distractions at a minimum and don’t overuse your visuals. Finally, you can offer social proof on your trustworthiness or your overall success rate/fan base.

Conclusion

Advertising is an important part of a marketing strategy and Facebook is one of the best channels to run such a campaign. However, apart from the banner itself, the most important thing you can think of is the landing page. This is the page that your audience will get to see after clicking on your ad. But there’s no need to worry, now you know several ways in which you can design and publish your landing page on Facebook.

Are you aware of other means to create and publish landing pages? If so, please share your wisdom with us and our audience here, in the comments section available below.

Author: Robert Katai is a digital marketer, blogger and content strategist at Bannersnack, a professional banner design app. You can follow him on Twitter @katairobi and check out his blog robertkatai.com.

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The post How to Create Landing Pages for a Facebook Ad Campaign appeared first on GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips.

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likefusion · 8 years ago

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5 Important Visual Lessons From Designers for Content Marketers: I don't want to write another article explaining the importance of visual content in your content marketing. And Joe Pulizzi already included the topic in his article about the biggest content marketing trends in 2017 so we don't need to outline it anymore. But a lot of marketers still don't understand visual content. Visual content is something that you, as a marketer, should work with a designer to create. Think about it this way: You need to influence people by touching an emotion that will make a segment of readers/consumers interact with you as a brand. And because the internet is so crowded with content, you need to take a step further to attract attention. What type of content will 65% of the population be more likely to recall? Visual. 65% of the population is more likely to recall visual #content via @SSRN.Click To Tweet You can't speak proficiently about visuals for your content marketing if you don't talk with the people who create them – the designers. Call them however you want: UX/UI designer, web designer, graphic designer, creative director, visual content creator, or art director. They are the ones who consume visual content, create visual content, and think about visual content every day. And that's why in this article, I go to these visual experts to share the five lessons content marketers need to know about visual content. HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: 37+ Tips and Tools for Picture-Perfect Visual Content 1. Know less is more “When marketers feel that every little bit of info needs to be included on a piece that's when things get very muddy and messy,” says Joseph Kalinowski, creative director at Content Marketing Institute. And I agree with him. If you think creating a lot of content will bring you the results you want, well my friend, let me tell you that you are wrong. Creating a lot of content, articles, videos, and social media posts won't get you more clicks, leads, or whatever else you want to get. When I asked designer Paul Jarvis what content marketers need to know, I assumed he would reply in three words: Keep it simple. But I was wrong (and right): Less is always more. Non-designers seem to always want to add elements, more fonts, more colors, more stuff to designs to make it ‘pop' or stand out. When design, professional design, works best when it's focused and to the point. Less is always more when it comes to #design, says @PJRVS.Click To Tweet Many content marketers want to write one more piece of an article, to insert one more image, or to record one more video. But what if they focused on the thing that is important for them and their audience? Focusing on one point brings them value. As Mihai Cora, UX/UI designer for Smartketer, says: Give enough space between the lines. This will make it more comfortable to read. And I couldn't agree more. Yes, your content needs space and time to breathe. Your content needs to let your audience consume it, think about it, and interact with it. As Jozef Matas, head of design at Teamweek, says, “Reduce clutter and make it breathe.” Takeaway: Don't go overboard with text – design to give your content the space and time to be consumed easily by your audience. Don't go overboard w/ text. Design to give #content the space & time to be consumed easily.@katairobiClick To Tweet HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Bringing Ideas to Life: A Look Behind the Creative Curtain 2. Strike a balance What's the right mix between text- and visual-based content? A 2014 Blog Pros study shows that the 100 most popular blogs on average use one image every 350 words. That means if you write a 2,000-word article you should use at least six visuals, including the featured image. Use one image for every 350 words in an article, says @blogpros. #designClick To Tweet But throwing a few visuals in a blog post doesn't mean that you are doing a good job, or as Joe Kalinowski says: Many marketers in general have a good sense of design, but there are many times when they overlook some of the basic design principles that should be adhered to when trying to create visual content. Basic design principles should be adhered to when creating visual content, says @jkkalinowski. #designClick To Tweet Only half of B2B marketers say creating visual content is a priority. What about the other half? Aren't they interested in visual content? Ian Paget, a logo designer and visual content creator, outlines the importance of visual content for a successful content marketing strategy: Adding imagery every few paragraphs makes the content feel more engaging. Images can be created in a few different ways. Create your own imagery, using photography, software such as Photoshop, or online tools such as Bannersnack. This route is more time consuming, but means that you can create exactly what you need, and have a consistent style throughout your content. Adding imagery every few paragraphs makes the content feel more engaging, says @Logo_Geek. #designClick To Tweet Takeaway: Visual content creation should be as important as text or audio content creation. HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Is Design Mostly Dead? DIY Platforms vs. Hiring a Pro 3. See the color I believe I lost a few great articles and stories because of the color of the website. I couldn't understand why the designer (or developer) behind that website used that ugly combination with red and orange, or green and yellow. Think about how many users you lose each day because of your color combinations. Joe offers this suggestion: “Think back to the days of your high school art class when you had to make the color wheel. Contrasting and complementary colors, primary, secondary and tertiary colors, the list goes on. You don't have to get crazy … Just remember that unless it's the holiday, try to steer away from placing green type on a red background (LOL). “… If you have a general idea of a color that you would like to use as a base, there is an abundance of online tools like Sessions College that can help you choose colors that will work well with your palette.” Though the psychology of color is one of the most controversial aspects in branding, you still need to understand its importance. Takeaway: Every time you launch a content marketing project, make sure your use of color stays true to your brand. Every time you launch a #contentmarketing project, make sure use of color stays true to your brand. @katairobiClick To Tweet HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Brand Guidelines to the Rescue for Clear, Consistent Stories [Example] 4. Think about typography What is the difference between a Sans Serif font and Comic Sans or Curlz? If you're a designer, I bet you have a few ideas. If you're a marketer, you may ignore that question but you shouldn't. If your type is hard to read, readers will ignore your articles. Jacob Cass of Just™ Creative explains: (T)ypography plays a huge role in communicating a message visually. Every typeface has subtle nuances that will make or break your visual communication. So learning about the basics of typography will help set you up for visual marketing success. Every typeface has subtle nuances that will make or break your visual communication, says @JustCreative.Click To Tweet You don't have to be a professional in web design and understand the role of every type font, size, and color, but you need to know the basics. Jacob recommends a great book for you: The Non-Designer's Type Book. I love the way Joe puts together the importance of typography in this analogy: Think of a newspaper's front page, big headline, medium-sized subhead, small body copy with a nice accompanying photo that works well with all of the fonts and sizes. Now, imagine how hard that newspaper page would be to read if everything was the same size, font, font weight. Adjusting size and weight of items in your visual content is a must. Takeaway: Educate yourself on the basics of typography to ensure that readers won't find your content hard to read. HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Movie Poster Creates JAWS-Dropping Visual Storytelling Lessons 5. Don't let page-load time deter visitors When your website is loading so slowly that you can watch one season of House of Cards (OK, I'm exaggerating a little bit, but you got the point), you have big problems. As Google says, the best brand is the one who is there, useful, and quick. Ian suggests one way to speed things up in design – optimize images: “Make sure when creating images for the web, images are sized and compressed correctly.” And Patricia Coroi, graphic designer at Flipsnack, says: More people are consuming content using mobile, so being optimized for mobile is very important. And the best way to check out how ready is your website for mobile is by checking it with Google's tool. Takeaway: Make sure your visuals are optimized for the online environment. HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Is Your Content Ready for the Mobile Takeover? Tips and Tools to Ensure Speed Doesn't Kill Your Site Conclusion I let Denis Matveev, product designer at PromoRepublic, have the last word because he makes the value of design to all content marketers clear: Apart from art, design is a suite of rules and laws, such as typography, composition and color. When doing design, you don't steal, but borrow the best decision. Always seek for trends and reference in order to create a working, eye-catching, wow-effect visual. Apart from art, design is a suite of rules & laws, such as typography, composition, & color. @MatsofskiClick To Tweet So here are the five important lessons from designers every content marketer should learn: Know less is more – give visitors space and time to pace their viewing. Strike a balance – see visual content creation as important as text or audio creation. See the color – stay true to your brand. Think about typography – give visitors an easy-to-read experience. Don't let page-load time deter visitors – optimize your visuals. Now, get back to your content creation and see what you need to adjust to do a better job. But before you go, which one of these lessons do you think is a general problem for the content marketing industry? Let me know in comments. Want help in balancing your content marketing mix? Whether it's visuals vs. text or something else, get advice from experts in CMI's daily newsletter. Subscribe today – it's free! Cover image by SplitShire Please note: All tools included in our blog posts are suggested by authors, not the CMI editorial team. No one post can provide all relevant tools in the space. Feel free to include additional tools in the comments (from your company or ones that you have used). The post 5 Important Visual Lessons From Designers for Content Marketers appeared first on Content Marketing Institute. http://bit.ly/2oOdPXq

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