There’s no question about it… an effective landing page is going to drastically boost the amount of money that you raise on Kickstarter as part of your pre-launch strategy.
Let’s be clear: I’m referring to a landing page that you use to build an email list before you go live on Kickstarter.
Why is it so darn powerful?
Because it eliminates distractions, leaving a potential lead with only a couple choices.
They can either:
- Opt-in to your email list.
- Hit the back button.
- Close the browser window.
This clarity of result makes it SO MUCH easier to optimize the landing page for the conversion that you care about… in this case, it’s email signups.
You can test how a new video impacts your conversion rates. You can even test how changing the headline, body, or images on the page impacts the number of signups that you get.
So how do you go about building this all powerful landing page? Is it hard to do?
Thankfully, there is now software out there that makes it dead simple to set up a professional and conversion-optimized landing page.
I’m talking about Leadpages, the best landing page builder out there. Once you sign up for the software, you’ll be able to choose from a variety of templates to set up a landing page in a matter of minutes.
This is a heck of a lot easier than designing an entire new webpage from scratch!
Now… you don’t have to use Leadpages. There are many other software solutions out there as well.
I personally use Leadpages for all of my clients campaigns because it’s incredibly user-friendly and easy to customize.
Once you have chosen a software tool that you’re going use to set up your landing page, then it’s time to talk about crafting a page that converts visitors into email subscribers.
Let’s show you how to do it.
1. Your initial image is EVERYTHING
Human beings are lazy visual creatures (kind of ironic, seeing as I’m writing out a long blog post).
But people visiting your landing page aren’t interested in in-depth research like you. They like to get a quick idea of what something is or how something works.
The fastest way to convey an idea or concept to someone else is with a compelling image. On a previous post, we showed how My Canoe created a beautiful landing page.
Immediately, you can get an idea of what the product is and how you can use it.
In fact, this image almost “paints a picture” in your mind as to how you might enjoy using it after a long day at work on a Friday.
You’re enjoying your hard-earned weekend out on the calming water.
It goes without saying, but this should be a high resolution image that makes the product look attractive. You want your potential leads to visualize themselves using the product through the image!
2. Your Headline Is Ridiculously Important
Aside from the image, the headline is the MOST important aspect of your landing page.
For the most part, online visitors will scan your website. They’ll look for big headlines to give them a snapshot of what message you’re trying to convey.
I’m sure that even with this blog post, YOUR eyes naturally gravitate towards the headlines on the page before you started reading the text.
The landing page that I showed above of My Canoe succinctly communicates the product’s value proposition: convenience.
As another example, we can take the Arsenal Kickstarter campaign which has raised $1,320,675 thus far on the platform — and is probably going to raise even more.
Let’s take a look at their landing page.
As with the last page, the first thing that you see is the product. From the image, we instantly know that:
- This is a photography accessory. (observable).
- You can use it to take beautiful photos (implied).
The next thing that we immediately see is the text “Meet Arsenal, the AI photography assistant.”
While this doesn’t explain the product in its entirety, it demonstrates the main feature of the product: Artificial Intelligence assistance.
The value proposition is similar to the last project: convenience. This product will make it easier to do whatever you do. That is the role of an “assistant.”
3. Use Emotion-Centric Language
This is probably the hardest part of building a landing page for engineer-types in the audience. I find that these folks tend to shy away from emotion-centric language and stick to logical appeals. Of course, this is just my experience.
Let’s take a look at Arsenal’s next message, which is also coupled with a photo.
Pay attention to what your eyes gravitate towards as you consume the page. Personally, my eyes first gravitated to the headline “unlock your camera’s potential.”
I then took a look at the background image, showing a smartphone controlling the camera.
Finally, I consumed the text underneath the initial headline and was tempted to “watch the video” to see if it held up to the “claim.”
There are a lot of things that I want to break down here. The initial headline “Unlock Your Camera’s Potential” has the underlying message that you’re NOT taking advantage of your camera’s potential.
In other words, you’re missing out.
This is an emotion. As a pro or even a hobbyist, you don’t want to feel like you’re missing out on key performance. It creates a sense of unease.
The next chunk of messaging has some key phrasing like “in any condition,” “state of the art learning” and “take complete control.”
“In any condition” obviously means that you can use this product anywhere. It’s not going to be some ultra-specific bit of machinery. It’s going to become a part of your regular use, therefore it’s worth your time.
“State of the art learning” means that for some reason, this technology was NOT available before, which is why you couldn’t use it. It’s NEW. That’s the reason why you should pay attention to it.
“Take complete control” transfers the feeling that you will finally “master” the expensive camera that you’ve purchased. It also indicates that with so many complex dials, you might currently feel overwhelmed with the functionality.
Dangling this emotion in front of you makes you want to learn more. We all like to feel like we’re “taking control” of anything, whether it’s our camera or our life.
Lastly, the image is just another example of how YOU could use the camera. It gets you thinking about all the different locations where you can take beautiful photos.
As you can see, there were a lot of subtle emotional triggers in this second point. It appealed to your relationship to photography, along with your prior experience with cameras.
4. Present the Offer and Persuade of Its Value
The offer simply refers to what you’re offering to the website visitor.
If it’s a product-centric campaign, you might make a promise that your product can DO something. Your product can cause some specific result.
You would then demonstrate a bit of that offer, or at the very least, tease it.
Typically, this takes the form of either a video, more images, or bullet points that go through the high-level benefits. Basically, you’re convincing the prospect that the product does what it says it’s going to do.
Since we’ve been doing a lot of traditional products, let’s take more of an entertainment product as an example, the Pathfinder: Kingmaker campaign, which raised $909,057 on Kickstarter.
The initial photo for this campaign communicates fun, adventure, and gives you a quick idea of what genera the game is. You can see it below.
After this initial introduction, there is an email sign-up box (I always recommend putting an opt-in box after the introduction, then again at the bottom of the page).
Following that first box, the team launches into some of the things that you can expect from playing the game.
The offer is that this game is going to be entertaining, fun, and adventurous. With this landing page, the creators are backing up this offer with some of the things that you can expect to be able to do to realize this vision.
Of course, you’d have to check out the full Kickstarter pitch video for all of the information, but it gives leads a tease of what’s to come and more of a reason to get on the email list to be notified when it comes out.
5. Sell the Call-To-Action!
When you’re trying to build up an email list, you must include a Call to Action (CTA). This is a fancy marketing term for making a lead do something. In this case, it’s subscribing to your email list.
However, you probably wouldn’t use that exact text. You might also offer a lead magnet, like something free that the individual will gain access to.
Or, as in the example of the Arsenal Kickstarter campaign, the Call to Action promised a discount to early backers. You can see their message below.
You don’t just have to stress the discount that early backers will get. You could do a giveaway leading up to the campaign. You could offer access to insider content, and more.
All of the points that you make on the landing page should ultimately support the final Call to Action. If the product is going to be expensive, then a discount will likely be the most compelling reason to sign up.
6. Get Started Now
The faster that you start this process, the better.
That way, you’ll begin to get key data about your potential backers.
You’ll see the number of people that sign up to your email list. You’ll see how many visitors it takes to generate one email subscriber.
By using a simple tool like Leadpages, you’ll begin to quickly grow your email list leading up to the launch of your Kickstarter campaign.
That way, when you launch, you’ll have a whole bunch of raving fans who back your project on the first day!
I hope that you found this blog post to be helpful. For more resources to help with your Kickstarter launch, make sure to:
- Subscribe to the CrowdCrux weekly newsletter for killer insights sent to your inbox once per week.
- Check out the Crowdfunding Demystified Podcast where I talk with entrepreneurs and industry experts about what makes for a successful campaign.
- Get tips, tricks, and best practices in video form from my Youtube Channel
- Get the most comprehensive crowdfunding guide available through The Kickstarter Launch Formula: book and/or course
- Want more personalized advice? Book a coaching call with me today!
Good luck with building your landing page and your campaign as a whole! Remember, CrowdCrux is here to help if you need us.
