Looking For An Experienced Technology Writer To Help Promote Your Business?

"Great follow-up, initiative in driving the project, met the deadline."

Sue Martenson
Public Relations Manager
Analog Devices

TechPromo, December 2006

Marketing Newsletter For Technology Promotion

Quick Tip -
Create Attention-Grabbing Banner Ads

Landing pages are an art form. They may also be a crucial part of a two-step online marketing process. But you need to get prospects to them first. The banner ad is one way to do that.

The Banner Has To Catch Them
In less than five seconds and ten words, your banner has to attract the interested prospect, tell him about something he wants, and interest him enough so he clicks. Flashy graphics attract attention, but the ten-word headline is what does the selling. It has to promise something specific to satisfy your prospect's need. And it needs an obvious click-button call to action, with words like 'Click For More', or just 'Click' if that's appropriate for your product.

When you create a banner headline, ask yourself these questions:

1. Is the promise useful to your prospect? ("Want 30% Faster Wafer Test Throughput?")
2. Is it urgent? ("Stop Missing Ship Dates - Increase Analog Test Throughput 13% Now")
3. Is it ultra-specific? ("Decrease PC Supply Space 24% With Intel-Compliant Power Controller")
4. Is it unique? ("10GBASE-T Chip Offers Complete Solution with Controller And All Interfaces")

You may not have all four of these in one headline, but try for at least three.

It's like eating peanut butter. Slap some between two pieces of bread, and it's an okay snack. Add fresh raspberries, a toasted marshmallow, and just-baked French bread to organic peanut butter, and it's almost irresistible. Does your headline have at least three out of four elements?

5. Does it appeal to what your prospects want? (Have you asked them what they want?)
6. Is it clichéd or too clever? Hackneyed or cute phrases can turn off prospects.
7. Do you fulfill your promise in the landing page?

If you promised a free report on how to choose a 10 gigabit router, the landing page should describe and link to it.

What's On The Landing Page
Your prospects expect to see more about that promise when they click through the banner. What belongs on a landing page?

Restate The Promise
Prospects want to be reassured they clicked to the right place. Restate the banner headline, with additional specifics. Prospects love numbers. If your banner headline was Proven SEO Results, you'd use a landing page headline saying Search Engine Optimization Specialist Guarantees 100%-500% More Traffic With Ethical Techniques.

Subheads should sell the product by themselves. Many online prospects read the subheads first to decide if they want to read the entire page. The subheads should entice with just enough information to get the prospect to read the copy.

Subheads on the SEO Landing page could include "Great Website - Where Are The Visitors?", "How We Guarantee Better Results", "How Your Site Is Ranked", "Getting The Best Leads Online", "Our White Hat SEO Approach", "Our Search Engine Optimization Guarantee".

Prospects want to be entertained while they're informed. The lead paragraph hooks into their core emotions, and at least hints at what's in it for them. Technology business prospects need to avoid being fired, understand reliable products that solve their problem, and advance their careers. Write a story that stars them and poses their challenge. Here's an example subhead and lead:

Show Them The Money
Now it's time to complete the promise. Prospects shouldn't leave your landing page until they take the next step - ordering online, calling your sales rep, downloading your free report, signing up for your newsletter. Show the specific benefits and features they need, and your product provides. Summarize how it works. Guide them through the order form. Reinforce the guarantee and terms. At the end, make pricing and availability very clear. When prospects know exactly what to expect, they're much more likely to order from you.

Show them a sample graph or oscilloscope photo of results. When you support this with quotes from experts and hard numbers showing improvements, it establishes your credibility.

If you're offering a free white paper or webinar, say so. "Free" can greatly increase response on a landing page.

If you're gathering contact information for a list of qualified leads in return for free information, make the signup form clear. Gather just enough details to send the information and follow up later, but enough to convince prospects you're a serious supplier. And make the free information something they want. The SEO marketer offered a free search engine optimization assessment of prospects' web site in return for their information.

That signup form should be 'above the fold', but it should appear after you tell the prospect what it's about. If the story doesn't flow into the form naturally, he may click somewhere else to solve his problem. To do this with the example lead, follow it with:

A signup form for a free SEO Website Assessment follows naturally.

Your landing page should make your prospects comfortable with you and a product they need, and convince them it does what it says it does. That's what makes them order.

Mark Bohrer is a technology writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Call him at (408) 866 9405, or email to ask about his availability to write online copy, articles and white papers. He also does technical marketing research. Mark spent 25 years designing and managing semiconductor products for analog and networking markets.

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