10 Landing Page Lessons Inspired by Howard Stern

10 Howard Stern Inspired Landing Page Lessons

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Howard is funny, entertaining, shocking, humble, arrogant, neurotic and a brilliant

marketer. You don’t help Sirius Radio get to 20 million subscribers without being smart and conversion focused. So, whether you love him or hate Howard Stern, there is a lot we can learn from him.


10 Landing Page Lessons...inspired By Howard Stern

1. Sell baby, sell.2. Landing pages for all.3. Maximize your best content.4. Be attention-worthy.5. Test everything.6. Be social.7. Never give up.8. Evolve.9. It’s not just about you.10. It’s serious business.

Sell baby, sell


1

Howard is a pitch-man.

He understands that people tune in for the entertainment, but that selling stuff pays the bills.

He supports his advertisers with flair —providing unique sponsorship opportunities, incorporating them into his show content.

Yes, it’s both entertainment & sales.

Similarly, it’s important to think of your landing page as a virtual sales person.

Don’t forget your pitch!


What is the page selling?


Valuable offer. Benefit headline.

Features categorized into easy,

visual buckets

Beautiful product images

Landing pages for all


2

Howard Stern is the self proclaimed King of all Media.

Are you?

Do you use landing pages for all your campaign traffic?

Don’t stop at paid search landing pages - try them for email, mobile, social, display and even offers within your own site.


SocialAdvertising

Email

PPC Display

Successful conversion programs almost always incorporate some form of landing pages for all of their paid and social media programs.


Highest converting customers have the most landing pages.

☝When we look across the hundreds of ion customers, the highest converting customers, or the ones with the biggest conversion lifts, are also the customers who have the most landing pages.

Maximize your best content


3

Howard is a master at re-using his content.

From just one show he’ll have…photos,articles, stories for Howard 100 news, a Howard TV show version, a fodder for a wrap up show and content for best-of-shows when he is on vacation.


Email: white paper offer

Slideshare: slides/contact us

Onsite: recorded webinar

Re-use your content that pulls.

Don’t look at a white paper as just a white paper. Look at it as content for a new webinar that you can then turn into a SlideShare.

Be attention-worthy


4

Howard knows how to grab attention.

Do your landing pages grab your visitor’s attention?

You don’t need to don a Fart Man suit and fly over the MTV awards audience to get attention on your landing page, but you do need to connect with your audience in a way that resonates.

A small dose of humor, emotion, surprise, or authenticity can bring that extra sparkle to your pages and win the hearts and minds of your visitors.


Recognizable brand character

Copy & imagery "paint the picture" of savings

Test everything


• Howard is a brilliant interviewer.

If you think of an answer to a question as a conversion, then he might be the highest converting interviewer ever.

He gets guests to answer questions they don’t want to answer by asking the same question in different ways until he gets the answer.

With landing pages, you have to test everything to see what gets visitors to convert.

5


For example, here are two different ways for visitors to self-segment, which do you think worked better?

Audience segmentation Need segmentation


300% higher engagement; higher conversion

Need segmentation


Does an image make a difference? Would visitors respond more favorably to the woman or to the man?


25% lift in conversion rate!


Which page do you think won this A/B test?

vs


65% lift in conversion rate!

Be social


Howard connects with his fans by involving his audience into the show with games, contests, and listener phone calls.

Social proof on your pages can build visitor confidence and trust in your brand.

Small things like placing a testimonial near a call-to-action, providing an RSS link, or listing the number of likes next to a blog post can make a big difference.

6


By using elements like an RSS link and a Facebook feed, this blog becomes much more personalized and a visitor is given an easy way to interact with the author.


Integrate your blog with your landing pages by bringing in a feed of posts and comments. Doing this shows that you are actively engaged with your audience and builds social proof in a way that positions you as an approachable thought leader.


By giving your audience a way to interact with you, such as this feed for Facebook comments on your landing pages, you form a connection that helps make your message even stronger. Make it easier for people to like you and to strike up a conversation.

Never give up


There were a couple of times when it seemed like Howard was going to quit.

Whether it was at CBS or before he renewed with Sirius, but he always comes back — and he comes back stronger.

7


Because, if you stop too soon you may miss out on reaching a whole new level of success.

Conversion graph shows 18 month testing period. Presented by

Anthem at Marketing Profs Digital Mixer.

Hit a bump in the road or come up against what seems like an unsolvable problem? Its bound to happen. The most successful marketers know that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. And it’s through this that success is found. Look for the lesson in a failure and move forward.

Evolve


“I was more one-dimensional, like Cro-Magnon in a way, banging people over the head in my early years. Sometimes when I hear the old shows broadcast, I want to cringe.”

8

What works on your landing pages today may not work well tomorrow.

It is important to constantly evolve your message and page to stay modern and relevant.

Howard Stern (reflecting on his old show broadcast in a Rolling Stone article)


Landing pages stuck in a rut can hurt your results...

• Flash?• Mobile?• Social?• Video?• Stale?• Outdated?• Out-moded?

It’s not just about you


Is your landing page team comprised of you, your keyboard, and your desk?

Howard’s got a large, loyal cast that helps make the show better than it would be if it were him alone.

He knows that the show is about more than just him.

Your landing page results will be elevated when you involve other teams in your process.

9


Talk to sales (remember, your landing pages are like your virtual sales people, after all).

Talk to product marketing.

The CFO.

Get help from all the expert resources around you to help plan and execute your program.

A good conversion initiative, based on solid landing page strategies, often requires a village.

It's serious business


“Radio was everything. I had to win - at all costs, no holds barred. Not to sound like Charlie Sheen, but losing was not an option. I put in a lot of hours of work on it. I listened to every show back on tape. I sat there and thought everything through. I spent thousands of hours editing tapes, writing commercials, incorporating sound effects. I spent endless days and nights thinking about this and nothing else.

8

Howard Stern (describing his early days to Rolling Stone

Howard has the eye of a tiger.Are you dedicated to higher conversions?

Howard’s dedication stands out when he talks about the early part of his career.

It takes that level of commitment to get higher conversions.


10 Landing Page Lessons...inspired By Howard Stern

1. Sell baby, sell.2. Landing pages for all.3. Maximize your best content.4. Be attention-worthy.5. Test everything.6. Be social.7. Never give up.8. Evolve.9. It’s not just about you.10. It’s serious business.


We help brands create effective landing pages.

90% of our customers report positive ROI.

Find out more:http://www.ioninteractive.com


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10 Landing Page Lessons Inspired by Howard Stern