MarketingSherpa – ahh well, maybe next time…

Big news people, big news. MarketingSherpa, a leader in online marketing research and publications have just come out with a newly revised landing page handbook – here it is. Coming in at a whopping $497 (we’ll just call it $500, for argument’s sake), this baby boasts both an online version and a 297 page bound copy that they’ll ship to you (extra $ for shipping of course).

Just so we’re clear here, it’s a 297 page LANDING PAGE handbook.

Now, I’ll preface my opinions with the fact that I haven’t taken a look at it yet. Why not, you ask?

Because their landing page SUCKS.

I realize that simply by offering this report, they’re willingly opening themselves up to some critique and jerks like me looking for ironic weaknesses. And I understand the adage that those who can’t do, teach. But … c’mon! Were they even trying?

Let’s take a minute and go through this thing:

Header – Two lines, red text. Red text is cool, but the two lines are AWFUL. The first line is an obvious fabrication (Lift Conversions Up to 55%) that is neither measurable, nor verifiable. If they’re going to fabricate a number, why not use something a little more impressive like 300%? Especially, when one of their testimonials claims an increase of 400% after using the book’s research. Second line. Can they think of NOTHING better to say, NOTHING more compelling to tell us about the book than “Get your landing page book today:”?

At this point, I’m already unimpressed but will press on, because after-all, it’s MarketingSherpa.

What follows is a pathetic graphic of a cheaply bound, feebly covered book and a few boring bullet points highlighting what I’ll find inside. They then go on to describe, in a little more detail, what I’ll get, a long list of questions that the book will answer, some testimonials, a small chart listing the differences between version 1 and 2, and finally, they drive home the sale with a massive list (takes up 90% of the page) of the book’s contents. They literally have the equivalent of 5 printed pages of this:
—
Copy Length and Need for Scrolling
Chart 1.16: Global Broadband Penetration
Chart 1.17: Distribution of Absolute Scroll Reach
On the Page: Text & Graphics
Chart 1.18: Distribution of Number of Columns Used in Page Design
—
…and on, and on, and on.

They HAVE included testimonials from some top names, they DO have a great guarantee and support phone number and, by the looks of that list, it’s a pretty in-depth report. What they don’t have is my attention.

What would I do different? Here’s a quick list of the first things I’d pursue –

- Benefits instead of features – what will it / can it do for me, rather than what will I simply find inside.
- Post provocative excerpts, let me ‘see’ the evident value of the report.
- Some compelling reason I should buy now.
- Images, images, images.
SHOW ME the logos of the brands featured in the case studies.
SHOW ME some examples of the charts feature.
SHOW ME a REAL picture of the actual book I’ll get.
Etc
- Try something other than continuous text. Line breaks, cool bullet points, boxes, big and bold titles, etc.
- highlight the guarantee, make it more of a focus that I don’t have to pay unless I like it. After-all, it IS $500.
- Boil that looong list of contents down to the really juicy stuff and give me a “get the full contents list” link to the BIG list on a different page. Only bore the readers that want to be.
- Convince me that what I’m doing right now isn’t enough.
- Let me know that most of the changes I can make to my landing page will be easy to implement.
- How popular is this thing? How many people have downloaded it?
- For crying out loud, EMPHASIZE points like this…
**879 real-life search and email marketing landing pages observed by MarketingSherpa researchers August-September 2007.
**3,011 marketers surveyed September 2007 on landing page tactics and challenges.
- Use a more engaging style of writing. Maybe, even some excitement.

Now, all of this is fairly tongue-in-cheek. I’d put money on it that there’s some GREAT stuff in this book. Unfortunately though, I, like other consumers, happen to judge books by their cover.

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