Find out their strategies with a peek behind-the-scenes of their landing pages for tips you can apply to your own business.
The “Why” Behind Her Business
Zim Ugochukwu founded Travel Noire in 2013 after a post-college trip to India opened her eyes to the lack of African-American travelers and the lack of understanding of her culture in countries abroad.
“It was really difficult for me to find resources and people I could relate to,” she said. “People were confused when they saw me — I had people trying to rub off my skin thinking it was dirt and expecting white skin underneath, people wanting to feel my hair and take photos with me.”
She started Travel Noire as a blog to share travel tips and inspiration with African-Americans who she said often fear traveling because of being unsure of how they’d be perceived and treated.
“I wanted to create a community of people to share experiences traveling as a woman of color,” she said. “It was a new way for people to understand travel and see that it’s very possible.”
The blog evolved into masterclasses and now into a travel company reaching over two million travelers a month. Its core offerings are TN Experiences, which are small-group trips offered on 60 dates a year to locations across five continents, and Compass, which is a pre-trip membership community.
Zim’s Landing Pages
Travel Noire has a general website and uses Ontraport Pages for opt-in pages, sales pages and informative pages for specific products and campaigns.
For example, there is a TN Experiences “Guest Lounge” page dedicated to each of the trip destinations. These pages serve as information hubs for those who’ve signed up for a trip; it’s where they access forms they need to fill out, view their itinerary, and download important pre-trip guidance.
These pages have very high traffic because they’re positioned as exclusive — customers can’t access them until after they complete a pre-trip questionnaire about things such as their dietary restrictions and roommate preferences.
“We get really high conversion rates on that survey — everyone fills it out because they want to see what the Guest Lounge access is about,” Zim said, adding that the pages also serve to reduce buyers’ remorse and immediately “make them feel at home” after the purchase, which comes at a higher price point of $4,000-6,000 per trip.
A Unique Approach to Design and Copy
As far as the page’s copy and design, Zim says she purposely keeps it clean and simple to fit with her overall brand aesthetic.
She places emphasis on beautiful photos from the trips (each trip includes a private photographer, so she has a library of over 95,000 images from which to choose), and especially aims to display photos of people smiling, laughing and reflecting — demonstrating the “outcome” the buyer will receive from the trip. The images show African-Americans traveling, which makes the trips feel relatable and doable for her audience.
The copy on her pages is also very relatable, as if it’s a friend talking to you. For example, “You’ll receive a more comprehensive packet (we’re talkin’ 15 pages or so) closer to your trip,” inserts a conversational tone. The line, “First things first, we’ll need you to complete a few documents …” also is a much friendlier way of saying the more corporate-sounding “Please complete the following documents.”
The friendly copy and uplifting images work together to make new customers feel comforted and excited about their upcoming trip.
Zim says she likes using Ontraport Pages because it’s easy to use, there’s no need to integrate numerous forms, and she can duplicate pages she likes. “It doesn’t take me eons to do it,” she said. Her tip for Ontraport users getting started with Ontraport Pages: Start with the templates, and tailor them to make them work for you.
In addition to using Ontraport Pages, Zim mainly uses Ontraport’s email and CRM features. She started using the platform two years after starting the company and, she says, “It completely changed my business.”
“It saves you so much time, and that’s the name of the game these days,” she said. “That’s why I appreciate when I don’t have to integrate anything and it’s all complete. I know people are automatically going to go into a funnel and I don’t have to worry about it; it just works.”
Finding the Right Niche
In the two years since Trent Grzegorczyk started MI Capital, a wealth management firm, he’s dialed in his niche audience to two specific groups: physicians and entrepreneurs.
What do they have in common? A lack of time and a need for money management.
“Physicians and business owners appreciate our services because they’re done-for-you, and their time is so restrictive,” Trent said. “They’re working 100-plus hours a week and don’t have time to work on their personal finances, and that’s why our process works well for them.”
Trent and his team create financial plans and manage investments to get their clients to seven-to-eight-figure wealth as efficiently as possible.
Segmentation With Landing Pages
The specificity of Trent’s audiences makes for ideal segmentation when it comes to his marketing funnels, which naturally involve targeted landing pages for each audience.
Here’s how his funnel works: Facebook ads link to a webinar registration page where the webinar plays on repeat every hour (a countdown timer on the page indicates how long it’ll be until the next one). Registrants are placed on a 14-day email campaign whether they watch the webinar, watch only part of the webinar or don’t watch it at all. The emails and webinar ultimately encourage them to sign up for a free consultation call wherein Trent and team qualify them for his subscription financial planning product or his higher-end investment management services.
Trent’s webinars garner a 75% show-up rate which he attributes to his precisely targeted audiences and corresponding copy that clearly describes the problems he’ll solve for them.
“The more specific I can get with who I’m talking to, the more leads I get,” he said. “A lot of people try to serve everybody, but then you end up serving nobody because you’re so broad brushed.”
Trent intentionally focuses on one topic for one audience on each page. “As an entrepreneur myself, I understand what it’s like to have information overload,” he said. “I say it’s like going to the bread aisle: Sometimes at the bigger stores it seems like there are 500 different loaves of bread and I freeze up; I don’t know which to choose. But if there are two loaves it’s easy to make a decision, and it’s a much better experience.”
He likens this to landing pages: “If you go to a landing page that says ‘We do this and that and this other thing and subscribe to our list,’ there are too many things you can do and people leave.”
One way he makes each page’s purpose clear is through the headline. Through testing over time, he’s learned to make his headlines as specific as possible and focused on the outcome of what he’s selling. For example, when he first launched his registration page for physicians, his headline was “How Physicians Can Build a Significant Amount of Wealth Faster,” but that was too general and not bringing in many registrations. He’s tweaked his headline over time to “5 Simple Shifts Physicians Use to Build an Additional 7-Figures of Wealth” and has seen a dramatic improvement in conversions.
In this case, the outcome he’s selling is “7-Figures of Wealth,” which is much more specific than “a Significant Amount of Wealth” that was in the previous headline. Also, the words “5 Simple Shifts” attract physicians by portraying that this is a doable process that’s not overwhelming and time consuming.
He uses that same headline in the ads that promote the webinar so there’s continuity when visitors land on the registration page. The same headline is used on the actual webinar video and through all other related assets to maintain consistency. “You have to have everything speak the same language so it all works together,” he said.
When you scroll down the page, you see straightforward copy that speaks directly to the audience: “If you’re a physician, doctor or health professional that is serious about building wealth … you’re in the right place. In this video masterclass, you’ll discover …” By directly addressing the audience in this way, he’s automatically making his visitors feel understood and like this is tailored just for them. On this part of the page, Trent also has a picture of himself and his credentials so they know who’s talking to them and can begin to feel a more personal connection.
As far as the design of the page, Trent says, “The simpler the better. I’ve found that as soon as I try to get cute or fancy with the design, it distracts whoever is landing here.”
Trent has been using Ontraport and Ontraport Pages for one year and attributes “a very large portion” of the company’s revenue to this funnel and the capabilities of the platform.
First a Passion, Then a Business
A few years ago, Serik Slobodskoy was a “miserable, disgruntled, cubicle-slaving 9-to-5er.” Today, he’s proud to say he’s remixed music for artists including Beyonce, Tove Lo and Nick Jonas and worked for some of the world’s biggest labels, such as Universal, Sony and Virgin-EMI.
But his true obsession? Teaching people what he’s learned along the way.
“With all this real-world experience, I couldn’t believe how much misguided music production and industry knowledge was scattered throughout the internet,” he said.
He started Hyperbits Masterclass to “discredit those myths and share the truth” and, in the process, he’s connected with up-and-coming music producers and fell in love with supporting them in honing their craft.
Authenticity Is Key
Authenticity is the name of the game on Serik’s landing pages, including his sales page for Hyperbits Masterclass.
His students are extremely well-informed, technical and artistic, so Serik knew his masterclass landing page needed to speak to all of those traits. He accomplishes that with design that is clean, modern and sophisticated and copy that speaks the niche language of music producers.
More important to Serik was evoking a sense of trust on the page, especially because the masterclass has a higher price tag and people need to feel confident before investing.
“We accomplished that [trust] by making the entire website as personal, authentic and honest as we possibly could,” he said. “I swear, the younger generation can smell BS from a mile away! Authenticity is a formula for trust, which in my opinion, is the biggest barrier between a sale and our customers.”
The first thing you see when you arrive at the page is a video, displayed with a faded image of Serik’s music mixing station. The short video is a very personal introduction by Serik to express his authenticity right off the bat. “The video gives a voice to my content and copy and helps me demonstrate what I’m all about,” he said.
With music playing in the background, the video opens with Serik saying, “What’s up guys, this is Hyperbits. I just wanted to give you a quick run through of what this course is gonna be all about.” He’s speaking to his site visitors in the same kind of conversational tone he’d use in person. He then quickly tells the story of his “why” — explaining that he was helping people individually and had so much interest so he created this masterclass to serve them all — which also supports the authenticity of his business and his purpose of helping people.
The Power of Clear Copy and Practical Design
Above the video image is copy that speaks clearly to the outcome of the masterclass. “Conquer advanced music production by learning how to mix and master like the pros, rapidly increase your output, improve your workflow and creativity — and have fun doing it — with fellow producers in a cutting-edge online school.” That copy not only lists numerous benefits but also elicits the feeling of community that’s important for this audience.
Using this powerful copy and personable video at the top of the page has led to a lot of success for Serik. In fact, he has tried some of the tips from marketing gurus, such as listing eight benefits above-the-fold and using more sales-driven copy, but has found those tactics make him come off as “gimmicky” and is a turnoff to visitors. “Nothing works better for me than offering real value,” he said.
The value of his program is continually impressed upon visitors as you scroll down the page. You find detailed information about what you get out of the class and how the class works. Design-wise, he uses simple icons and boxes to delineate the benefits and aspects of the class. “When it comes to design, I want to create pages that are both beautiful and practical,” he said. Copy-wise throughout the page, Serik said, “I try to write my copy as if I’m having an honest, but professional, conversation. If I carry myself somewhat seriously and take my landing pages and course material seriously, I’ve found students also start to take the content seriously.”
Trust as a Guiding Goal
Serik continues to instill trust as you further scroll down the page and see a variety of forms of social proof that validate his expertise and authority in the industry. The page features logos of awards his students have won, blogs Hyperbits has been featured in, and recording studios and clients the company has worked with. Additionally, there are three testimonials from former masterclass students, including a photo and quote from each.
One final piece at the bottom of the page also deepens the level of trust: an FAQ. The FAQ answers the common questions Serik receives or expects people to ask and serves to dampen any concerns or objections they may have about signing up.
A Strategy That Converts
Serik uses a few unique Ontraport Pages features, along with an integration with Sumo, to increase conversions in non-intrusive ways such as pop-up forms, a “sold out” bar across the top of the page, and pop-up chat.
“Using pop-up chat boils down to creating an authentic experience,” he said. “If users have a question … they want to hear from real people.”
Serik has struck the balance of optimizing conversions with maintaining authenticity. He said, “If I can strike the reader’s heart and truly hit a pain point, without sounding obnoxious, that’s the sweet spot for me.”
