I review a lot of sales pages for members of The Lab and for personal inspiration. The number one most common mistake I find is an overemphasis on features over benefits.
This is the difference between selling a program as a "6-week live cohort" vs. "A proven system to achieve [transformation] in just 6 weeks."
We only care HOW you'll solve the problem if we first believe:
- You understand our problems
- You've solved that problem before
If we don't think you understand our problems or that you've solved them before, you've already lost us. We won't read the rest of your sales page, and we won't consider hiring you.
So many creators structure their sales pages as:
- Big promise (Become a great chef)
- Description of the program (A 6-week live cohort)
- List of features (XX live calls, YY resources to help)
- Price
- Social Proof from past customers
- Personal bio
- FAQs
It's not the worst structure, but items 2-4 are completely focused on HOW you'll deliver the outcome – before you've truly convinced us that you are the right person to do so.
We don't care about the details of a product we don't think is for us.
First, you need to relate to the viewer. Describe those problems, why they are painful, and a world where they are no longer a blocker. You want people nodding along as they read your page.
Yes! This is exactly how I feel!
That is EXACTLY the problem I'm dealing with!
If you seem to understand our problem, we're interested in learning more. But why should we trust you?
Most people put up a big block of testimonials (like I do here):
This is a great way to just show a LOT of social proof at once.
"Wow, they've worked with a lot of people!"
But because it's so visually intense, we tend not to actually engage with testimonials in this format. If you want people to read or watch the testimonial, this isn't the ideal.
Instead, strategically sprinkle social proof all over your sales page. Instead of one giant block of testimonials, highlight powerful testimonials by sharing them individually. Share them early and often. Use them to back up specific promises you are making.
For example, on my CreatorHQ sales page, I have a section that promises to help you master your content calendar.
I follow that section up with a testimonial that reads:
"The content dashboard in CreatorHQ is such a masterpiece."
It's a 1-2 punch:
- Make an outcome-based promise
- Show proof that you've delivered on that promise before
This makes us feel like your [thing] was built for us AND we feel comforted in knowing that you've been true to your word before.
If you have enough people saying you solved their problems, you don't even need to explain how the outcome is delivered.
You've helped 50 people solve this exact problem? Sign me up!
We often focus on features and specific details about our product because we think that is what makes people want to buy – but that's not true. We don't really care exactly how something is solved; we just need full confidence that you can deliver the solution.
Telling me you have 8 hours of video content isn't actually compelling – it sounds like work. But, if you show me that working through this 8-hour course is what is required to achieve my transformation, and you have customer success stories to back that up – OK, I'll do it.
We buy outcomes, not features.
Here's a better page structure:
- Big promise
- Description of the problem(s)
- Repeat the big promise (maybe phrased differently)
- Social proof
- Specific outcome you deliver
- Social proof
- Specific outcome you deliver
- Social proof
- Price
- Social Proof
- Personal bio
- Social Proof
- FAQs
For every feature you describe on your sales page, ask yourself, "What's the outcome this feature delivers?" and change the language to reflect THAT. You can do as many 1-2 punches of outcomes + social proof as you want.
Try it out, and let me know how it goes!
Further reading: The magic of pricing tiers
Recommended: I use Senja to capture and display social proof.
