Picture this:
You walk into your nearest furniture store, ready to buy the comfiest sofa there is that you will snug yourself in while watching Mad Men.
Best bet, you’ll find all sofas arranged in a way that resembles an actual living room; Well planned out, with a coffee table between and a red, fluffy rug warmer than the wooden floor.
Why all this and it’s just the sofas you are in for?
To sell you that expensive sofa set, they need to paint a picture in your head. A picture of how perfectly the sofas could fit in your living room, well-arranged, giving you a sense of control.
The same goes for your homepage and website visitors.
To get people to click on your call to action, paint a mental picture. Take the mind on a mental journey, showing them how they could experience the same thing you are describing.
You’ve done all the heavy lifting; promoting your business on social media and running advertisements. People are visiting your homepage as expected. The worst thing that could happen is to have them exiting even before scrolling halfway through your homepage.
So, how can you get people on your homepage to click on your call to action?
Involvement devices.
What are they?
It was three months ago when I signed up to Notion. I thought of writing this article when I remembered how I got to using Notion. Every element on the homepage worked towards channeling me down to the call to action. And you too can replicate that with your homepage.
Involvement devices, through imagination, create a picture inside one’s head of the experience of using your product. They create a sense of ownership, letting people imagine the experience of owning it.
With Notion, they got me with their GIFs. Enthralled by the idea of using the tool, organizing my to-do list so flawlessly when in the actual sense I was still on their website, entranced by the ticking of the to-do list on the GIF.
You can leverage the following involvement devices on your homepage:
- Images.
- GIFs.
- Videos.
- Customer-centric descriptions.
- Interactive website design.
I agree, all this isn’t new. Most websites have images and they show their product walkthrough videos.
But there are a ton of websites which:
- Use marketing jargon.
- Use random stock images.
- Show off their features on the homepage.
With involvement devices, when put out of context, they are just that, images, words, etc. But when they tie in with your product, they are a work of art designed to persuade website visitors down your homepage and click your call to action.
When Involvement devices tie in with your product:
- They create a lasting impression on your potential customers. Making your business more memorable, increasing the likelihood of converting them into customers later on.
- They get more people clicking on your call to action.
- They reduce friction with your lead and help them find value in your product.
Trello used an interactive website design to involve its website visitors on the homepage. They get people to experience the feeling of owning the tool, even before giving out their email.
Instead of going by each tool, I’ll look into the key factors that make them effective.
When choosing what to put on the homepage, look out for the following 3 key components of involvement devices that make them persuasive tools:
1. They make your product look easy to use and people see themselves using it.
Whether it’s through images, GIFs, or words, you can get people imagining themselves using your product when you tie those elements to your product. Instead of putting up random vector images not related to your product, show images of how your product works. Better yet, use GIFs or videos to create a memorable impression as they see their pain fade away when they choose to use your product.
2. They sell the end product- the benefit.
Apart from painting a clear picture and them seeing themselves using the product, involvement devices sell the output, the end product, the benefit.
Whether it’s images that show a life rid of their pain or words that describe what’s in it for them when they choose to use your product. Here’s an example of Lucky Orange with their homepage:
They could have easily described the technology they use with industry jargons, but instead, they answer the customers’ question:
What’s in it for me?
You’ll have a recording of every visitor to your website and see why visitors are not converting. Backed with a video on the side showing the exact process, how am I not going to want to know more and continue scrolling till I reach their call to action?
3. They try to push one idea.
What key thing would you want people to remember your product for?
Countless times I’ve gone through websites and didn’t get what their product is, either because:
- They fill the product offering with jargon.
- They feed people a lot of solutions they get confused.
You don’t want your readers to be on a roller coaster of emotions. Pin down the main pain point you are solving and emphasize that.
Slack’s primary point was letting teams work in channels. They highlighted this throughout their homepage. While for Trello, their key point was helping teams work collaboratively and every element on the homepage works towards emphasizing that point.
To conclude, every element you put up on your homepage should tie in with your product and be designed to get website visitors to read the next section until they reach your call to action. And the most effective way to do that is to involve them every step of the way by choosing the best involvement devices that:
- Creates a mental picture inside the reader’s head, of which they see themselves using the product.
- Sells the benefit, on that account answering their question; What’s in it for me?
- Tries to push one idea.
