Why You Want An MVP Landing Page For Launch (And How To Build One)
There’s absolutely nothing like the feeling of launching a new product.
There’s the fear, of course.
What if people hate it? What if nobody will actually buy the damn thing? What if you’ve just wasted months, YEARS, of time?
But you’ve got something else mixed in there too…
Anticipation.
The hope that people will LOVE what you’re about to show them. The possibility that the first ad campaign is going to rock the socks off the world and launch your company into stardom.
But here’s where people get it wrong…
They spend SO much time on that first ad campaign. They try to build the perfect landing page or website right at the start, something that will shock and awe.
Except…
One Of My Most Successful Landing Pages Was So Ugly Even Its Creator Couldn’t Love It.
(Believe me, I tried.)
But think about it…
When you’re launching your product, what are you actually trying to do?
You’re trying to find your AUDIENCE.
People who are inherently interested in and would strongly benefit from your product. There also has to be enough of them to sustain your business long-term.
Hopefully they have money too.
Then you’ll want to know what KIND of messaging gets their attention. What are they searching for on Google that your product would be able to solve? What is going to make them stop and go “I NEED THAT?”
Finally, you want an offer.
An offer so amazing, so relevant to your audience that they will not only read every word you put out eagerly, but are banging down the doors to take action! Whether that means reaching for their wallet or their email address will depend on your product.
Basically…
You’re Trying To Verify Your Business Can Succeed!
And you don’t need the perfect landing page to do it.
Rather, a plain, minimal viable product (MVP) version of your landing page will actually get you most of the results you need.
Because even THAT will tell you if you’ve found the right audience. If you’ve gotten the right messaging. If your offer is strong enough.
We absolutely do NOT want to build that blow-your-socks-off landing page… just yet. Because if you get all that other stuff wrong…
It’s still going to fail miserably.
I always build an MVP landing page with a new product whenever possible, and it ALWAYS does the job.
Here are a few suggestions to make that page.
Keep Your Page Design Simple.
Plain, with minimal navigation and customization.
Why?
Because great design takes a hell of a lot of time to do. And it’s ultimately SUBJECTIVE.
That’s not good when you don’t yet know who your audience is.
Rather, start with an incredibly simple design. Sections with text. A hero section with a call to action. And another call to action further below.
Yes, it’ll look like every other landing page ever created by every company.
Yes, it’ll STILL work if you get your offer and messaging right.
I’ve launched pages that have gotten 75% conversion — for a relatively tech-savvy audience by the way.
You wouldn’t be able to pick them out in a line-up. They’re completely unremarkable.
Don’t take this as an excuse to make your page ugly. If it looks unprofessional, messy, or broken — that WILL turn people away.
But “unremarkable” is absolutely fine for that initial page.
Don’t Get Clever With Copy
Don’t use wordplay.
Don’t try to be funny.
Just lay out your selling argument and your offer in plain terms. Trying to do otherwise can backfire — and it happens all the time.
The reason for that is because if your offer is strong enough, if your message resonates…
That will be enough to do the job.
If you’re split-testing, this will let you eliminate factors such as “tone” from the list of variables that might be causing one page to do better than the other.
An example of a good MVP headline for a page might be:
“Gizmo A will help you read 3X faster in 6 months.”
Simple. Clear. With an implicit promise and benefit to the reader.
Make A Longer MVP Landing Page For More Complicated Or Expensive Products
The more expensive your product, the more selling arguments you’ll need to provide to convince the reader to buy it.
Similarly, if the visitor does not UNDERSTAND what you’re actually selling — they’re just going to navigate away from the page.
A shorthand rule for this is that the more expensive or complicated your product, the longer you make your page… and your copy.
This post is one of the best I’ve read — and shows you how length MATTERS.
Conversely, a simple opt-in page for an email list might be a few words… and sometimes that’s all that’s needed.
If You’re Doing Video, Use PowerPoint. Seriously.
Testing videos against the written word is one of the most meaningful tests you can run.
They will often win.
The problem? Video is more difficult to make. And expensive.
Especially for sales videos, the easiest way to get around this is to do a narrated PowerPoint presentation.
I’m not joking.
Remember, this is just to validate your idea.
If you put an incredibly well produced video against one of these PowerPoint videos, the polished video will beat the pants off of PowerPoint.
No question.
But you definitely don’t want to spend several hundred or several thousand dollars on a great explainer video or selling video if the offer is inherently flawed.
Ultimately, A Basic Page Is All Your Need
You’d use this landing page to validate your idea. Sending traffic to it will tell you instantly whether a part of your funnel is broken.
This is also when you’d test different pages against one another. Different messages, offers, copy, design structures, methods.
And once you’re confident you’ve gotten a solid message, offer, and audience…
THAT’S when you can go all out and built the Best Landing Page Ever.
But to start?
Just put it out there. And iterate rapidly to change out the parts that don’t work.
Your wallet will thank you.
Read this far? A favor, if you would…
Whether you agree with what you’ve just read, or just want to explain to me how utterly WRONG I am…
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