Hi Sidney,
First off, have you done any research to qualify whether the “family-run” angle is something that resonates with your target audience? I.e. is there data to support that there’s value to be gained by testing this messaging?
Secondly, just so I understand, what is it about the “family-run” that you are afraid will seem corny or manipulative?
Thirdly, can you show an example of your current ad copy?
If you provide me with this info I can better help you :)
Michael,
Thanks for your reply.
- This is for a lead generation landing page. I haven’t done any research, I just want to split test it to see if conversions are better.
2. My current landing page just has a headline with one description line below it. There are multiple versions of headlines and descriptions but all are variations of the following and all focus
Headline: FHA Streamline Refinance in Pennsylvania
Description line: Low Refinance Home Loan Rates
The page itself allows visitors to enter their information to get a quote.
I want to change the description line or possibly leave the description as is, but add another line elsewhere on the page.
3. To be clear, it isn’t the “family-run” that I’m worried about. It’s how to frame it in a sentence. Just looking for ideas on the right sentence or two.
Hi again Sidney,
I’d be careful testing ideas that aren’t supported by any customer data or insight.
You could start by running a Feedback Poll on your landing page asking people what’s most important to them. In the feedback poll give them 3 possible answers. One if them will be “The fact that we are a family-run business”. The two other possible answers should be two other aspects of your business/product that you think will resonate with your target audience.
The replies will give you some qualitative insight to help you understand which aspects actually mean something to your leads. Once you have that in place you can start testing it in your ad copy and on your landing page to see if it has a measurable effect on conversion.
Based on experience (and no data), I don’t think you’ll see any major effect by simply changing that one line. I believe that there are deeper issues and would go more drastically to work.
I checked out your landing page, and my initial reaction was “Why should I trust these guys?” followed by “How do I know these guys are legit?” I don’t know for a fact, but I have a sneaking suspicion that others will react the same way.
The first thing I would do is ask myself “How can I increase credibility on this page?”
Hope that helps :)
Michael,
The ideas are far from unsupported. Everyone from Harvard Business Review to Forbes has studies showing people “generally” trust family owned businesses more. The only questions are whether they apply to my business and to my industry.
Thanks for your inputs, though. Will keep them in mind.
Hello Sidney,
I think that Aagaard gave a few gold nuggets that shouldn’t be overlooked, but I can still appreciate your desire to trust your gut. Why does it matter that the company is family run?
You need to answer this question and keep digging deeper into why it matters because to just shallowly address it may not give the results you are hoping. That said, if it ends up being that by being a family run business your financial institution is more in tune with the needs of my family etc. - maybe that touches your target audience on an emotional level. Like Aagaard said, I have no reason to expect this has a quantifiable impact on your conversion rate, but to keep things in perspective, even best practices aren’t sure shots.
Best of luck,
Joe
