When you’re a small business owner, one of the toughest decisions can be which marketing tools to invest in.
There are literally thousands of options out there, especially when it comes to online marketing. Some are cheap, some are expensive. Some are trendy and it feels like you must be missing out if you don’t have them. All of them promise you the world… but do they deliver?
Today I’m sharing my take on one of those tools: Leadpages.
What is it?
Leadpages is a platform that allows you to create opt-in landing pages and pop-up boxes for your site without knowing how to code.
Below is an example of the kind of page I’m talking about. In this case, it’s an opt-in to sign up for a webinar.
Why would I use it?
If you have a website, it’s important to gather the email addresses of potential customers, also known as leads. That way, you can stay in touch with them on an ongoing basis via email, and hopefully convert them into customers or repeat buyers in the future.
You can use Leadpages as the medium for capturing those leads, without the technical knowledge of a developer. You can also use the platform to collect entries in a contest, register attendees for an event, deliver opt-in downloads, and even sell products.
How much does it cost?
Plans start at $300/year. You can also opt to pay monthly, but you’ll pay 50% more per year that way.
The lowdown
I first learned about Leadpages when I tested out a client’s account. We used his account to build landing pages for his monthly sales promotion; a person would click a button, put in their email address, and we’d deliver that month’s promo code.
Up until that point I had been using only Contact Form 7, a very basic WordPress plugin, to capture emails on my own site. But after playing around with Leadpages, I knew I could never go back.
…Until I saw the price tag.
I’m the queen of marketing on a budget. I even wrote an e-book about it, so I’m very discerning with how I spend money to promote my business.
I look at that $300 price tag and think of all the ways it could be used: on Facebook ads. On a developer to maintain my website. On a VA to help with my admin tasks.
I also know that companies will gladly charge you an arm and a leg for things you could easily do on your own with a little Googling.
But. I’ve tried building lead-capture pages on my own before. It’s tough.
The thing about landing pages is that appearance matters. In order to be effective, the design needs to be on point.
My decision? I sprung for the Leadpages membership.
How it stacks up
Ease of use: B+
Leadpages is very easy to use, with drag-and-drop versions for most of its templates.
I give it a B+ and not an A for two reasons: 1) there is a little bit of technical skill required. You’ll need to have at least a basic knowledge of your site’s back-end setup (or someone you hire to handle this). 2) Some of the templates can be buggy. Sometimes you have to do a little jerry-rigging to get them to look the way you want.
Features: B
For most small business owners, Leadpages will do everything you want it to do (capturing email signups, delivering opt-ins, etc.).
But if you want to get a little more advanced, there are some limitations.
For one, under the standard plan, you can’t associate multiple email addresses with a single account. So as a consultant, I can’t build one lead page associated with Client A and another associated with Client B. The plan I’d need to do this costs almost $2,400/year, which is beyond my budget.
Also, some integrations are not supported. A few months back I was trying to sync a lead page with a client’s Salesforce account. At the time, the integration wasn’t available unless we upgraded to a significantly more expensive plan—a little annoying.
But in general, Leadpages has all the features you need to create great-looking landing pages for your blog or business.
Support: A+
Wonderful, responsive support. Every time I’ve contacted them with a question, they’ve gotten back in touch in a matter of hours. They also have a convenient live chat option.
Convenience: A+
For me, this is where Leadpages is worth its weight in gold. Instead of spending hours configuring a landing page, I can have one up and running on my site in ten minutes.
Instead of getting bogged down with the details of how to deliver my e-book once someone signs up for it, I just built a lead page that handles email capture and delivery. Without Leadpages, I would have had to pay someone to set that all up for me, which could have easily cost $300 (or more).
The verdict: Spend!
For me, the Leadpages membership is money well-spent, and I’ve already renewed my one-year membership for next year.
What about you—are you considering a Leadpages membership? What other services are you wondering about that you’d like to see a review on? Leave a comment and fill me in.
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This post contains affiliate links, which provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. I only link to products I’ve used personally and love, and if you ever have a question about any of them, you’re welcome to get in touch!
Tami Brehse
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I’m a little confused about how this works. Like, is it the same kind of thing as Mailchimp, where you can manage email lists and send out emails to people on the lists? Or is this literally just a tool you use to make a popup and have people redirected to a landing page?
I keep hearing over and over again how important it is to start a mailing list for my blog, but it’s just so, so overwhelming. First of all, I don’t have any opt-in treats for people (like an e-book). And second, I don’t even know what I’d send people who signed up for my list. And third, all these websites confuse me so I give up trying to learn too easily. Urgh.
It’s not exactly the same thing as Mailchimp, but it integrates with Mailchimp. So, for example, if you were to click the little graphic in my sidebar to get my e-book, you’d be taken to a lead page with an email signup. Once you put in your email address, I have it set up so that that email address is automatically input into my Mailchimp list for e-book downloaders. I also have it set up so that that person is sent their copy of the e-book.
Now technically, you could configure all of those things to happen on your own simply by using Mailchimp and a contact form on your website. But the beauty of Leadpages is that it can be used for ANYTHING that requires a signup. So if I decide to host a webinar, I pop out a lead page for that. If I decide I’m going to offer a new course with limited-time pricing, I could pop out a countdown lead page for that.
It is SO important to start a mailing list, and it’s one thing I really regret not doing immediately when I started consulting! I didn’t have any opt-in treats to start, and people signed up slowly. Now that I have a few, people sign up at a muuuuch faster pace. It doesn’t have to be something that takes a whole bunch of time to create! It can be something simple, like a checklist that accompanies your post or in your case, maybe a worksheet of questions for the reader to ask herself if she’s thinking about the career in that particular post. The great thing about your email list is that it allows you to constantly stay in touch with your readers, even when they’re not actively visiting your site.
If you have any questions about any of this, feel free to shoot me an email! 🙂