Lesson 3: Mastering the Copy and Look of Your Opt-in Forms

When it comes to your lead magnet offer, there are two different areas where you need to master the copywriting. The first is the landing page itself. On the whole page, you’ll have room above the fold for one or more headlines, an image, bullet points or a list of benefits, and the form.

But on the form itself, space is more limited. You have some room for a sentence or two, max – so the headline or call to action must be concise and drive home the point that they need the report.

You also have some wording on the button, which is often where the call to action is re-emphasized for the visitor. Start with the headline on your landing page. Make it punchy and communicative of the value your gift has.

You can move on to the what and why next in your bullet points. Tell them what you have to offer and why they need it. Be descriptive and paint a picture. This is not the place for long storytelling like you might find on a sales letter.

Use a sense of urgency whenever possible, or tout that they’re getting exclusive access that the rest of the public who are not on your list are missing out on. In some cases, you might be able to squeeze a strong testimonial onto the page for social proof of the value you provide.

Make sure you’re using strong call to action language like “Ready to? … Grab this…” or

“Here’s our free report that will…” or “Download this cheat sheet to shortcut…” or “Double your…. By downloading this.”

On the submit button, you can do better than simply, “Sign up” or “Submit.” For example, you can say, “Yes! Let me in!” or “Send Me Lesson 1 Now” – it doesn’t have to be dull and boring.

With your form, make sure that you’re limiting the required fill-in areas to their first name and email address. If you’re asking for their phone number and mailing address, you’re going to lose more people who will refuse to give those extra details.

Some marketers like to include a small note about their privacy and spam policies, and you can do that in small italics below the button if you want to. This reassures people that you don’t share their information with others.

Most email autoresponder systems have a plethora of templates to choose from, but you can customize the look and feel of your form. You can find niche-specific templates and blank ones that you can tweak so that it blends in nicely with the rest of the design on your site.