Hi there! 👋 This is the 3rd post in our 5-part series on the Customer Journey! This series is meant to help you find and keep your best customers so that your business never runs dry. If this is all new to you, you can hop over to the introductory post, How to Get Customers for Life.

How to optimize the “Purchase” step in your Customer Journey.

Alright, let’s find where your customer is at in their journey with your business.

1. Your customer came across a Facebook ad that was intriguing enough for them to click (you can read about step #1, Awareness, here).
2. The ad took them to your highly informative, engaging, and helpful website where they collected the information they needed. They then did a bit of extra research to make sure that you’re the best option (you can read about step #2, Interest, here).

Now they’ve pulled out their wallet, their finger is hovering over the mouse, they’re just about to click that “Add to cart” button.

But wait! They’re experiencing doubt! They’re not sure now! Is this really the best option out there? Crisis! They put down their wallet and decide to think about it one more day.

Building purchasing confidence

When you buy a new product, what are some emotions you go through?

Personally, I start with excitement, but then I spend a heckuva lot of time in the fear/nervous stage that the product just might not be worth me parting with my hard-earned cash. And then I move on to a good deal of concern that if I want to return it, I might end up with a massive headache that costs me extra in shipping. If you can’t tell, I spend A LOT of time making decisions 😀.

But, basically, when I shop online I want to be confident I’m making the right choice.

And that’s why the Purchase step is one of the most critical steps in the whole journey. It’s the moment of the journey when customer scrutiny is sky-high and it’s your job to give them every reason to take the plunge when, in reality, they may be looking for a way out.

There are 2 ways to make your purchase step as convincing as possible:

1. Optimized product page – This is a product page that is chock-full of every possible purchasing motivator out there. It’s usually within the “product/shopping” section of your website.
2. Landing page – Similar to an optimized product page, but offers only one, very focused offer. It may or may not be a part of your website.

Optimized product page

Let’s take a minute to examine the King and Supreme Master of the optimized product page, Amazon.

First of all, I want to point out that Amazon’s product pages are devoted to getting you to buy from Amazon, not necessarily the specific Sony brand headphones below. They’re perfectly happy if you buy Bose instead, so their product pages are jam-packed with all the possible information on headphones in general. For your optimized product page, you’ll probably have a fraction of the information that an Amazon page will have.

Let me show you 7 reasons why Amazon’s product pages make them money hand-over-fist:

1. Extensive photos & a video. Images are powerful and, when it comes to online imagery, more is definitely better. Video is also a stellar way to help a buyer imagine themselves using the product in real life.
2. Easy access to testimonials. Amazon puts the rating very top of the page for a reason. Testimonials are one of the best ways to convince a buyer they’re making the right choice. For some buyers, the stars are enough, for others, they’ll want to click on them and read all of the details below.
3. Trusted certifications. Not all products have trusted industry certifications, but if yours does, be sure to include them. Having an endorsement from an outside third party goes a long way to increase buyer confidence.
4. Clear, detailed product info. Here’s the trick: including ALL the information in a way that is easy to understand and helpful. Bullet points, avoiding industry and technical terms (write it like you’re explaining it to your grandma 😉), and short sentences are essential here.
5. Remove the buyer’s risk. I know not every company can offer free shipping and free returns, but what guarantees and return policy can you offer? Can you offer a protection plan or a warranty? By taking away a layer of risk, you’ll make it easier for a buyer to say yes.
6. Multiple ways to buy. On the entire Amazon product page, I counted seven “Add to Cart” buttons, plus the terrifyingly easy “Buy Now” button. Amazon is the unparalleled master of making it SO EASY to buy before you can decide against it. Seven buttons may be a bit excessive for your website, but consider where it would be smart for you to add buying opportunities.
7. Good product value. Pricing is both an art and a science, but the buyer really wants to feel that they’re getting the best value. But remember! That doesn’t always mean the cheapest price. You may have the most expensive product but you and all your best customers know that it’s worth it. It’s important that you convey that.

And I’m going to add one more super essential point that Amazon doesn’t offer:

1. Make it easy to contact you. Put your phone number or an email address front and center so that someone can call you with questions. Or, if you’re able, give a live chat option. Make sure that you always have someone on the other end who is perky and helpful to answer any questions and sell the product.

The Landing Page

The landing page is a far more focused way of leading your customer to the purchase and is devoted to only one product or service that you’re promoting. In fact, it’s so focused, that often it’s not even a part of your actual website.

Landing pages are ideal as part of an online advertising strategy. If you advertise for a particular product on Facebook or Google, having the buyer go to a landing page keeps their journey and buying process extremely focused.

There are a lot of great landing pages out there, but Marie Forleo has perfected the art and devotes one landing page to each of her products.

Here’s the top portion of the landing page she’s created for her book:

While Marie sells a variety of products, the ONLY thing you can buy on this page is her book.
Underneath this header, she has another option to purchase her book, and a form to enter your email address if you want insider information. And, THAT’S IT!

But, if you’ll notice, she’s used some of Amazon’s product page tricks. I notice:

• A variation on #1 — Instead of a bunch of photos of a book (that’s probably not super photographable), she has a lot of high energy graphics that feel inspirational and motivating.
• #2 — Testimonials right at the top.
• #3 — Trusted certification from the New York Times bestseller list.
• A variation on #4 — Instead of giving the exact details of the book (page numbers, weight, etc., isn’t probably super important to sell a book), she gives the aspirational reasons for reading the book, “You’re about to become unstoppable.”
• #6 — She has at least 2 buttons to buy and an option to be included if you’re not ready to buy.

But the other thing I’ll point out again is that there are zero other distractions. You land on this page, you know EXACTLY what she’s selling and you know EXACTLY what and where she wants you to click. She’s making it as easy as possible for the buyer to make a decision.

What works best for your business?

Choosing how to sell your products should be based on how your customers function and the products you sell. If you sell a few high dollar items that perhaps would benefit from including a lot of information, a landing page may be best for you.

If you sell a lot of products and want your customers to browse your website, I’d focus on optimizing your product pages.

Let us help!

We’d love to help you brainstorm ways to optimize this part of your customer journey. Our graphic designers and copywriters are really good at building convincing landing pages and turning your product pages into persuasive, sales-oriented money-makers.

Schedule a phone call to find out more!