User-Centric B2B: Transforming Landing Pages into Memorable Experiences

Andrew Humphrey
Senior Director, Media Strategy, at BBN Partner, TriComB2B

Imagine stepping into your neighbourhood convenience store. But its once familiar décor has transformed into a cavernous, barely recognizable space. Only one aisle shelves a handful of unfamiliar items. A pushy bouncer hovers around you, pointing a finger toward an unattended cash register. Signage everywhere screams “buy now”.

This may sound bizarre in a real-world scenario. Yet, many landing pages we visit from B2B campaigns often feel remarkably similar: stand-alone pages, sanctioned off from the rest of a functioning website, with context lacking — maybe just a headline, a curt paragraph, a contact form, and a barrage of CTAs.

Traditional wisdom alleges this approach emphasizes the con version (i.e., a form submission) and offers a simple solution for tracking where those conversions originated. This is rarely the outcome, however. Instead, prospects question if your brand could ever solve the complex challenges they face in their work. It hurts their abilities to get to know, trust and remember you.

Instead of “landing pages”, let’s think “memorable experiences”. But what might they look like? Here are some key aspects and tips to consider.

Interconnectivity

Think about where your audiences are coming from and what they may (or may not) already know. Then think beyond your website: social media, email and press releases all can serve as extensions of your presence, not separate, compartmentalized entities. How a user begins and ends interacting with those different realms should feel as seamless as possible.

Conversely, if a user wants to stay in their current location, that’s OK, too. Not every touchpoint should force a click someplace else unless there’s a clear purpose driving it.

Interactivity

User experiences should feel as inviting as possible. Opportunities to incorporate unexpected animations or videos can go a long way toward achieving this. Similarly, ensure your design aligns with user expectations. If a user expects something to happen when they click on a page element, that “something” had better happen. Heatmaps can uncover disconnects between design intention and user behaviour.

Personalization

Don’t you love how Netflix customizes movie recommendations based on your streaming habits? Thanks to the increasing accessibility of AI, it’s possible to offer similar experiences in B2B websites. And the same goes for email. Segment audiences, automate your nurture streams, and ensure your recipients aren’t all receiving the same generic messages.

Exceptional Service

When it comes to answering users’ questions, is someone available to assist them? If not, what is the protocol to ensure that users know their concerns will be addressed quickly? Features like live chat, confirmation emails, simple navigation, or even custom 404 pages can help let users know they matter to you—even if things go awry.

Landing pages might seem practical under the duress of conversion goals or tracking needs, but they’re often dead ends for audiences and campaigns. Instead, focus on a user’s holistic experience and how best to serve them at any given moment. This is how you can build stronger, longer-lasting and unforgettable relationships with audiences.

This editorial was originally published in B2B Marketing’s 2024 Agency Benchmarking Report (May 2024). If you want to review the B2B agency league tables and other editorials, please download the PDF below.