It is becoming increasingly clear that personalization is key in the financial industry because when faced with the potential of dealing with somebody else’s finances, it’s critical to deliver the right message to the right people at the right time. That’s why financial landing pages are integral to deliver hyper-individualized customer experiences.
Financial services and impact investing platform, Swell, uses investment landing pages to grow its customer base and fund. The company also uses remarketing across various platforms (such as Google, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) to display ads to relevant prospects, and to direct them to dedicated landing pages.
Before we detail the ads and landing pages, let’s begin with a quick definition.
What is a landing page?
A landing page is a standalone web page that uses persuasive elements — such as compelling headlines, engaging media, valuable social proof, attention-grabbing CTA buttons, etc. — to convince visitors to take action on a specific offer. That action could be to sign up for an account, download a guide, register for a webinar, schedule a demo, and more.
Since Swell’s ultimate goal is to get more signups, all of their advertising campaigns take prospects to a signup landing page where they encourage visitors to start investing with them.
How Swell uses landing pages in its advertising campaigns
(For shorter pages, we’ve displayed the entire page. For longer pages, we’ve only shown above the fold, so you’ll need to click through to the page to see some of the points we discuss. Also, some pages may be undergoing A/B testing with an alternate version than is displayed below.)
1. Increase account sign ups
Clicking “Get Started” in Swell’s website navigation shows this sign up lightbox of sorts:
investment post-click landing page Swell signup
What the page does well:
The subheadline makes it very clear that people don’t have to divulge much personal information to start a new Swell account.
The 3-field form makes it quick and easy to start a new Swell account.
The password field placeholder text indicates that it must be 10+ characters so prospects won’t be surprised if their password is rejected for that reason.
The “eye” in the password field lets people click it so they can see exactly what password they type in. This is important because prospects should know exactly what their password is before signing up.
The privacy disclaimer under the CTA button lets people know their information will not be shared.
What could be changed and A/B tested:
The page and form are not disconnected from Swell’s website since the lightbox only appears after clicking the button in the navigation.
The CTA copy could include more personalization by using “me” (Sign Me Up).
The login link doesn’t need to be on this form because if a prospect is looking to “Get Started” with Swell, they are not a current investor. So logging in is not appropriate here.
2. Facebook retargeting for new signups
A Google search for “invest in clean energy” shows this Swell search ad ranked third:
investment post-click landing page search ad
Clicking the ad takes you to this Swell sign up page where they outline the four steps required to create an account:
investment post-click landing page Swell
Later, while scrolling Facebook, this Swell retargeting ad showed up in my feed, likely because of the previous Google search and website browsing:
investment post-click landing page Facebook retargeting ad
Clicking this Facebook ad takes you to this investment landing page:
investment landing page Swell Facebook
What the page does well:
The click-through design reduces landing page friction, by ensuring that prospects learn all about the offer before submitting their personal information.
Multiple cooperative CTA buttons placed all throughout the page give visitors ample opportunities to sign up.
The bouncing arrow near the windmills acts as a visual cue, capturing people’s attention to let them know there’s more to see further down the page. However, making it an anchor tag would provide an even better user experience.
Company logos such as CNN Money and Forbes are trust signals acting as social proof, which could persuade prospects to sign up.
“Swell’s Portfolios” make it easy for visitors to scan the page to quickly find what areas Swell specializes in.
The graph provides a great visual for prospects to learn about how the company compares to the S&P 500 historically.
The “Key Features” section, complete with iconography and bold copy, allows visitors to scan the page to quickly find the key features and benefits of Swell.
The GIF in the mobile phone is an interactive visual, giving prospects a realistic preview of what the Swell mobile app looks like.
White space between each section makes the page content easy to navigate and comprehend.
What could be changed and A/B tested:
The Swell logo acts as an exit link, immediately providing visitors a way off the page before converting.
The CTA buttons don’t “pop” as much as they would if they were a contrasting color, like orange.
The CTA button copy could be more personalized and enticing. For example, “I want to invest with Swell!” might persuade more prospects to click.
Fine print (under the graph and at the bottom of the page) might intimidate visitors and deter them from converting on the offer.
Including a customer testimonial would help instill trust and confidence in prospects, likely encouraging them to invest.
3. Instagram retargeting for new signups
Next, while scrolling Instagram this retargeting ad appeared:
investment post-click landing page Instagram ad
Once clicked, the same investing landing page is shown as above. This time on mobile:
investment landing page Instagram mobile
Since we already critiqued the landing page earlier, let’s review what the Instagram ad does well and what could be A/B tested.
What the ad does well:
The ad colors match the ones on the corresponding landing page, and the website. This is a best practice because it’s considered part of message matching.
Signing up with as little as $50 is a great incentive, so including this in the headline could be very effective at getting click-throughs.
The image plays off the ad description very well because it conveys the message “invest in the world” for a more profitable future.
The ad description is short and simple, but also powerful, letting users know that this is how they can fund their future.
What could be changed and A/B tested:
Increasing the message match between the ad and landing page might lead to better results. Although the primary message is the same, the landing page doesn’t say anything about “as little as $50” until the bottom.
The ad image isn’t anywhere on the landing page, which also decreases the campaign’s message match.
4. Banner retargeting for new signups
During a separate browsing session on desktop, this banner ad on the NYTimes homepage displayed:
investment landing page Swell banner
This ad takes users to the same signup landing page as the previous two examples, so let’s analyze the ad once again.
What the ad does well:
The copy is easily readable, because it’s a basic font, large, and against a contrasting background.
The colors are the same on the ad, landing page, and website.
The iconography tells a quick simple story as it related to Swell: “If you love the world and want to make profits, invest with Swell.”
What could be changed and A/B tested:
Including more persuasive copy would make the ad more informative and persuasive.
Using a more relevant image — one that’s also on the landing page — would increase the campaign’s message match.
The CTA button could be bigger so that web users can “Learn More” about Swell by clicking through.
Changing the CTA button color to something brighter than green would attract more attention.
Create an investing landing page like Swell
Delivering a personalized experience with financial landing pages is key to success in the financial industry. Although Swell has one primary goal, and directs all of their paid traffic to a single signup landing page, be sure to create a unique landing page for every offer you promote.
Always connect all your ads to personalized landing pages to lower your cost per customer acquisition. Start creating your dedicated landing pages by signing up for an Instapage 14-day free trial today.