A waitlist is a list of people who are interested in your upcoming product, service, or offer.
So, when building and nurturing one, you can contact those potential customers directly, create momentum and FOMO, and sell out more easily.
To get enough of them to sign up, though, you first need a compelling waitlist landing page.
So, let’s go through exactly what you should include!
How can a waitlist help your business create a bigger demand?
It doesn’t matter if you sell products, services, Saas, events, or something else entirely. A waitlist allows you to:
- Retain your audience – If someone finds out about your brand when you’re fully booked or before you’ve launched that new offer? They could leave and forget about it. Instead, with a waitlist, you can stay in touch until the time is right
- Gauge demand – How many people are interested in your upcoming offer? Your number of waitlist subscribers will help you plan your stock or availability
- Validate your idea – Don’t run the risk of spending months and thousands of pounds creating something that doesn’t sell. Does your audience like your initial concept enough to sign up for its waitlist? By attaching a quick ScoreApp quiz, you can validate it more accurately. Ask strategic questions to find out what your potential customers like and dislike about your idea, how much they’d be willing to pay, and so on. Then, improve it accordingly
- Segment your audience – With a ScoreApp waitlist quiz, you can also divide your subscribers into groups depending on their answers, personalising your emails to make them even more relevant and effective
- Establish premium positioning – When something is easy to access and available for everyone, its perceived value decreases. Instead, having a waitlist highlights how in-demand you are, positioning you as an exclusive option
- Nurture your audience – Your email sequence will act as a bridge between your waitlist landing page and your upcoming launch, creating FOMO and excitement
- Sell out – Instead of dropping your offer out of the blue and crossing your fingers, you’ll be launching it to a group of people who expressed an interest in it and have already been nurtured. A game-changer, right?
What to include on your waitlist landing page to get more sign-ups: 7 key elements
At this stage, you’re not asking for money, but your waitlist landing page must still SELL that concept.
So, whenever relevant, we included examples for both service providers and product-based businesses to show you how to do that in practice.
1. Scroll-stopping headline
This is the first thing your audience sees when they open your waitlist landing page. But if it doesn’t grab their attention immediately, it’ll also be the last.
So, speak directly to your target customers, and lead with how your upcoming offer will benefit them, whether that’s by getting rid of their problem or giving them their desired outcome.
- Example for a service provider: “Tired of wasting a full weekday on marketing that doesn’t bring you clients?”
- Example for a product-based business: “Finally, a portable coffee maker to enjoy tasty brews on your adventures”
2. Sub-head
Now that you’ve hooked your audience in with your big headline, expand on that initial point, showing them why this upcoming concept is a must-have.
- Example for a service provider: “Master your marketing with my 1:1 help to attract more premium clients, and get a full day back every week. Subscriber-only offer launching on [date]”
- Example for a product-based business: “Instant coffee has already ruined enough hikes and camping trips for you, hasn’t it? Same here. That’s why we’re creating a small and lightweight coffee maker that fits in your backpack and makes barista-worthy joe on the go”
3. Compelling copy
Use the rest of your waitlist landing page to sell your concept, starting from your target audience’s problem and showing them how you’ll solve it.
Prioritise the following copywriting elements, in particular.
Clear value proposition
Position your upcoming product or service as something unique and unmissable.
You might have already done that with your headline and sub-head combo, but you can (and should) go more in-depth with your body copy.
- Example for a service provider: “Lots of marketers are selling silver bullets, dodgy get-quick-rich schemes, and generic solutions. Instead, this 1:1 programme will be based on your specific situation and will run for 6 months to put strong foundations in place—without you getting overwhelmed or being forced to do something that doesn’t feel aligned”
- Example for a product-based business: “So far, you’ve always had to compromise: excellent cuppas at home but stale and grainy instant on the go. Not anymore! Our portable coffee maker uses manual pumping to reach the right pressure for a proper brew, without needing bulky equipment. That way, you can enjoy a delicious coffee while admiring a mountain view or gathering around the campfire”
Incentives to join your waitlist
“Sign up to be the first to know” is so vague and overused that it doesn’t cut it anymore!
So, plan the right incentives for your audience, and use your landing page copy to create urgency and make your subscribers feel like VIPs.
These benefits could range from early-bird discounts to additional perks and even the opportunity to shape that new concept with their feedback.
- Example for a service provider: “This marketing retainer will only be available for max 5 business owners, and the first 2 will get it for [discounted price]. So, join the waitlist now to avoid missing out”
- Example for a product-based business: “The first 100 customers will get our portable coffee maker for half the price and a free book on how to brew the best coffee on the go. Join the waitlist now to snatch both as soon as we launch it!”
4. Visuals
Complement your copy with relevant and high-quality visual elements, showcasing your upcoming offer and getting your audience excited.
This will really depend on what you’re launching, but you could consider:
- Photos
- Graphics
- Videos or demos
- Brand photos of you and your team to build trust
5. Social proof
Your target customers will be more likely to get on board if they can hear how great you are from others, too.
So, on your waitlist landing page, include social proof like:
- Reviews and testimonials from past customers or beta testers
- Endorsements from industry experts
- Logos of businesses you’ve already worked with
- User-generated content
6. FAQ section
When your waitlist landing page answers your audience’s most pressing questions, it compels more people to join and spares you time-consuming back-and-forths via email.
So, what do your target customers want and need to know?
When you start with a ScoreApp quiz, you can illustrate your initial idea and ask questions like “Is there anything you’re not clear on?” or “What else would you need to learn about it before purchasing it?” Then, update your waitlist landing page FAQs accordingly. Easy!
With ScoreApp, you also have lots of FAQ layouts to choose from, including space-saving accordion sections.
7. Calls to action
This is what your entire landing page is geared towards: getting people to sign up for your waitlist now.
Sign-up form
Make it as easy as possible for your audience to join your waitlist. Instead of creating friction with unnecessary fields, stick to something simple like “Name” and “Email address”.
Then, once someone submits them, you can show them some waitlist questions to get their feedback, pre-qualify them, and segment them accordingly. Your ScoreApp quiz will keep doing this automatically.
With ScoreApp, you can also choose to display those sign-up fields on your actual landing page, use smaller CTA buttons that lead to a pop-up form (more on that soon), or both.
Multiple CTA buttons
For the best results, place them:
- After your headline and sub-head so that people can see a CTA before scrolling down
- A few times throughout the rest of your waitlist landing page
- At the very bottom
Use a mixture of straightforward wording (like “Join the waitlist”) and copy that highlights the overall benefit.
- Example for a service provider: “Get a full day back every week”
- Example for a product-based business: “Get 50% off and the free book as soon as we launch”
Other strategic elements for your waitlist landing page
Everything we covered so far will help you sell that initial concept and attract more subscribers. To get even more out of your waitlist landing page, though, consider the following, too.
Countdown timer
On a ScoreApp landing page, you can create a stronger sense of urgency with a countdown timer.
For example, you could set it for your big launch or for when the early-bird discount expires.
Shareable links
Help your waitlist reach as many target customers as possible!
Include social media buttons (for example, in your footer), and encourage your early-bird subscribers to share that page with their friends or followers.
Mobile optimisation
Over half of your landing page visitors will get to it using their phones.
So, make sure your landing page looks and loads just as well on mobile devices as it does on a desktop. Its navigation should always be smooth, too (for example, are your call-to-action buttons large enough to be clicked with a thumb?).
With ScoreApp, you can test your landing page to see how it looks on both devices before launching it.
Ready-to-go ScoreApp templates for your waitlist landing page
As well as a popular quiz platform, ScoreApp is one of the best landing page tools.
You can create yours from scratch with our intuitive drag-and-drop builder or start from a template, such as:
- Join the Waitlist Template 1, focusing on a short quiz that offers valuable results to your subscribers and helps you get clear on what they want
- Join the Waitlist Template 2, prioritising the VIP element of getting on that list
Build hype and demand with a ScoreApp waitlist landing page
With a ScoreApp waitlist, you get to:
- Attract more target customers
- Validate your idea and gauge demand by asking them strategic questions
- Segment them based on their answers
- Personalise your marketing accordingly
- Connect your landing page to your email marketing platform
- Automate tailored nurturing sequences that build momentum until it’s time to launch (and sell out!)
So, start with the first step: create your waitlist landing page with ScoreApp today and for FREE.
