When crafted well, hero messages can seize your user’s attention and convince them to explore further. Your goal here is to be clear, direct, and simple. It should appeal to brand-new site visitors, and explicitly state three things:
- What you do
- Say what you sell, make, or do.
- BE CLEAR so you avoid cognitive strain (the gist of cognitive strain vs. cognitive ease is this: The more you make your users think, the worse off you’ll be, especially online, where patience is thin and your competitors are just a click away). Your goal is to make things easy.
- What do we believe about the world that makes this organization exist?
- Why should employees get up in the morning for this organization?
- What’s your point of view? What do you embrace, what do you shun?
Complete this sentence: “We exist because ___________.” That’ll make for a decent Why.
- Who you do it for
- Humans are hardwired to respond to images or reflections of their own identity. It’s why, when looking at photos with our friends, our eyes immediately go to ourselves before, if ever, anyone else.
- Great hero messages name the specific audiences they’re targeting—often by demographic or professional category.
- Stating your Whom gives your users the chance to instantly imagine themselves in your world. It’s the closest you can get online to saying someone’s specific name.
- Why you do it
- When coupled with a compelling CTA, this blurb can be the most crucial content on your client’s site.
- Take a look at your website’s Google Analytics account and view the percentage of your website visitors who are first-timers. It’s these new people for whom your hero message matters most because we can assume that returning visitors know what you’re about.
- If more than half of your website users are coming for the first time, your hero message becomes especially important. It can ensure that they experience zero confusion. Confusion leads to higher bounce rates and lost opportunities.
