First, the problems with the old templates: there was either a choice between a form on the right side, or an awkward and large icon with the form at the bottom. We struggled to find photos wide enough for a full-width hero and conducive to having headlines laid on top. When displayed full-width on an extra large screen, the photos often scaled oddly with people's faces getting cut off.
Also, when it came to emails, they wanted to have webinar hosts included as well as massive amounts of copy. The layout felt stale, way too long and there was no flexibility in the format.
When I started working with the Frontier team at Bulldog, they were using templates for their landing pages and emails that had been designed in a rush. They were inflexible, limited and the client was displeased with how low the forms were on the page, given that these pages were primarily about lead generation.
We hobbled along with them for months but when Frontier signed a new contract and the work for the year was being scoped, the account team and I felt it was important to redesign the templates to better suit everyone's needs. Fortunately, the client agreed and I set to work.
To figure out how to solve those challenges, I worked closely with my creative director, our Marketo developer and our Marketo automation specialist. We got together in a room and sketched ideas out on the whiteboard. After a couple whiteboarding sessions, I sat down and wireframmed out all the version of templates I thought we would need to suit all of the required purposes.
Landing Pages
I set about to address these issues in a number of ways. First, for the landing pages, I brought the form up to overlap with the hero image. Not only does this bring the form “above the fold” but it has a clean, modern aesthetic which the client loved. We kept the hero image tall but I clipped it at the sides to make sure the images would scale wildly when on a much larger or smaller screen. The aim will also be to keep the body copy succinct and remove any asset previews. Why preview a white paper at almost full size when you’re trying to get the user to fill out a form to download it?
We removed the need for a fully separate “thank you” page and instead moved it to the form box once engaged. Also included are additional resources that the user might find useful, leading to further possibilities for engagement.
Emails
The email templates were redesigned to be clean, modern and mobile-first. They measure only 500 pixels wide and translate very well to other devices. They are also modular in nature so sections can be added or subtracted depending on content. I also provided the option of having the CTA in the hero as well as at the end of the email.
After a couple rounds of slight internal revisions, the templates were presented to the client and they were thrilled and approved with only a couple minor edits. This project was a win for everyone. The client and the internal Bulldog team got everything they wanted, and that doesn’t happen everyday.