Multi-Step Landers

In most cases, landing pages can significantly increase your conversion rates, not only by providing additional engaging content, but also by presenting other offers that a visitor might be more prone to take. A good landing page plays an important part in orchestrating a visitor's journey. And sometimes this journey may require using more than one landing page. Not as an alternative, but as an additional step.

In this scenario, a visitor is directed to the first landing page (called "pre-lander") after clicking an advertisement, then to the second landing page, and then finally to an offer page. This allows you to stretch the space where you can provide your content or other offers. It also, however, extends a visitor's journey, which can discourage some visitors from reaching your offer. The decision about using multi-step landers should be driven by your business requirements.

Voluum does not have native support for multi-step landers. However, it offers you three methods of setting it up as a workaround. These methods are as follows:

• Multi-offer lander method
• The secondary campaign method
• The internal redirection method

These methods use various Voluum features to achieve this multi-step setup. In this guide, it is assumed that you are familiar with Voluum to a degree that allows you to set up campaigns with ease and have at least some knowledge about how tokens are used to pass information in a campaign funnel. Whenever there is a reference to a feature or a topic required for setting up multi-step landers, the link to this topic will be included.

Before you start creating a multi-step funnel, here are some things you should have ready or know before starting:

• A pre-lander page and a second landing page.
• An offer to promote.
• A steady source of traffic.

• A more advanced knowledge of Voluum. These methods use various Voluum features to create a multi-step funnel. These features include:

  • Multi-offer landers
  • Custom traffic source
  • Rule-based paths on custom variables

Description:

This method incorporates an option to use a multi-offer lander, but instead of offers, you use landing pages. The PRE-LANDER landing page, that will have the number of offers set to 2, will contain a multi-offer click URL 1. The multi-offer click URL 1 will direct a visitor to the REDIRECT offer and then immediately to the SECOND landing page. This REDIRECT offer, set as a first offer in order in a path's setup, will contain a URL of the SECOND landing page instead of an offer URL. The SECOND landing page will contain a multi-offer click URL 2, which will lead a visitor to the TARGET offer set as a second offer in a path's setup. The number of steps can be increased if needed.

The final flow looks like this: Campaign URL → PRE-LANDER → Multi-offer click URL 1 → REDIRECT offer with a SECOND lander URL → SECOND lander → Multi-offer click URL 2 → TARGET offer

Characteristic:

• Difficulty: Easy
• Pro: Data gathered under one campaign.
• Con: Does not allow offer rotation.
• Con: The number of clicks will be doubled.

Setup:

In order to set up multi-step landers with this method, perform the following steps:

1. Create a traffic source.

2. Create a lander element that will be your PRE-LANDER. Provide a URL of your pre-lander as the Lander URL. Set the number of offers to 2.

   

3. Create an offer element that will be your SECOND lander. Provide the URL of your second landing page as Offer URL.

   

4. Create an offer element that will be your TARGET offer. Provide the URL of your target offer as Offer URL.

   

5. https://voluum_dedicated_domain.com/click/1

   Copy the multi-offer click URL from Voluum to the clipboard and paste it to any text editing tool.

   

   Your multi-offer click URL 1 should look like this:

   Copy it from your text editing tool and implement this link into your PRE-LANDER page's HTML code under the CTA link / button.

6. https://voluum_dedicated_domain.com/click/2

   In the text editing tool change the number at the end of the multi-offer click URL to 2. Your multi-offer click URL 2 should look like this:

   Copy it from your text editing tool and implement the multi-offer click URL 2 into your SECOND landing page's HTML code under the CTA link / button.

7. Create a campaign, with the traffic source that you have created.

   1. Select your PRE-LANDER as a lander.
   2. Select the offer with SECOND lander URL as your first offer in order.
   3. Select TARGET offer as your second offer in order in a default path.

   

   Save the campaign. Copy the campaign URL and submit it to the relevant traffic source.

Description:

In this method, you create two campaigns in Voluum, where the FIRST campaign's offer redirects to the SECOND campaign. The offer URL in the FIRST campaign is the campaign URL of the SECOND campaign. This sounds easy, however, there is one thing that you need to do apart from setting up those two campaigns. You need to alter the SECOND campaign URL in a way that replaces all traffic source's tokens with Voluum custom variables.

The final flow works like this: FIRST Campaign URL → PRE-LANDER →REDIRECT offer with SECOND Campaign URL → SECOND lander→ TARGET offer

Characteristic:

• Difficulty: Medium
• Pro: Allows you to rotate offers on a second lander
• Con: Campaign data is spread across two campaigns, a user needs to analyze both of them to get the full picture
• Con: The number of visits per traffic source will be doubled

Setup:

In order to set up multi-step landers with this method, perform the following steps:

1. Create a traffic source element and map all parameters to custom variables.

   

2. Create an offer element, that will be your TARGET offer, the end offer that you want to direct your visitors to. Provide the link to this offer as the Offer URL.
3. Create a lander element that will be your SECOND lander in a funnel. Provide the URL of your second lander as the Lander URL.

4. Create a SECOND campaign, with SECOND lander, TARGET offer and the traffic source that you have just created.

   

5. https://voluum_dedicated_domain.com/84e2c1b9-7a79-450e-b8e9-9be588692266?website.id={website.id}&creative.id={creative.id}&keyword={keyword}

   Copy the campaign URL from this campaign and paste it to any text editing tool. Your campaign URL should look like this:

6. https://voluum_dedicated_domain.com/84e2c1b9-7a79-450e-b8e9-9be588692266?website.id={var1}&creative.id={var2}&keyword={var3}

   In this text editing tool change traffic source tokens to Voluum custom variables.:

   • Change {website.id} to {var1}
   • Change {creative.id} to {var2}
   • Change {keyword} to {var3}

   Your edited campaign URL should look like this:

   This ensures that all information passed in the first campaign URL and matched with Voluum custom variables will be passed along correctly.

7. Create a lander element that will be your PRE-LANDER. Provide a URL of your pre-lander as the Lander URL.
8. Add a click URL to your pre-lander and second landing page.

9. Create an offer element that will be your REDIRECT offer. Provide the edited campaign URL as an offer URL.

   

   Do not be alarmed by the yellow warning icon next to the offer URL text field. This warns you that the {clickid} token has to been added to this URL. Because this URL does not direct to an actual offer, but merely to the SECOND lander, you do not need to include it here. You only need to include it in your TARGET offer's URL, if you want to track conversions.

10. Create the FIRST campaign, with PRE-LANDER element and REDIRECT offer, and the same traffic source that you have created.

    

11. Save the campaign, copy the FIRST campaign URL to the clipboard and submit it to the relevant traffic source

Description:

This method uses one campaign with a rule-based path and a custom variable to create two redirection loops: the first loop directs a visitor from a campaign URL to a PRE-LANDER in a default path and then to a REDIRECT offer. This offer contains the original campaign URL with a special custom variable added. The visitor goes to the same campaign as before with the custom variable carried along. This custom variable is then recognized by a rule set in the rule-based path which directs the visitor to the second loop, with a SECOND lander and a TARGET offer.

The final flow works like this: Campaign URL with no custom variable → Default path → PRE-LANDER →REDIRECT offer with SECOND Campaign URL and a custom variable → Rule-based path →SECOND lander→ TARGET offer

Characteristic:

• Difficulty: Hard
• Pro: Data recorded under one campaign
• Con: Visits will be doubled as a campaign URL will be activated twice

Setup:

In order to set up multi-step landers with this method, perform the following steps:

1. Create a traffic source element and map the step parameter to one of the custom variables

   

2. Create a lander element that will be your SECOND lander in a funnel. Provide the URL of your second lander as the Lander URL.
3. Create a lander element that will be your PRE-LANDER. Provide a URL of your pre-lander as the Lander URL.
4. Create an offer element, that will be your TARGET offer. Provide the link to your offer as the Offer URL.

5. Create an offer element that will be your REDIRECT offer. Because this offer will contain an edited campaign URL that you will create later, provide any placeholder URL what will allow you to save this offer. You will replace this URL with a campaign URL before finishing a campaign funnel.

   

6. Create a campaign with an advanced form. In this campaign:

   1. Select the traffic source that you have just created

   2. Set a rule-based path, that will be your second loop:

      1. Create a rule-based path on a custom variable. As a condition, select the custom variable that you have matched the step token in the traffic source's setup. Provide "2" as your value.

         

      2. Select SECOND lander and TARGET offer.

         

   3. Set a default path, which will be your first loop, by selecting the PRE-LANDER and REDIRECT offer.

      

   4. Save the campaign.

7. https://voluum_dedicated_domain.com/8cfbc057-a4b0-4e78-aece-cc2e3513e5ce?website.id={website.id}&creative.id={creative.id}&keyword={keyword}&step={step}

   https://voluum_dedicated_domain.com/8cfbc057-a4b0-4e78-aece-cc2e3513e5ce?website.id={website.id}&creative.id={creative.id}&keyword={keyword}&step=2

   Copy the campaign URL from this campaign and paste it to any text editing tool. Your campaign URL should look like this:

   Replace the {step} token at the end of this campaign URL with "2" value. Your edited campaign URL should look like this:

8. Edit the REDIRECT offer and replace your placeholder URL with the edited campaign URL. Save the edited offer.

   

9. Add a click URL to your pre-lander and second landing web pages.
10. Copy the original (non-edited) campaign URL again and submit it to the relevant traffic source.

The way it works is traffic coming from a traffic source platform will go to Voluum campaign and, because at this point it does not contain the "2" value in the step parameter matched with a custom variable, it will go to the default path. In this path, a pre-lander will be displayed. Once a click URL on this page is activated, it will direct visitors to the same campaign, but this time, because the "2" value in the step parameter has been added to this campaign URL, traffic will go to the rule-based path. A second landing page will be displayed and then, subsequently, a target offer.