Warmth + Competence: The Secret Formula Your Landing Page Is Missing

I consulted a lot of businesses on their landing page UX, but never thought of this principle that I've just heard in the latest podcast from Codie A. Sanchez (I love her!) on communication. They introduced this idea that there are two types of messages that you can be sending out there in the professional environment: Warmth and Competence. And the truth is, we tend to like people who display both. Moreover, the research shows that we often feel suspicious of people who only project one.

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That is why you intuitively know that in every important presentation you need to pop in a meme every now and then (can also be a quote, a story, etc). That is why super smart founders sometimes don’t win the pitch - because they just go all in with numbers and don’t show their vulnerable human side. It appears affecting trust negatively. 

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So how does this translate to your websites? Literally the same rules apply to your landing pages (as well as your marketing messages, SMM posts, etc) - you need to have both things present in a good balance: Warmth and Competence.

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So lets get practical.

What is Warmth when it comes to pages/funnels/:

- Visuals of the happy future

- Value proposition appealing to the emotional side of the user

- User stories

- Quotes

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What is Competence when it comes to pages/funnels/: 

- “Science-backed” wordings, scientific facts

- Stats that back your business

- Case studies

- Graphs, charts, research

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An example mentioned in the podcast is Casper Matresses which has taken the market by the perfect mix of both. As Vanessa Van Edwards says in the episode ”they would have on their landing page a kid bouncing on the clouds and that would be a signal of Warmth and then there will be a statement from “the research scientists in the Casper lab…” and then a whole chapter of science about it, and then again someone testing the mattress..”

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This got me immediately thinking about the Bryan Eisenberg model, which teaches that in UX you need to cater to 4 different personas- Spontaneous, Methodical, Humanistic and Competitive types of users. You need to speak to all of them with different types of content. But what I found interesting about this new framework from Vanessa is that it's actually the same user who needs both. Regardless of their personality type, users won’t convert if you only appeal to their emotions without being serious. Similarly, they won’t buy if the page is all business with no human side. Maybe we all are a bit of a mix of all the personas and in order to get us convinced we need different stories to be told at the same time.

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And as I looked at the CTAD landing page I was left wondering - who did make it so serious! It definitely needs a ChatGPT roast at the very least.

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As always, finishing on a quote:

“Design is half communication, and half communication” - Maxim Leyzerovich

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Talk to your customer as if they are just in front of you right now.

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