HEY's Pre-Launch Landing Page

HEY's Landing Page is a great example of the "manifesto-style" pre-launch page to collect signups. It's becoming more and more common for startups to start with something like this that focuses entirely on the problem and teasing how it will be solved.

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It starts with a clever resemblance to how an email usually begins: "Hey, ..." But notice that email is stated in the very beginning. In these manifesto-style landing pages, it's critical to start positioning yourself as early as possible. Otherwise, you'll risk building up an idea in the readers' heads that could be totally different from what you're building.
They jump straight into stating the problem and agitating the pain. This is critical context when you're introducing a new product and building up the logic for why it should exist.
No matter what you’re selling, your most formidable obstacle is the adherence to the status quo. Your primary obstacle is a voice inside people’s heads that goes, "We’ve gotten along just fine without it, and we’ll always be fine without it." How do you overcome that? By demonstrating that something has changed in such a fundamental way that it can't be ignored.
One of the most powerful ways to turn prospects into aspiring heroes is to pit them against an antagonist. Luke fought Darth Vader. Marc Benioff squared off against on-premise software. Name the enemy. Criticizing the alternatives creates a narrative that they're part of the problem and the cause of the pain.
Now, they talk up the beauty of email. They start painting a picture of what *could be*. Instead of jumping straight to what they're building, they're teasing the "Promised Land", AKA the promise of the new solution.
Notice how they never mention "you". "It" (email) deserves a dust off. "It" (email) deserves a renovation. I think this creates affinity for the solution. It moves the conversation away from "I deserve better email" to "We all deserve better email" in a cult-like fashion (in a positive way).
Now, they finally speak to the solution, but it doesn't say anything about features or benefits. Instead, they simply state that HEY is the antithesis of the problem.
A "love letter to email" is pure genius. I love how personal and emotional it is. They also tease the release date as well as the platforms it will be available on.
As a bonus, they link to their full analysis of everything wrong with email. This essentially serves as everything they set out to solve with HEY. Think of it as an appendix of sorts!
Finally, the page concludes with a CTA to email an email address to get on the waitlist. Since this is an email client we're talking about, it only makes sense. I also love that they ask the reader to talk about their experience with email, good or bad. I'm sure they have thousands of "voice of the customer" fodder they can use for all marketing in the future, as well as to use for new feature ideas and validate current assumptions.
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