Name Their Pain
Show empathy for their frustrations. Make them feel "oh yeah, that IS annoying" before you talk about features.
Start with the solution, then name the pain
Most landing pages should open with the solution. The hero tells people what they're looking at: "Oh okay, it's a cordless vacuum" or "Got it, it's a SaaS spend tracker." People need that anchor first — they need to know what kind of product this is before anything else matters.
But right after that? Before you dive into the feature list? That's where the pain section lives. It's the moment where you say "you know how..." and list the frustrations they already have.
You know how the cord is always in the way. You know how it stops sucking after a year. You know how you're always changing bags. You know how every vacuum you've owned has been kind of crappy.
That's not manipulation. That's showing you understand their life. And once they feel that — "oh yeah, damn, that IS annoying" — they're actually ready to hear about your features.
It creates energy
The point of naming the pain isn't to make people feel bad. It's to create a little bit of energy. A recognition moment. When someone reads a frustration they've actually felt, something clicks — "these people get it."
That energy makes the features section land harder. If you go straight from "here's our product" to "here are 6 features," the features just sit there. The visitor evaluates them coldly. But if you first remind them how annoying their current situation is, each feature feels like a relief.
"No more tangled cords" hits different after you've just been reminded how much you hate the cord. "Automatic renewal alerts" hits different after you've pictured the surprise charge on your credit card.
Be specific about their frustrations
Vague pain is invisible. "Managing your tools is hard" — nobody feels that. But "You find out about a $2,000 renewal when it hits your credit card" — that stings because it's specific enough to trigger a memory.
Name the actual annoyances. The specific moments. The workarounds people have gotten used to:
- •The spreadsheet that was last updated three months ago
- •The weekly meeting that exists just to sync two teams
- •The 11pm alert that turns out to be nothing
- •The subscription you forgot you were paying for
When you're specific, the right people feel seen. They think "oh, they've been through this too." And that's exactly the feeling you want before you start talking about what your product actually does.