In your bid to optimize your website, you have most likely done all that is needed to create landing pages that are effective and have tried a few headline and CTA formulas to find the most effective ones. You may also have tested different elements to ensure you maximize conversions.
You are still missing something if you are not paying attention to your thank you pages. These pages are so important yet they are so often overlooked. The thank you page on your website is the page a user is taken to after they complete a desired conversion, which may be a download, a sign up, a purchase or other desired and targeted action. You may think a simple thank you will suffice; it will not.
No, thank you to a simple thank you
A thank you is not just something polite you say to a user; it is a way for you to continue interacting with them. A visitor who has bought the services or product you are selling is very valuable. They are a qualified lead that could become a loyal fan or customer if you play your thank you cards right. Use this page to engage more with a user who has already demonstrated interest in your website.
How to get maximum mileage out of your thank you pages
1) Direct a user to other pages on your website
This may not do something for your bottom line, but it will keep a user engaged. They may opt to join a webinar, read a blog article, share something from your website with others, or register on an opt-in form. This is the least that you can do.
2) Ask users to share
As you say thank you, encourage a buyer who has made a purchase from you or opted in to your newsletter to share about it to others in their social media circles. You can have social media share buttons hand-coded into your website. Integration with a social sharing plugin is another option. The goal is to pair your sharing buttons with text to encourage thank you page visitors to share about you.
3) Offer a discount or special offer to be used for a future purchase
Keep the ball rolling by finding a way to engage your users in future. As you say thank you, put out an offer for the next purchase. It may be an amount off, bonus rewards points, or other offer they will want to take you up on. Take it further by making the offer a time-limited one in order to prompt action in the not too distant future.
4) Invite users to a webinar or other upcoming event
If you do not sell products, engage your users by inviting them to an event like a webinar. If they liked your content enough to subscribe, they most likely want more of it. Give them options and embed calendar options and event details on your thank you page to ensure they come back for it.
5) Set the time for the next interaction with your users
If one of your final conversion goals is to have users book an appointment to see you, you can make very good use of your thank you pages to achieve this. First, identify the thank you pages on your website where user activity has been low, such as sharing your website on social media or subscribing to your newsletter. Include a form for setting appointments on these thank you pages; these are the ones to use to get users to engage with your brand or business.
6) Give the opportunity to opt in
Newsletter opt-ins or subscriptions are important at every stage during the conversion process. However, a purchase from your website does not mean that a user is already subscribed to your email updates. Include newsletter opt-in options as you thank users for a purchase, so they can keep reading about your other products and special offers you may give in the future.
7) Prompt users to download your app
If you have an app, thank you pages are a great place to encourage users to download it. Tell them about the app and the benefits it offers and then put a link to the store they can download it from. Consider giving offers and gifts via the app and highlight these on the thank you page to get a prompt response.
Thank You but not Goodbye
If you don’t capitalize them, your users will be done after the simple thank you. Use these pages not to say goodbye, but to hold their interest and keep them engaged. Experiment with the different strategies and use the ones that work best consistently. Aim for thank you and hello again interactions with your users on these pages and not thank you and goodbye.
