You have provided a valuable resource or made a compelling argument and gotten your prospect to fill out the form and download whatever resource that is – maybe an e-book, whitepaper, or guide.
First things first: congratulations, because landing a conversion is anything but a walk in the park!
The long journey from attracting them to your site, engaging them with helpful educational content, and compelling them to take an action was long and arduous. Now, what next? Will you replace the form with a simple in-line thank you and hope they rush over to their email to see what you’ve sent them?
Certainly not!
Simply employing in-line thank you messages and not telling the visitor what to expect next can be anti-climactic, and it makes for terrible user experience. The appropriate course of action is redirecting visitors to a tailored thank you page.
The thank-you page offers immediate confirmation that a lead has completed the action/ask they found on the landing page. In addition, it offers your leads the offer they requested and sets expectations for future interactions. Learn below how to design an effective thank you page to increase engagement and drive the relationship with your new conversions even further.
Related: The Buyer’s Journey Tailoring Your Offers to Bag More Conversions
Elements of Effective Thank You Pages
Everything on your thank you page should be designed to increase engagement and clearly set expectations for the subsequent steps. The following are elements to include in your thank you page.
The Offer
A thank you page primarily exists to present to the site visitor the offer that made them fill out a form or subscribe. If you have offered a downloadable resource, please ensure that the visitor can download it from your thank you page. If the downloadable resource has been forwarded through email or any other channel, state that clearly and the steps to follow once they get there.
Alternatively, the offer may be something that cannot be accessed immediately, such as registration for an event in the future or request for personalized information or a consultation. In this case, set clear expectations regarding when and how they will receive more information.
Smart Forms with Relevant Additional Offers
You must always work to move people along their buyer’s journey, and so try to use your thank you page to introduce the next step depending on where they are. You don’t want to come on too strong, but provide the option for the next thing in case they’re ready to keep moving.
For example, if the offer was for downloadable content, you can promote another downloadable resource that moves them along their buyer’s journey. Select the next offer carefully; you don’t want your prospects to feel like you’re rushing them through the buying process.
Suppose they have downloaded an introductory educational whitepaper or e-book. Your follow-up won’t be getting them to book a consult with a sales representative. Instead, you can promote a slightly more detailed educational resource about the same subject.
It is critical to understand your lead’s journey to ensure that your next offer is aligned to where they are and what they converted on.
Smart or dynamic content is great for promoting next offers on thank you pages. You can designate different next offers according to the user’s actions. If they have already downloaded the next logical resource, you may offer secondary content that may pique their interest.
Navigation
Some businesses remove navigation options from their landing pages to reduce distractions for site visitors who are en-route to converting. Once the visitor has converted and reached your thank you page, their conversion journey is complete.
Therefore, you should reinstate your navigation options for the visitor to freely browse your site. Otherwise, you risk having the visitor exit when they were receptive to keep on browsing.
Chat
It may be helpful to include chatbots on your thank you page. This allows visitors the opportunity to ask questions and receive real-time responses about the offer they have received or registered for. It provides an opportunity for better engagement, and you can guide them to the next steps more interactively.
You shouldn’t try to promote more than 1-2 next offers within your on-page content, but having chatbots will provide alternatives according to information provided by the site visitor. This comes in handy should your visitor not be interested in the next offers you promoted above. The chatbot may guide them towards a different option in a more natural and user-friendly way.
Social Links
You should have links to social platforms where visitors may share the offer they have gotten within their social networks or using other channels. Social proof is highly valuable for a thank you page. Given that users have found your converting resource helpful and valuable, it allows them to spread awareness of it, and consequently your business.
However, don’t assume this sharing will happen organically. Rather, encourage the visitor explicitly to share your offer within their network. You may incentivize the call by giving another desirable offer for sharing or getting one or more conversions.
Related: 6 Call-to-Action Formats You Can Use to Drive Website Conversions like Crazy
Your Take-Home
A thank you page provides a valuable opportunity to maintain the funnel momentum you have with a newly converted lead. This is the first step post-conversion when your lead is still receptive and needs lead nurturing efforts to increase their value.
Based on the initial offer leading to the conversion, you should optimize your thank you pages to move a lead along the path established before and after the conversion step they have just taken. Everything you do should be deliberate, guiding the lead closer to becoming a paying customer.