7 Ways to Increase the Effectiveness of Your Thank You Pages

It's been implanted in my brain from when I was around the age the three. After someone does something nice for you, you say "thank you."

I can hear my parents right now, "what do you say?".

Those two words just come naturally. I probably say them more than I should.

Since it comes so naturally at times, I find myself saying "thank you" without even realizing it.

By saying those words so often, it may sound like there is no meaning behind them. Except that's not true. Unfortunately, this same thing can happen with your thank you pages.

Have you looked at your thank you pages recently? If not you should. Most companies aren't fully utilizing them the way they should. A thank you page is more than just a way to be grateful for the customers business or a lead downloading an offer.

In a thank you page, you are trying to get that customer or lead to stay immersed in your company. The page should help drive the lead down the sales funnel. Many thank you pages are too cluttered, while others don't have enough on them.

Here are some tips to guide you in finding the right median for your thank you page.

7 Tips on Improving Your Thank You Pages

1. Make Sure You Have the Offer on the Page

This might sound a little cliche but it can be something that's easily forgotten. When the lead gets to the page, its vital that they receive the correct offer or information from the form they filled out. They didn't just give you their information for free. They are expecting something in return.

2. Give Clear Directions

The person viewing your thank you page should be able to find the offer they are receiving. If you have to put a big arrow pointing at the link, then do so. One of the easiest ways to make sure people can see the offer is have a big sign that says "Download here". It doesn't have to be flashy or blinking. Make it stand out and easy to find.

If you have the customer searching for it, they are going to get extremely frustrated. This might turn some people away because they don't believe that it is worth the hassle.

3. Have Content About the Offer on the Page

The page should include instructions on what the person is receiving. On some call-to-actions it can say one thing and when the consumer reaches the landing page it says another. Don't confuse your visitors.

Some consumers will fill out the landing page without looking at what they are actually getting. For the thank you page it can't hurt to put a few words on what they have acquired. Some people won't click the link to the offer if they don't know exactly what that link leads too.

4. Keep it Simple

I know that I am giving all this advice on how to beef up the page and that you should add this and that too it, but don't make it to complicated.

When I say give content about the offer, what I mean is if the person is getting an ebook don't summarize the ebook in that section. Just make sure the person knows exactly what they are getting when they click the link. Provide the name of the offer.

5. Include Smart CTA's

Smart CTA's can be a great way to get the consumer to move on to the next step in the process. If they're downloading an ebook about social media, you might want to consider placing smart CTAs on the thank you page that shows them something similar to the offer they just received.

This way you are keeping the person engaged in your company. You are trying to continually educate the lead so they continue to make their way down the sales funnel.

6. Send an Email

Send a thank you email to make sure that they got their offer and there wasn't any problems. Consider segmenting your contact lists, so you can send additional content and offers to those that downloaded a certain offer. This will also make your thank you email more personalized.

By segmenting your email lists your are giving off that "hand written" feel to the consumer. Hubspot said that that they took 21 of their existing thank-you emails and found that, on average, they generated a 42% open rate and a 14% CTR. With Hubspots 131 generic marketing emails they found out, on average, they generated a 12% open rate and a 6% CTR.

That just shows how much of an impact personalized emails have on your marketing strategy.

7. Social Sharing

On the page somewhere have social media links where they can share what they just received. If they loved the offer, they're going to want the opportunity to share it with their connections. Make sure that the link they're sharing brings the person to the offer and not the thank you page. Otherwise the person would be getting the offer without filling out the information. You want to capture their information after all.

Thank you pages are more than just a courtesy page or email from your company. They are a way to keep people involved and actively engaging with your company.

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