5 Approaches to Optimizing Your Thank You Page

Ever since we were young children, we were taught the importance of a simple “thank you.”

Saying “thank you” can go a long way in expressing gratitude towards the other party. It displays that you acknowledge the effort that was put forth in order to bring you some sort of gratification. Served me food — “Thank you.” Helped me lift a heavy box — “Thank you!”

As marketers, it’s important to understand that every single part of the customer journey holds a ton of weight, including post-conversion, at the thank you stage.

For this very reason, we’ll be diving into some tips on how you, the marketer, can make the most of your thank you pages, and really show appreciation to your customers. Every marketer has a little different approach, so let’s discuss some that may be worth testing out on your thank you pages:

The Reinforcer

Buyer’s remorse is a real thing. The moment the purchaser clicks “buy now”, s/he immediately begins to wonder if they bought the right product, or even from the right store! This is where the reinforcer comes to the rescue to reassure the customer that they absolutely made the right decision.

To reinforce the decision, let the customer know that other customers enjoyed the exact same product or that we have a strong review rating. Having the customer exit the purchasing experience with this reinforcement can prevent doubt from creeping in and influence their reception and happiness with the choice once they’re using it. Those initial feelings can even ensure that they will be a returning customer in the future!

The Salesman

While still on the thought of returning customers, enter the salesman to the thank you page.

As the name implies, the salesman is looking to do just that: sell. After all, the customer just made a purchase or sign up so they are likely in the commitment frame of mind. While you have them there, it’s a great idea to strike while the iron is hot.

For e-commerce, this could mean providing them with recommendations for accessories that they may be interested in, or discounts if they share the brand with friends. For lead generation, if they just downloaded an e-book, this might be a good point to ask them if they want to learn more and provide them with an offer for a demo, either creating intent or opening the door to capture it.

The Palm Reader

Similar to the salesman, the palm reader will also take advantage of the opportunity that we have on the thank you page to present other products/services/options that might be of interest to our visitor. The difference here is that the palm reader will take this one step further and try to predict what the visitor may be interested in beyond their initial engagement. We see this all the time with e-commerce where other products are offered post purchase. Heck, the largest retailer in the world, Amazon, does this constantly.

But once again, it’s not limited to e-commerce. For lead generation, you should consider what might drive your audience to your original offer and create a custom thank you page that solves a related problem. For example, if they just downloaded content that focuses on a specific pain point, then the thank you page could offer content for a common next challenge and encourage relying on your brand to address both. Or, if you take a sales-driven approach, focus messaging on why that demo would help them conquer the specific pain point that they were looking to resolve with the content.

The Value-Adder

The value-adder is a bit different in the sense that it’s not necessarily trying to upsell any particular item on the thank you page, but rather just provide more value to the visitor. This can come in the form of multiple additional pieces of content, guides, instructions, brochures, or even an appeal to join a community for ongoing engagement.

The purpose of the value-adder is to generate brand loyalty and establish the brand as a helpful resource. It can have the benefit of making the new customer or prospect feel that your goal is more than just to convert them, forgotten once you get what you want from them. If you don’t have time to customize various thank you pages based on the offer, the value-adding page is a great start that can be used generically while still improving user experience.

The Concluder

An insincere thank you with nothing else. We’ve all received one. It’s not a good feeling. It feels incomplete, and you’re left feeling unsure of what comes next.

You absolutely do not want to do this with your customers. If they just signed up for a demo, let them know that you’ll be in touch with them shortly via a phone call or email to set up their customized demo. If they just made a purchase, let them know that their product is being packed and prepared for shipping. Whatever it is, let them know what happens next.

Conclusion

You can now take these tips back to your thank you pages and see where you can try out a new test. Whichever method you end up testing, always remember, what we think of the marketing funnel is really a complete circle – it doesn’t stop post-conversion.