Inbound Marketing Best Practices: Thank-You Pages that Rock

Congrats! You managed to convert a lead on one of your content offers, however, at this point in the process is typically where most marketers drop the ball.

The thank you page after a lead converts on an offer is a critical time and a huge opportunity for you to continue that engagement. In this blog we are going to take a look at how to construct a rocking thank you page that converts.

I'm sure you've herd the saying in business, "It's easier to get your current customers to buy again than to try and general new customers". This is the concept behind using your thank you pages as an area for further engagement.

They have trusted you enough to give you some personal information in exchange for some sort of value (content, webinar, etc). To get to this point, there needed to be some level of trust and relationship already established. So we are going to continue that on the thank you page.

Here are some global concepts to keep in mind when developing your thank you page.

Keep Simple and Clean

Just like your landing page, it's very important to keep your thank you pages very simple and to the point. I would suggest limiting the text you're using and focus instead on visuals. Use short sentences and bullet points to make all the content light and easy to read.

Remove Distractions but Have a Clear Path

I like to consider the thank you page as essentially a second landing page. So just like in landing page best practices, it's important that you remove any distractions that may pull the lead's attention away from other conversion opportunities.

I'd suggest continuing to keep the top menu and bottom footer hidden and remove any other links or icons that may get them distracted from converting. I do, however, suggest having a link back to the home page at the very bottom of the thank you page so that a lead doesn't feel trapped there if they aren't interested in any of your conversion offers.

Also, I personally really like laying out my thank you pages into steps and literally walking them through each conversion process.

  • Step 1: Download Your Content Offer [linked]
  • Step 2: Get more great content by following us on social media [have social buttons]
  • Step 3: Interested in Learning More? You'd probably enjoy this ebook [next funnel step offer]

Don't Get Pushy

I think one of the common temptations on the thank you page is to try and push to convert a lead directly into a customer. Many marketers slip back into their "push" marketing. I'm not saying this is wrong, but it really depends on what stage of the funnel they are in.

If they are converting on a top funnel offer where they are simply still looking for information, to then blast them after asking to schedule a consultation may make them a bit uneasy. Think of each conversion on your website like taking someone out on a date. If you were on a first date and ask the girl to marry you, she might get a little spooked.

However, if it's a bottom (or possibly middle) funnel offer then it may make much more sense to ask them to convert on a little more sales related items because at this point they are more engaged with your business and are starting to think about buying.

Here are some specific things that I would suggest including on your thank you pages.

Social Media Follow Buttons

This is an amazing point to get your lead to start engaging with you on social. Because they already took the "leap of faith" to submit personal information and convert, you know that they have some relationship established. To ask them to deepen that relationship by connecting on social seems like a natural progression.

I would, however, make sure that you really make it clear the value they will get from following you. Don't let your social call-to-action fall flat by simply saying, "Follow Us!" Instead, explain what types of content are you posting and why should the lead care?

Newsletter Sign up

Just like the social buttons, having the lead subscribe to either your blog or newsletter is a great way to continue the relationship and engagement. There's a good chance that if they are interested enough to download one of your ebooks, they would be interested in getting your newsletters too.

Your Next Funnel Stage Offer

Although lead nurturing is great, there's a chance that the lead is ready to make the next step of the funnel without needing to be nurtured to that point. In this case, it makes sense to have your next content offer available right on the thank you page for the person to fill out another form and download.

Video

Videos work really well on thank you pages. They typically have really high play and engagement rates. I would definitely recommend using videos on any thank you page for a bottom funnel offer such as free consultations, demo's or contact pages.

Most bottom funnel offers result in the lead and company getting in touch and talking in person. This means that having a quick intro video where the sales rep introduce themselves may be very helpful in establishing a connection and bond before the actual sales call.

Lastly, video works great for branding. You can really showcase what your brand is all about and who the people involved are. This can really help you stand out over your competitors and again help build that relationship with the lead.

These are just some ideas of what you could include on your thank you page. Please keep in mind that what you include really depends on where in the funnel they are and how engaged they are. You might include a very different set of items on a newsletter sign up than you would on a consultation thank you page.

The bottom line is put yourself in that lead's shoes and ask yourself if you would enjoy the types of items on that thank you page and do they offer a better experience?