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"Thank you for your order. This phrase, or a variation of it, is usually the last thing you see after making a purchase on a Web site. You see this message on the so-called thank you page. An important page in your entire funnel that (unfortunately) in many cases is not used to its full potential.
The thank you page plays an important role in the customer journey. On the basis of the thank-you page, a visitor often decides whether he or she will buy from you again or not. High time to take a good look at your thank-you pages.
To get you started in researching and optimizing your thank you pages, we'll first tell you a little more or what exactly thank you pages are and what they are used for (besides thanking the visit).
If that is clear, we give you 8 tips to optimize your thank you pages. A handy checklist for creating new thank-you pages or checking and optimizing current pages.
What is a thank you page?
A thank you page is the last page in your funnel after a visitor has made a conversion. So this can be after making a purchase, after someone has signed up for your webinar, after someone has requested a quote, etc.
Surprise! This page, of course, is used to thank the visitor for taking a particular action. But this is not the only purpose of a thank you page.
The thank you page also plays an important role in the measurement of your campaigns. After all, the thank you page is only visited by visitors who have caused a conversion. The number of visitors on the thank you page, therefore, equals the number of conversions.
You can also take the opportunity on the thank you page to get your visitor excited about the next step in your funnel. For example, did you just let them download a free e-book? Then invite them on the thank you page to attend a webinar on the same topic for more depth. If they just bought a new curling iron from you, give them valuable tips to help them use your product properly and increase their satisfaction. Or simply ask visitors to start following you on social media.
So the thank you page is important not only for measuring the conversion or letting the visitor know that their action was successful, but also for the contact you have with the visitor. It is the first step you can take, after the conversion, to keep the contact with your customer or lead warm and committed to you.
How to do that? We share 8 tips for optimizing your thank-you pages.
Disclaimer: These are general tips that apply to both the thank you pages of web shops and the thank you pages of websites. Depending on the type of website and the service you offer, some tips are more applicable than others. So don't take everything at face value, but decide carefully which tips are applicable to your thank you page and which are not.
Tip 1: Avoid doubt
You can't have a thank you page without a thank you, of course. So you always start by thanking the visitor for performing the action. But thanking alone is not enough.
You also want to clearly let the visitor know that their action was successful. Has someone made a purchase? Then indicate that the purchase was successfully completed and possibly indicate what happens next. So for example:
- "Your purchase has been completed successfully. We will send you an order confirmation and invoice by email."
- "We have received your e-book request. You will receive the PDF in your mailbox in a few moments."
By clearly indicating that the action has succeeded, you reassure the visitor. You want to avoid leaving them in doubt and immediately losing the euphoric feeling. This doubt is not only detrimental to the visitor, but also to you. There is a good chance that the visitor will be left with negative feelings from this, which of course you want to avoid at all costs.
Tip 2: Provide recognition
Most websites have a set corporate identity that is used in all communications. Think about use of colors and fonts. The tone of voice is also part of your corporate identity.
The permanent corporate identity is very often skipped on a thank you page. When creating the thank you page, the importance is often not seen and therefore it does not get enough attention. They are often boring, white pages that do not match the rest of the website at all.
A boring page not only detracts from the visitor experience, but it can also cause confusion. A change of style can cause visitors to become confused and feel like they have been sent to a different Web site. This, too, can create a negative feeling among visitors.
So give your thank you page some love and attention. Make sure it looks great and has an original message. Also pay attention to your tone of voice. Do you address visitors on your website in the u form? Then do the same on your thank you page. On your other pages, do you speak in the we form or the I form? Then do the same on your thank you page.
Tip 3: Make it personal
One issue that many online shoppers have needs for, but that very few companies address yet, is the buying experience. Compare it to visiting a physical store. As a store owner, you welcome visitors to your store with enthusiasm. There is a nice music on, you chat and ask about their needs. If they have made a purchase you wish them well with their purchase and wish them a good day. Your behavior and the atmosphere in the store determine the visitor's experience.
Online visitors also want a nice buying experience, and the thank you page certainly plays a role there as well. By adding personal elements to the thank-you page, you can make the experience more personal. Simply address someone personally by name and make a reference to the product purchased. For example, "Dear Bram, thank you for your purchase. Have fun with your new jeans!".
Of course, you can make the thank you page as personal as you like.
Tip 4: Increase conversion with an upsell
In many cases, making an (online) purchase creates a kind of "euphoric" and "happy" feeling. Multiple studies even show that dopamine (happiness hormone) is released while shopping.
This feeling of happiness makes a buyer more willing to make a commitment. As a marketer, you can make smart use of this by inviting on the thank you page for a next step.
Examples:
- Someone has just signed up for a free webinar. On the thank you page, you then place an offer of an entry-level training session worth €100.
- Someone has just placed an order in your webshop. On the thank you page, you give them the option to sign up for your newsletter and therefore receive a discount on their next purchase.
- Someone has just requested a free e-book. On the thank you page, place an offer where they can buy the full book.
- Someone has just booked a vacation with you. On the thank you page, you show offers from car rental companies.
Tip 5: Make the visitor return to your website
After the conversion has taken place, a visitor often leaves your website rather quickly. This is of course not a disaster, the conversion has already taken place. But by having your visitor return to your website, you increase your chances of a second conversion.
A simple way to get this done is to place a button that lets them return to the website. Or, for example, the "Continue shopping" button. You can also show another selection of related products or services.
Tip #6: Sharing is caring!
These days we like to share our purchases with the rest of the world. With the click of a button, your visitor can notify his/her entire network of the purchase he/she just made. Make smart use of this by giving the option on your thank you page to share the purchase directly on social media.
Not only fun for the visitor, but definitely for you too! This is the way to gather social proof. After all, the more people show how happy they are with your product or service, the more likely others will see this and buy from you as well.
Tip 7: Ask questions
You've (hopefully) thought through and tested your website's ordering process well. Still, there is always room for improvement. And who is the best judge of this? Right. Your customers. And the perfect time to ask for feedback is right after they've made the purchase.
On your thank you page, ask some questions that will give you more insight into possible improvements. How did they experience the ordering process? Did everything go well? What could be different/better? Depending on the answers, you can adjust things and further optimize your order process or thank-you page.
Remember what I said in tip 4 about that feeling of happiness? Again, that comes in handy here. A happy customer is more likely to help you!
Tip 8: Emphasize that you are bigger than just online
More and more sales are taking place online. According to an estimate by Statista, in 2022 there were nearly 81,000 online shops active in the Netherlands alone! In 2021, that accounted for sales of over 30.6 billion euros. Bizarre right! The pandemic certainly played a role in this as well.
Of course, the fact that we do massive online shopping does not mean that your physical store no longer plays a role. Precisely not! Do you have a physical store in addition to your online store? Then involve your buyers and invite them to visit your physical store. For example, also give them the opportunity to exchange their ordered products in your physical store.
Conclusion
Have you gone through all the tips and determined where the areas of improvement for your thank you page lie? Then it's time to optimize your thank you page. Once you have done that, you can take one more step.
Take off your entrepreneurial glasses and put on your visitor glasses. Visit your landing page yourself and look at it through the eyes of the visitor. What would you as a visitor like to see on a thank you page? Or what exactly bothers you about other websites?
Once you have determined this, you can adjust it as needed and then put your thank you page online. This way you make sure the visitor can hold on to the nice feeling after signing up or buying
Getting started optimizing your thank you page yourself and could use some help? Schedule a no-obligation demo with conversion expert Jochem.