Editor’s note: This post was originally written in 2019 and, while the best practices remain as relevant as ever, the article has been updated to include even more insight into how to create engaging thank you pages. Dig in!
Imagine someone finding your website. Maybe they go to your home page, visit a landing page, or peruse some of your product pages.
They become increasingly interested in every word they read on your page. Finally, they decide to take action—they opt in for a download, subscribe to your newsletter, or even make a purchase.
Because they’ve already taken action, you know they’re deeply engaged with your brand. They may even be inclined to linger on your website to learn a bit more.
Whether or not they do depends on one thing that you can control: your thank you page.
Keep reading to learn how to craft a killer thank you page. Plus, see nine examples of engaging pages that show you how to make the most of your leads.
The basic function of a thank you page is to thank the user for completing your desired action.
Let’s say you asked someone to download your free checklist. Your thank you page would appear after they click the download link and gives you a chance to show your appreciation. You can also use this page to explain next steps. In the case of your checklist, you could let users know to check their inbox for the download link.
Sure, you could just send the checklist to their inbox without thanking them and letting them know where to find it, but that’s not very good customer service. Without a thank you page, visitors may not know if their opt-in worked.
This short message can help reassure visitors that the action they performed on a landing page or website was successful.
Another point to consider is this: some of the leads who land on your thank you page might be more qualified than you think. Many businesses have started adding calls to action (CTAs) to their thank you pages and have achieved conversion rates over 20%. So, don’t miss out on this opportunity to grow your business.
What makes for a good thank you page?
Like a follow-up call, a confirmation or thank you page provides your audience with a clear next step. The best thank you pages engage, inspire, and draw a reaction or action. They leave visitors feeling reassured and invite them to learn more about your brand.
So, what approach should you take with your audience and campaign?
Do you continue the conversation?
Do you smoothly segue to a new topic of discussion?
Do you offer them something else they might be interested in?
Don’t default to boring thank you page copy with messages like:
“Your order is being processed. Thank you.”
“You are now subscribed.”
“Thank you for your purchase. Please call (555) 321-9876 if you have any questions about your order.”
Instead, find a way to continue the momentum. Remember, your thank you page isn’t the end of the conversation—it’s just the beginning. So, a good user experience is important.
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What should your thank you pages include?
Okay, now you know how important thank you pages are and what’s possible if you execute them correctly. So, what elements do the best thank you pages include?
A “thank you” for taking a particular action: Whether a person signed up for a webinar, downloaded a long-form content asset, or bought something on your website, acknowledge the action they took.
Brand reinforcement: Your branding should be similar on every customer touchpoint. It’s no different with thank you pages. Make sure your brand colors and design are reflected on the page to ensure the customer journey is as seamless as possible.
A strong call-to-action: While you may not think a thank you page would require a hard sell, you can actually integrate many customer “asks” into it. For example, you can ask users to complete a survey, explore more of your website, register for an in-person or virtual event, or any other action you think makes sense for your audience.
Social proof: Sure, they performed one action, but they might not be a customer yet. Providing customer testimonials and reviews on your thank you page helps reassure users that they made a smart decision and should continue exploring your brand.
Social sharing: A thank you page is a great opportunity to encourage leads to spread the word on social media. Ask them to share your content and make it easy for them by including social share icons.
Thank-you page examples to aspire to
There are a number of different ways you can transform your thank you pages into hard-working members of your sales funnels. Check out the following examples to learn all the different ways you can harness the power of thank you pages.
1 – THANK YOU FOR… Opting into a lead magnet
A website visitor who has opted in to download a lead magnet is fairly advanced in your marketing funnel. They’re interested in the website content you have to offer, but they may not be 100% ready to buy.
A thank you page should draw people deeper into your sales funnel. However, you don’t want to give them your sales pitch just yet. You’ll have more luck getting them to an intermediate step where they spend time considering your brand.
So, if you’re tasked with designing a landing page offering a lead magnet, you should be mindful of the next step of the customer’s journey as you create the thank you page. Think of this page as a confirmation page of sorts, validating to readers that you value the time they took to download your content asset.
If you simply want to enable exploration, you may want to set aside a unified call to action and point visitors to several useful resources.
2 – THANK YOU FOR… Downloading “next step” content
If your new contact has just opted-in for a simple lead magnet—say, a one-page PDF—you might want to use your thank you page to give them a deeper look at your area of expertise.
How? Perhaps you have a free course to offer, a longer information resource, or even a free phone consultation, depending on your vertical. Introduce a “next step” offer with a simple “You might also enjoy …” message to capitalize on your new lead’s state of engagement.
Here’s a thank you page example from Infusionsoft that takes this approach:
You can prompt readers to download the asset via the thank you page and even offer additional resources to drive people to other pages on your website. In the example above, Infusionsoft’s CTA is to book a demo, edging readers to engage in the next step.
3 – THANK YOU FOR… Registering for free training
With this type of thank you page, don’t simply redirect new leads to your training—you still have to acknowledge to users their action was successful (and that you’re appreciative of the step they took).
Here’s a thank you page example from us at Leadpages:
In this example, you’ll see we start by encouraging users to share the training. We also provide examples of all the awesome information they’ll learn to ensure they actually click the video and follow through with the training.
4 – THANK YOU FOR… Subscribing to an email list
Someone who actively joins your email list trusts your business. They’ve indicated that they’re interested in what you offer and are confident you’ll deliver.
Because of this, you don’t want to disrupt that warm, fuzzy feeling by presenting new subscribers with a robotic confirmation page or a heavy-handed sales pitch. Instead, try recommending other relevant content on your site:
5 – THANK YOU FOR… Signing up for a live event:
If you hold events where your audience is able to physically gather together, reinforce those connections by displaying a welcome or invitation on your thank you page.
To this end, use your thank you page as a marketing opportunity. Here’s an example from Race Roster:
You can also send a post-event “thank you” to keep attendees engaged and fill them in on some next steps they can take to utilize their newfound knowledge and connections.
6 – THANK YOU FOR… Joining a Webinar:
Getting someone to sign up for a webinar doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll show up. In fact, some people are bound to forget or double-book when the day arrives. That means they won’t tune into your webinar, which affects your bottom line.
Here’s a solution: make it super easy for webinar registrants to remember it by adding a reminder directly to their calendars. Link to three popular calendars—Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, and iCal—and invite registrants to simply click to add your event.
Just like that you’ve successfully increased the chances of a registrant attending your webinar.
7 - THANK YOU FOR… Entering a contest
Contests work well as a lead generation strategy, but too often businesses fail to engage their contest entrants. Once you grab someone’s attention with your giveaway, use your thank you page to see if you can get them to stick around and explore a little bit.
The example below is for a Small Business Saturday giveaway. After users enter they’re given the opportunity to check out the sponsoring businesses.
Make sure you provide entrants with some next steps on your thank you page so they don’t just leave and forget about you after they enter the contest.
8 - THANK YOU FOR… Grabbing a coupon
Coupons are a great way to encourage visitors to submit their email addresses—and hopefully buy something. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to use their coupon, so be sure to link back to your store on your thank you page or include a “Buy now” button for the product you want them to purchase.
Everyone loves sharing a good deal, so you should also include social share buttons so users can let their friends know about your special offer.
9 – THANK YOU FOR… Making a purchase
Even once a customer has finally made a purchase, you can still put your confirmation page to work. Try one of these tactics:
Upsell/Cross-Sell Page
Big retail websites typically do this by showing you related products on the purchase confirmation page. Smaller businesses can use custom thank you pages to do the same thing with greater focus—and potentially better results. Rather than treat the related product as an afterthought, explain why customers should consider it and how it fits in with the product they just bought.
What better way to hook customers than to give them a deal? Kate Spade offers 10% off to her customers here, the ultimate “thank you”:
Redirect Users
Finally, it’s possible that at this point, the absolute best thing a customer could do is keep browsing your site. In that case, you may simply want to redirect them back to a catalog or category page. A very simple page like the one below lets customers know what’s happening. Here’s an example from one of our templates:
Make a quick sale with a tripwire offer
One more technique you can try is a tripwire offer. This is a low-priced offer (sometimes just a few dollars) that allows you to make a sale and quickly convert leads into customers.
The idea here is that if someone has downloaded your lead magnet, signed up for a webinar, or performed some other action on your site they’re clearly interested in your brand. Sure, they might not be ready to buy your $100 online course. But they might be willing to spend $10 on the first lesson.
Here’s how it works:
Your visitors take a specific action on a landing page or pop-up.
Your thank you page appears.
Not only do you include gracious remarks about how you appreciate your readers, but you also go beyond the call and include resource links or buttons for low-priced products related to what they may be interested in.
Once you get someone to pay for one of your items, they’re much more likely to purchase more from you (assuming you continue to provide value).
There’s really no downside here. If they go for the offer, you make a quick sale. And if not you still have their email and can offer them something again at a later date.
Where to go for thank you page templates
Are you looking for an easier way to create thank you pages? Luckily, landing page builders have simplified the process. Now you can build beautiful thank you pages, even if you have no experience with coding or web design.
Once you’ve found the right thank you page template for your project, use the Drag & Drop Builder to customize the text, images, colors, sections, fonts, and more. The whole process can be completed in a matter of minutes.
Final Thoughts
Thank you pages are effective and applicable to all businesses. Use them for any user action, like a download, registration, quote request, signup, contact us form… the list goes on.
They add so much value to your business and take very little time to implement. They can even be used for adding sales value through cross-selling, upselling, referrals, and promoting discounts!
And keep in mind, you’re not limited to the possibilities listed above. Feel free to experiment with your landing pages until you find a formula that works for you.
Remember: graciousness pays off in your personal life and in business. Being gracious offers customers a lasting (and positive) impression of your brand. So don’t hold back on those thank yous!
