Whenever a user fills out a form on your website, it’s a major victory. Submitting a form signals you’ve offered value users consider more important than their anonymity.
Unfortunately, too many businesses leave it at that and miss out on valuable opportunities.
Instead of a simple confirmation, all form submissions should lead to thank you pages.
A thank you page is a dedicated page that not only expresses gratitude for the user’s action, but strengthens and expands the customer relationship. Although often overlooked, it can be one of the fastest and easiest ways to improve overall marketing response.
There are three crucial factors that make thank you pages better than a plain acknowledgment:
1 A Thank You Page Makes Analytics Easier
Most of the time, a simple confirmation doesn’t provide compatibility with robust analytics. To drive marketing success, you need to understand user behavior as deeply as you can: A complete thank you page ensures that you can track form submissions as conversions. You’ll also have the opportunity to trace conversions back to previous pages viewed and quantify your bounce rate.
2 A Thank You Page Facilitates Further Action
When someone has just submitted a form, it does not mean that he or she is “done for the day.” In fact, presenting a new offer closely related to the one the user just acted on can energize further conversions. A thank you page allows you to communicate special offers, incentives, and other opportunities that the user is already primed to take action on, extending engagement.
3 A Thank You Page Builds a Human Connection
No matter their background or interests, customers are most attracted to the brands that value them as individuals. A simple confirmation does not communicate that value. Some of the best thank you pages are written as personal letters directly from a company’s founder or president. This helps Web visitors feel more respected.
A basic thank you page is very simple. It should include:
- Enough personalization to demonstrate that it isn’t a generic “catch all” page;
- A sincere expression of gratitude for the Web user’s decision to take action;
- A totally unambiguous acknowledgement that the user’s form was received;
- An additional offer or explanation of other actions a user can take right away.
Although a thank you page may take only a few minutes to write, it can substantially raise conversions and increase customers’ lifetime value. When distinct, personalized thank you pages are associated with every offer, they can tell you even more about prospect behavior than any individual form users might decide to complete.