The Power of Thank You: How to Benefit your Website
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about customising 404 "File Not Found" pages so as not to alienate potential customers. I got quite a good response, so as a follow up on pages taken for granted, I thought I would tackle the upper end of the web marketing scale: the Thank you page.
We've all seen thank you pages when we have bought online or subscribed to a newsletter, but there can be much more to just saying thank you for your purchase, enquiry, etc. Let's face it – as the webmaster you have just captivated someone to take action on your website, so you already have their attention. What more can you do for your visitors? Here are some suggestions:
What happens now: They've bought something, when will they receive it? They've subscribed as a member to your forum, will they receive a confirmation email to verify their subscription and when will this be sent? The visitor is none the wiser and as they cannot see or hear you then you need to tell them what will happen next. This also generates trust, vital for any online customer relationship.
Other Products: So now they've made a purchase, don’t stop there. If someone has just bought for example a football, would they be interested in football shoes or a special offer on Football kits? A great suggestion is made by Kim Roach at SiteProNews in her article last November: Smart Webmasters are Wasting Online Real Estate:
"You could also offer an upsell to a higher-end version of the same product. Don't take this space for granted. Order confirmation pages are some of the most highly responsive real estate on your site because the customer already has their credit card in hand."
Action Required?: You have already got your reader's attention, so what else can they do for you? Quite a lot actually. If you're buying goods in a normal shop, and the shop owner thanks you, do they also leave a leaflet in the bag along with your purchase? Do they say "tell your friends about us"? If they're serious about their business then they should! A "tell a friend" link on your thank you page would benefit as it captures the visitor to take action on the spot and all they have to do is remember their friend's email address as the tell a friend function does the rest.
Furthermore if your site involves the visitor to take action, list their further options for action. What more could they do? Perhaps subscribe to a newsletter, take part in a poll, complete an online questionnaire or sign a petition.
Another effective technique is described by Alicia Forest at Site Reference.com in her article Make your Thank You Pages do Double Duty is to ask a question:
"This is a prime time to gather a little market research from your readers. Ask a simple question, like "What's your biggest challenge with X?" (X being your niche or what it is that you’re offering). Add an email link where they can send their answer, and then use this information as you continue to develop offerings for your target market.
Doing this also helps in starting to build a relationship with your readers, and it keeps you up-to-date as to what they are struggling with right now so you can offer the solutions they most want."
Advertising on other sites: Another more effective way to benefit your customers further is to exchange advertising with related products/services to yours. Both Kim and Alicia suggest exchanging advert links in their respective articles. If for example, you sold golf clubs, you could exchange links with a golf instructor offering personal tuition. Likewise if the golf instructor offered a link on his site selling golf clubs, which points back to your site. Everyone's a winner.
Alternatively are there any newsletters about playing better golf? Include the link. Give them instructions on how to sign up. It really is that simple.
Committing the time and effort to provide this information will pay dividends to your business, whether it increases online sales or free marketing information to better your site, or both.
We've all seen thank you pages when we have bought online or subscribed to a newsletter, but there can be much more to just saying thank you for your purchase, enquiry, etc. Let's face it – as the webmaster you have just captivated someone to take action on your website, so you already have their attention. What more can you do for your visitors? Here are some suggestions:
What happens now: They've bought something, when will they receive it? They've subscribed as a member to your forum, will they receive a confirmation email to verify their subscription and when will this be sent? The visitor is none the wiser and as they cannot see or hear you then you need to tell them what will happen next. This also generates trust, vital for any online customer relationship.
Other Products: So now they've made a purchase, don’t stop there. If someone has just bought for example a football, would they be interested in football shoes or a special offer on Football kits? A great suggestion is made by Kim Roach at SiteProNews in her article last November: Smart Webmasters are Wasting Online Real Estate:
"You could also offer an upsell to a higher-end version of the same product. Don't take this space for granted. Order confirmation pages are some of the most highly responsive real estate on your site because the customer already has their credit card in hand."
Action Required?: You have already got your reader's attention, so what else can they do for you? Quite a lot actually. If you're buying goods in a normal shop, and the shop owner thanks you, do they also leave a leaflet in the bag along with your purchase? Do they say "tell your friends about us"? If they're serious about their business then they should! A "tell a friend" link on your thank you page would benefit as it captures the visitor to take action on the spot and all they have to do is remember their friend's email address as the tell a friend function does the rest.
Furthermore if your site involves the visitor to take action, list their further options for action. What more could they do? Perhaps subscribe to a newsletter, take part in a poll, complete an online questionnaire or sign a petition.
Another effective technique is described by Alicia Forest at Site Reference.com in her article Make your Thank You Pages do Double Duty is to ask a question:
"This is a prime time to gather a little market research from your readers. Ask a simple question, like "What's your biggest challenge with X?" (X being your niche or what it is that you’re offering). Add an email link where they can send their answer, and then use this information as you continue to develop offerings for your target market.
Doing this also helps in starting to build a relationship with your readers, and it keeps you up-to-date as to what they are struggling with right now so you can offer the solutions they most want."
Advertising on other sites: Another more effective way to benefit your customers further is to exchange advertising with related products/services to yours. Both Kim and Alicia suggest exchanging advert links in their respective articles. If for example, you sold golf clubs, you could exchange links with a golf instructor offering personal tuition. Likewise if the golf instructor offered a link on his site selling golf clubs, which points back to your site. Everyone's a winner.
Alternatively are there any newsletters about playing better golf? Include the link. Give them instructions on how to sign up. It really is that simple.
Committing the time and effort to provide this information will pay dividends to your business, whether it increases online sales or free marketing information to better your site, or both.
Posted: 31 January 2007
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