This guide from Hub Spot has helped us out tremendously:
http://offers.hubspot.com/how-to-create-effective-calls-to-action

We highly recommend it.

Hi, Kevin!

If your Thank You page can keep a lead on your website longer (shopping and reading is good, bouncing is bad), or even keep your brand in their mind longer after they leave the site (by engaging them and making an impact), I do think that some Thank You pages alone — without tangible followup — can help with conversion. It may be a slower conversion process, but a brand-loyal customer who is genuinely interested in your product is worth their weight in gold.

Now I said “some” Thank You pages above on purpose because there are some times when taking a next step to reach out to your prospect is not only appropriate but expected — like if your visitor filled out a Request A Quote form. In cases like this where they expect you to followup with them, be sure to also tell them on the Thank You page when you will be in touch with them (24 hours? 48 hours? By phone? By email? As I mentioned in the post, it’s important to let them know what to expect so that they’re not hanging there wondering ‘what’s next?’ Also, if they expect you to call them, there’s no way they can be offended by it! You’re just giving them what they asked for.)

Are there other times when it would be OK to follow-up with a prospect by phone or email? Yes, maybe.

Whether you reach out to the prospect — and how you reach out to them — really depends on what action they took (what you asked them to do), what you want from them in the end, and how delicate you are with your follow-up approach.

IF they opted in for a newsletter, consider sending them an email follow-up to say Thank You and to offer them something of interest to them (content? A video? A download? Who they are and what business you’re in will determine what the receiver considers valuable).

If they downloaded an ebook you might be able to follow-up by phone, but I’d make sure the call is benefit-driven first and foremost — not hard-sell driven. Something like this might work: “Hey, John! This is Chelsea from Bruce Clay, Inc. I just wanted to personally say thank you for downloading our ‘Everything You Need to Know Pay-Per-Click’ report yesterday afternoon. Let me know if you have any questions on the report, or if you are interested in learning more Bruce Clay’s Pay-Per-Click ToolSet.” I think the things to remember here is that it really truly needs to be about relationship building. Of course we want to make money from our leads (after all we can’t pay our bills with good will) but a little good will goes a long way and brand loyalty is priceless.

I am sure the hard-sell works for some companies, but I find being harassed by a company for credit card information when I thought I was downloading something for free to be off-putting. (One time I downloaded an ebook and the company called me every week for TWO MONTHS! I haven’t forgotten about it, and now I think twice before entering my information anywhere near their website. And I sure as heck don’t want to give them any money!)

Hope that helps.

What do you think?

Glad you found the series helpful, Jose. PPC is a great opportunity to put your best foot forward with a thank you page that engages and hooks. I’m always looking for new topics to write about and PPC is a great one. Let me know if you have any specific PPC questions!

:)