Lead generation is very crucial for any business and one of the most effective lead generators is pop-ups which have become ubiquitous on almost all websites these days. Many online users hate pop-ups and find them annoying, but they can be incredibly effective if used correctly.
What Are Pop-Ups on Websites?
Pop-ups are graphical eye-catching overlays that “pop up” on a website page when a user takes a specific action or is on the website for a certain amount of time. Pop-ups are mainly used to gather customer data and email addresses, but you can also use them to gather leads, recover abandoned carts, promote and add items, increase demo sign-ups, and recommend related product descriptions or new additions to the catalogs.
Why Do Websites Have Pop-Ups?
- Pop-ups are a powerful way to help site visitors navigate your site, stay engaged, and not leave your site.
- According to OptiMonk, the average pop-up conversion rate is 11.09 percent.
According to OptiMonk, the average pop-up conversion rate is 11.09 percent.
- The targeting pop-ups help to reach the right customers at just the right time.
- A/B testing is simple and can help you quickly figure out which pop-up is most effective.
- Pop-ups are attention-grabbing and can’t be easily ignored.
- They can be used to gather leads, drive email sign-ups, reduce cart abandonment and drive sales.
- Pop-ups can create a sense of urgency and encourage visitors to take any important action. They show up to everyone and deliver a prompt message when site visitors are most engaged when the website visitor wants it.
- They help remind visitors of limited time promotions leading to high converting optimisation.
How will pop-up promotions drive conversions?
Learn the different pop up strategies you can use to increase your conversion rate and start generating potential leads.
1. Know your audience
Knowing your audience is very crucial for any marketing pop-up campaigns and if you want your popups to succeed. If your website focuses on a very specific niche, you may not know much about the audience, but if you offer multivariate products or services, knowing your audience becomes imperative.
Knowing your users allows you to personalise your marketing messages which is important because 72 % of consumers reportedly engage with brands you offer personalised messaging.
2. Popups must be contextual
Ensure that your popups match the look, feel, and content of the web product pages that they appear on as much as possible. Keep things consistent and relevant so potential customers aren’t distracted or surprised or annoyed.
3. Avoid using immediate popups
Let your audience get into the flow of your website content before showing them a relevant popup. This will give the user a more relaxed personalised experience and make them feel more connected to you and increase the chances of a higher conversion rate and average order value AOV.
You would not want to scare them off by throwing popups at them. So, know the right time to present offers.
4. Leverage social proof in your popups
Social proof is one of the most powerful tools available to any marketer as most people are heavily influenced by the actions of their peers. They can have a huge impact on your sales conversion when used properly.
Word-of-mouth marketing is also an effective tool to get people interested in what you have to offer – when someone who has already used it, recommends it.
5. Try content upgrades for the popups on your blog page
Content upgrades are great ways to generate leads for your business.
A content upgrade is a special offer popup that is directly related to the blog post topic, like a PDF version of the post, a checklist, or additional video content.
The popup comes up at any relevant position on your high converting landing page and it offers the reader a free PDF version of the article they are reading.
6. Create teasers for your popups
Teasers are the new popups and a great way to build leads. They should be used to make your popups much more effective because they provide encouragement for the user to gain access to the entire popup without being intrusive to their experience.
When you display a small teaser of a popup, it is highly unobtrusive. So, when visitors click on them, they have a very high chance to convert and become a lead.
7. Surprise your audience with exit-intent popups
Since your audience is already leaving, there’s no harm in being obtrusive at that very exit moment.
Your exit pop ups need to have a strong value proposal. Ensure it’s personalised, has lots of contrast (possibly, images/videos), and surprises your audience. It may offer some sort of discount or when offered free shipping, they might sign up and become a lead for your busine
8. A/B Test Your Pop-Ups to Improve Conversions
It’s essential to test different versions of the same pop-up, to get a better understanding of what drives your users to take action.
When A/B Testing your popups, you should use the exact same copy and images in each version so that you have a fair comparison between them with just one small change each time. It will help you to determine whether one performed better than the other. Some of the key areas where you should run A/B tests are:
- Popup headlines
- Positioning and placement of the popups
- To add and remove information into your popup
- Basic popup design changes
9. Incentivise Your Pop-Up Call to Action
Popup calls-to-action (CTA) is an effective way to grab your visitors’ attention and encourage them to sign up.
Here are a few quick tips for creating the best popup calls-to-action:
- Keep it short, sweet, and simple. Make sure you have one strong message in just one sentence.
- Focus on the benefits rather than features. Describe what the customer gets out of the deal.
- Be-relevant as any user who wants to download a free report will not be willing to a CTA of “Subscribe to our blog” as he will, to a CTA of “Get my free report now!”
Convince your online shoppers that your call to action is worthwhile by offering an incentive. Common pop-up incentives could include:
- A discount code
- Spin to win
- Free shipping cost over X amount
- Buy X, Get Y
- Offering free gift when they complete a purchase
- A free eBook, guide, or digital download.
Key takeaways – Drive Conversions and Loyalty with These Pop-up Marketing Best-Practices
- Pop-ups can help your brand stand apart from the competition — and drive conversions when used effectively.
- Keep pop up best practices UX in mind when designing your pop-ups. Make sure pop-ups are useful and provide something of value to users.
- Follow Google’s best practices to avoid SEO issues.
- A/B testing is particularly important. Experiment with different CTAs, copy, and offers.
If each and every popup attempts to ensure your site users get the best out of your website, there’s no reason why your popup conversions should remain at the average of 3%.
References:
Neil Patel. (2022, March 31). 15 examples of effective pop-ups to use on your website. Neil Patel. Retrieved August 11, 2022, from https://neilpatel.com/blog/website-popup-examples/
7 surprisingly effective pop-up advertising strategies. WordStream. (2021, November 24). Retrieved August 11, 2022, from https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2019/09/23/pop-up-advertising
Ray, A. (2022, May 23). 9 ways to increase your conversions using popups. Jeffbullas’s Blog. Retrieved August 11, 2022, from https://www.jeffbullas.com/increase-conversions-using-popups/