How to Use Pop-Up Advertising to Your Advantage?

They will appear once you take an action or spend some time on the website.

Usually, pop-ups will gather your email addresses for making a mailing list.

Then, you can be updated with new products, news and events through an email newsletter.

However, that is not the only use of a pop-up.

It can:

• promote new products
• divert your customers back to the abandoned carts
• recommend related products
• gather leads
• increase demo signups
• ask your users to submit a question
• suggest a related asset or product

Hence, they have many uses besides being simply annoying.

That also stems from the time when pop-ups were news and websites used to have two to three pop-ups at one time.

It would give the impression that these are spammy.

Over the years, things have improved.

However, the sour taste still lingers and people are annoyed by pop-ups that in the past also used to have music.

That said, pop-ups can actually be very effective as long as you use them appropriately.

As they appear on websites suddenly, they grab attention and encourage users to take an action.

There are reasons why marketers still use them to date. Without further ado, let’s discuss them below!

Why Do Marketers Still Use a Pop-Up?

You may be unaware that pop-ups are actually quite effective.

In fact, their average conversion rate is between 3.1 percent to 11.09 percent.

In simple terms, if you have around 1000 users visiting your site a month, you may end up losing 100 conversions if you do not use pop-ups.

Hence, you are losing a huge chunk of conversions that you simply would not want to.

Other than that, marketers keep using pop-ups because:

They Grab Attention and Show to Everyone

Do you know about banner blindness?

This happens when website users consciously or unconsciously ignore the information on a banner.

While it is easier to ignore a side banner, a pop-up is a different story.

You can only close it after you see it.

Hence, it has a 100 percent viewer rate.

The user cannot ignore it the same as a sidebar prompt a footer banner.

They will end up reading your value proposition on the pop-up.

In fact, even if they choose to close it, your message is conveyed.

Plus, pop-ups grab the user’s attention in a world with decreasing attention spans.

Simple to Test and Use

It is easy to set up a pop-up ad and test it through A/B testing.

This will allow seeing which pop-up works the most effectively on your site.

Plus, they target the right customers at the right time.

You have targeting options that you can use to reach the customers you want to.

Plus, they deliver the message when they are most likely to click through.

They Offer Value

Pop-ups offer value to both users and marketers.

They can increase sales, email signups and lead to conversions.

Moreover, Google will not punish pop-ups if you use them correctly and strategically.

Now you know why marketers use pop-ups, let’s find their uses.

Discounts and Freebies

Giving a Discount for First Time Purchase

If there is one pop-up no one minds, it’s this one.

Getting a discount is always lucrative.

The pop-up will most probably ask the user to sign up for their email newsletter or simply leave their email in order to get a discount coupon.

Hence, if the users are interested in purchasing from your website and you show them the pop-up immediately, they may want to avail the opportunity to get a discount.

This works because it delivers the user value when they need it.

If the user likes the products and wants to know more about them then getting a 10 percent discount for your email address seems like a worthy option.

In fact, you will be surprised to know that 60 percent of users that get a coupon want to try a new product.

So it is a win-win situation for the marketers.

Offering Freebies

Discounts are not the only thing you can offer.

In fact, you can also provide content upgrades or double on deals.

You can offer exclusive content or an e-book, a PDF etc that users can only access when they list their email address.

For this timed pop-up, the offer needs to be relevant to what the user wants.

For instance, if they are in the middle of reading something and they can only unlock it further by giving their email address.

Plus, you can give them freebies like an infographic template.

Everyone loves freebies especially if they are relevant to what you want right now.

You can give double deals by offering discounts as well as a free item.

It is up to the user what they will select.

Do not forget to provide context on how the users can redeem the deal.

Provide Limited Time Offers and Limit Shopping Cart Abandonment

Limited Time Offers

Creating a sense of urgency always works.

If you to sell out tickets to your event or your products adding a timer and informing users that the offer is only limited will persuade them to take action.

And what’s the best way to add that urgency, using pop-ups.

They can come in the form of scrolling headers that appear once you scroll down or opt-in bars.

You can add further emphasis by adding the countdown timer in the header or footer.

It does not distract the user from how they are interacting with your website while also reminding them of the limited-time offer.

Prevent Shopping Cart Abandonment

In an e-commerce store, a whopping 69.57 percent of shopping carts end up being abandoned.

Hence, you would want users and buyers to stay on the checkout page and reconsider their choice of leaving the item behind.

So what you need is an exit-intent pop-up whenever the user is about to click cancel.

There can be several reasons why a user leaves an item in the cart such as:

• Long and complicated checkout process
• Can’t trust the site with information
• Slow delivery
• Website crashed
• Extra costs that were unanticipated
• Not enough payment methods
• Couldn’t see the total order cost
• The credit card was declined
• The return policy looked unsatisfactory

At this point, if you have a pop-up telling users to contact your customer service helpline, they can address these concerns and you may end up with a sale.

Speaking of exit-intent pop-ups…

Using Exit Intent Pop-Up and Timed Pop-ups

Exit-Intent

Just like the example above, exit-intent pop-ups come at the right time to prevent the user from quitting before they have performed the desired action.

The exit-intent software can track cursor location.

Hence, the pop-up will only show when the user moves the cursor to the close or back button.

In fact, by using exit-intent pop-ups, there is a 4.1 percent increase in conversions and a 53 percent increase in cart recovery.

You can add text that creates a sense of urgency so that the users stay in longer to make a purchase or show them the importance of staying on the website.

For instance, the pop-up can feature an image of one of your bestsellers.

This can intrigue them to check out that item.

This is also why pop-ups with images are valuable because they can lead up to 11.09 percent conversion rates.

Hence, show the pop-ups at the right time.

This brings us to…

Timed Pop-ups

Pop-ups get a lot of hate because of their untimeliness.

They may appear at a time when you are engaging with the website and do not want to see something else or they have just clicked on your website and seen a pop-up immediately.

Hence, you can wait to show pop-ups that are properly timed, once users are thoroughly engaged with your website.

So for timed ones, the user will not see a pop-up soon but after you have looked around the site for a while.

It can appear as a small pop-up on the header that does not obstruct your view of the website.

This way the pop-up only shows to users that find the website valuable.

So using a time delay trigger can get you the conversions from genuinely interested users.

Other Ways of Using Pop-Ups

Offering a Free Demo

Users may hesitate to buy from you immediately.

Hence, after they have been navigating your product and pricing page for a while, it is a wise option to offer them a demo on what your product will look like.

It can work as an exit-intent pop-up and do not rush them with a scrolled or timed pop-up.

Let them navigate the price and offer them a demo if they want to hit the back button.

Using Social Proof

Social Proof gives a sense of urgency and bandwagon.

People are interested in your product when they get to know many others are using it too.

If you want email signups, let the user know in the pop-up that this number of people have signed up too.

Plus, you can give a review from a user as well to entice further and what you are offering them if they signup.

Hiding the Form

If your landing page has a form, that can be a turn-off for many users.

Hence, hide the form with a pop-up.

The form may be important to you to get email signups but hiding it first with a pop-up will prevent users from clicking back immediately.

Plus, they may be enticed to click the pop-up and avail what it is offering.

Use Targeted Pop-ups

All these indirect ways to get across your point are good but simplicity works well too.

The pop-up can use a simple copy to tell you to signup.

However, when it is appearing is crucial.

Targeting the pop-up and its offers according to the page the user visits can work effectively.

For instance, if the user visits the blog they can get a pop-up about signing up for an email newsletter with more content.

Or they can offer you a guide free for download.

These offers are personalized so they grab the user’s attention without overdoing it.

• Ensure that the user can easily quit the pop-up. The cancel mark should be visible, not hidden. There could be a “no” option or allow them to click the side to close the pop-up. If you hide the exit, your users will be annoyed.
• The value you are offering such as a discount or freebie should be in the center and upfront so that no one misses it. Consider making it stand out by bolding text.
• Add some creativity and personality to the pop-up so users do not leave immediately.
• The promotion on the pop-up should be relevant to what the user is seeing or navigating on your website.
• Only show the pop-ups when the user is ready, let them navigate the site first.
• Choose the right pop-up to show at the right time for instance an exit-intent pop-up when the user is about to quit.

The Last Word

By using a pop-up strategically you can turn it from annoying to beneficial.

Remember to always give value to your user.

This way, they will be ready to follow through with the call to action and bring you conversions.