Popups are a powerful tool to capture leads, grow your email list, and increase sales. But they can also be annoying and intrusive if not done right. In this post, I’ll share with you some of the best practices and tips to optimize your popups for more conversions.
The Offer in Your Popup Doesn’t Matter
You might think that the offer in your popup is the most important factor that determines whether people will sign up or not. But that’s not true. I’ve tested it myself on my website, Funky Moose Records, and the results were surprising.
Here’s a screenshot of my A/B test that I conducted on my website:
As you can see, Popup A states that you get “a discount”, and Popup B states that you get “a 10% discount”. Although Popup A has technically a higher sign up rate than Popup B, I think they’re close enough to call it a tie.
This means that the offer in your popup doesn’t really matter. Whether you advertise a X% discount or not, people will usually sign up for any discount.
The Timing of Your Popup Matters
You don’t want to show your popup right when someone lands on your website. Assume that they don’t know you. Think of it this way: you walk into a store that you’ve never been to, and a store clerk runs up to you and says, “Hey, you want a discount? All I need is your name and email address.” I’d be taken aback and maybe even turn around and walk away. This is the same thing that happens on your website.
You need to gain their trust first. You want people to browse, you want people to see what you have to offer, maybe even let them read your about page and connect with you before they should see an offer. You can do this with most marketing automations, where you scroll down a page at least 50%, or you show the popup after people have clicked around three times. Usually, three times is the magic number. Three pages is when you want to hook them.
So please, please, do not show popups before people have a chance to browse. And the offer doesn’t really matter.
Conclusion
Popups are a great way to grow your business, but only if you use them wisely. Remember, the offer in your popup doesn’t matter, but the timing of your popup does. Show your popup only after you’ve built some rapport and trust with your visitors, and you’ll see your conversions grow.