There was a time when pop-up ads were nothing more than an annoyance. After realizing that users will no longer respond to poorly thought-out pop-up ads, marketers and business owners have improved their methods.
If done correctly, pop-ups can have a conversion rate of 3% or more!
The pop-ups of today are very effective because they are relevant to the context, timed well, and planned out. Your ads should aim to meet the four criteria. If you are struggling, this guide will be of assistance.
What Is a Pop-Up Ad?
A pop-up ad is a window that displays over the top of the page you’re looking at. The purpose of a pop-up ad is to prompt the viewer to take some kind of action. The desired action could be to make a purchase, subscribe to a newsletter, enroll in a course, attend a webinar, or any other action you want users to take on your website.
Sometimes ads appear when you first open a webpage, and other times when you are about to close the page.
Sometimes pop-ups will keep appearing on a website when certain events are triggered.
You may have seen pop-ups on websites asking you to try out a live chat if you’re having difficulty finding what you want on the site.
The user’s experience with pop-ups will determine whether they are helpful or not. If you want your pop-ups to be more effective, make sure the content is relevant to the user’s needs or location on your site.
Why You Should Use Pop-Up Ads
If you use pop-ups on your website, you can increase your conversion rate without turning people away or increasing your bounce rate. There are a few primary reasons why you should be using pop-up ads:
You’re Offering Instant Value
The magic word is value.
In order to create a successful ad, you need to understand your audience and what they want. This is where context comes into play. Ads that are relevant convert at over 40 percent.
The central idea of a pop-up ad is to give visitors a sense of exclusivity or privilege.
You’re Choosing Not to Be Ignored
Sidebars have been converting at a rate of around 0.3 percent and this number has been decreasing over time.
You’re more likely to see and pay attention to something if it’s in the middle of the page, rather than at the top or bottom.
Since we regularly see ads, it is difficult to get someone’s attention unless we make it the only option. A properly placed and well-timed pop-up will do that.
You’re Engaging
Obviously, you don’t want to keep your visitors from completing their tasks on your site, but giving them too much freedom can actually hurt your conversion rate.
The “endless scroll” feature on some websites can be overwhelming and cause users to leave the site. A scroll pop-up that appears at the bottom of the page can help keep the user engaged and focused on the task they came to your site to complete.
It is also believed that pop-ups that contain pictures, videos, or games have a higher conversion rate than those that do not. Sleeknote’s original research shows that pop-ups with images convert nearly twice as much as ones without images.
It is important to engage your audience at the right time in order to keep them interested and increase the likelihood of them converting.
You’re Creating Urgency
Pop-ups with countdown timers are around eight percent more effective at converting than those without.
Marketers can create a sense of urgency, or FOMO, to get site visitors to convert sooner. This can be done by using countdown timers, one-time offers, or time bars.
If you do this, the user will be hesitant to click away from the pop-up because they will be unsure if it will reappear.
You’re Timing Your Pitch Just Right
If a pop-up appears at the right time, it can be positive. The majority of marketers believe that users will quickly click away from the pop-up and go back to what they were doing.
Although that’s often the case, it’s not always the case.
Studies show that it is best to wait five seconds before displaying an ad. I say take it a step further and figure out how long people spend on your site before leaving. The best time to display a pop-up to keep someone on your site is right around when they are getting ready to leave.
Pop-Up Ad Best Practices
There are a few things you should keep in mind when creating your pop-up ads. Here are the most important ones.
- Context– Would you ask a first-time site visitor to subscribe to your newsletter as soon as they land on the site? Of course not. They don’t even know what you’re offering at that point so you need to deliver the suitable pop-ups to the right person.
- Timing– The lowest converting ads display within 0-4 seconds after a visitor arrives on a site. Don’t you hate it when you walk into a store, and a salesperson rushes right over to you to ask if you need help with anything? Give the person a chance to look through what you have before asking them if they want something.
- Value– You need to add value to whatever you already have going on. If you’re selling shoes and someone looked at them on your site, you offer a discount on those shoes to entice them back to your site. The best way to add value is to find out why people are leaving before they complete their purchase? Maybe your checkout process is too long, or you’re not transparent about pricing.
Pop-Up Ad Strategies That Work
Discounts and Coupons
Discounts are a powerful marketing tool for e-commerce businesses.
If you use discounts sparingly, they can be a powerful incentive that will make website visitors into subscribers and customers.
There are several ways to use discounts and coupons in your popups, but here are three of my favorites.
i. Collect Email Addresses
You cannot turn all website visitors into customers right away. That’s a given. Instead of trying to get someone to buy something right away, you can get their email address and then send them emails that will eventually lead to a sale.
You need to give prospects a reason to sign up for your email list. This can be the content of your weekly newsletter or early access to your sales.
Discount codes offered upon signup help you grow your email list.
ii. Increase Product Sales
While discounts may help capture leads who are at the top of the sales funnel, they may also help convert prospects who are further down the sales funnel.
If you use sales promotion popups at the right time, you can convince prospects who are undecided about buying from you to do so, and increase the ROI of your sales campaigns.
Many sales promotion popups typically focus on one of the goals mentioned. Companies, however, cleverly combine the two.
The company provides a discount code and encourages signing up for its email list to hear about future offers, rather than gating its offer.
You can use popups to promote your sales campaigns and to collect leads by highlighting your newsletter benefit.
Limited-Time Offers
Offers that are only available for a limited time generally result in more customers.
You need to make sure that as many visitors as possible are aware of your limited time campaign before it expires. The best way to make your visitors feel a sense of urgency without annoying them is to use popups that are timed well.
There is more to limited-time offers than flash sales, according to most marketers.
Sales promotion popups can be a great way to support limited-time offers. Let’s take a look at three examples.
i. Limited-Time Discounts
If you’re running a sales campaign with time restrictions, be sure to communicate those restrictions clearly.
You can improve the effectiveness of your limited-time discounts by adding a countdown timer to your popups.
While doing that, you need to remember to highlight in your popup copy:
- The benefit of making a purchase (i.e., the value of saving;) and
- How visitors can redeem their discount code.
- Make sure your CTA button reminds users of the benefit of taking action, and it sends shoppers in the right direction.
ii. Limited-Time Free Shipping
If you’re worried that reducing your prices will make your products seem less valuable, or if you can’t afford to lower your prices, you’re not alone.
If you offer free shipping as an incentive, you can remove a significant obstacle to buying and convert more visitors into customers.
The most beneficial aspect of this is that you are not required to provide free shipping year-round for it to be effective. A campaign of limited-time free shipping can encourage customers to buy from you and increase your sales.
The company is using a countdown timer, an eye-catching image, and triggering fear-of-missing-out to promote their limited-time free shipping offers.
iii. Limited-Time Freebies
Discount codes and free shipping are, doubtlessly, high-converting incentives. Although it may be difficult, it is nearly impossible to resist the lure of the word “free.”
Although it is not sustainable to give your products away for free, it is an effective limited-time incentive.
Giveaway Popups
Giveaways are one of the most effective tools because they help increase sales, grow email lists, and promote new brand collaborations.
If you host a contest on your site, you can manage and promote it however you want. eye-catching popupYou can use an eye-catching popup to inform visitors about your giveaway and invite them to join.
Write two different ways to convert the given text, depending on what your goals are.
i. Collect Email Addresses
Offering a giveaway with a desirable prize helps you attract new leads who are interested in what you have to offer.
ii. Reduce Cart Abandonment
Giveaways are not just about collecting emails. They can help you achieve more.
You can reduce cart abandonment by showing a popup that encourages visitors to place an order to enter your giveaway during checkout.
Seasonal Campaigns
There’s always a holidays coming up that you can use to promote your products.
Use eye-catching promotional popups if you want to capitalize on your holiday traffic.
This strategy takes time and effort, that’s a given. This is a clever way to interact with potential customers on your website during a busy month for gift shopping, which could lead to increased sales.
Exclusive Offers
No two website visitors are alike. One user might land on your homepage for the very first time, whereas another might be a frequent buyer.
If you tailored popup messages to match where users are in the buyer’s journey, you would be more likely to succeed in achieving their needs and wishes.
Promotional popups should target and reward either a newsletter subscriber or a repeat customer in order to create a sense of exclusivity.
Cross-Sell Campaigns
Cross-selling is a great way to increase customers’ average order value.
Cross-selling will only be effective if it’s done in the correct location and timeframe. If you don’t want angry visitors who never come back to your site, you should probably do something different than what you’re doing now. Most likely, they’ll go to one of your competitors.
The most important part of any cross-selling campaign is making sure that the right product recommendations are shown to the right users at the right time.
With a promotional popup on your product pages, you can suggest similar or complimentary items to your customers and increase your average order value.
Pop-Up Ad Frequently Asked Questions
What size should a pop-up be?
There is no perfect size for a pop-up, but choosing one that is not too large and is clearly visible will produce better results. The recommended size for a desktop pop-up is 500×400 and the recommended size for a mobile pop-up is 375×660.
What’s the difference between pop-up and pop-under ads?
A pop-under ad is a new window that opens up behind the current window you’re using. This creates a better experience for the user because they are not interrupted. The problem is that these have a reputation for being spammy and linked to dangerous websites.
Do pop-up ads work?
≈ Pop-up ads have a conversion rate of about three percent, which may be higher or lower depending on the type of ad and the industry. We can’t use the same old methods and expect today’s internet users to respond positively.
