Among all the online marketing tools employed to increase conversions, popups get a really bad rap. A long standing belief is that popups are unwelcome, annoying and persistent distractions on any website.

But when a popup is used correctly, meaning they appear at the right time, in a timely fashion and more importantly, offer something relevant to the user, it becomes an effective tool that pushes users to move forward in your funnel.

For instance,

• Pop-ups that come up when a visitor is about to exit a website will lead to higher conversions by refocusing the visitors attention on what you want them to do.
• When visitors perform an action such as clicking on a link, or make a purchase, pop ups can be used to give further information.

Bottomline? The more helpful your pop ups are, the more likely they are to increase conversions on your website.

#1. Grab and hold attention on landing pages

Pop ups can help you capture your visitors’ attention at the right moment.

Keep your user’s attention on the landing page before they bounce.

Landing pages with popups actually have higher conversions than landing pages without.  When people land on your page, assume that curiosity for what you have to offer has brought them there. Take full advantage of this and hit them with a relevant popup where they can can on this curiosity–maybe an exclusive promo or a pitch for a freebie in exchange for their email address. An engaged user is much more likely to convert.

#2. Don’t use a blanket message for everyone– segment your audience

The online audience is vast and because of this simple fact, the interests, tastes, styles and levels of expertise of your visitors will vary greatly. It’s common marketing sense that you cannot use the same message to communicate to all your visitors.

By segmenting your audience, you can tailor messages for each specific group based on different criteria. For instance, You can segment your customers based on the traffic source. If they are a first time visitor that came through social media, you can show them your store’s most popular items. On the other hand, if they are an existing customer that came through email, you can reward them by offering a special discount available only for email subscribers. 

Popup shown to visitors coming through Pinterest

#3. Remind customers to complete their buying process

An online user’s attention span is very short–they may have simply forgotten they had something in their carts.

Most visitors fill up their shopping carts but never complete a purchase. But because they’ve already shown interest in specific products, it’s very likely that they will return to their carts and complete their purchases at a later date.

Popups can be used to remind them of the items they loaded their shopping cart with. 

#4. Give helpful information

Popups are great for giving information and tips that visitors will find useful. Sales are important but if you push for sales too aggressively, it might serve only to turn your potential customers off.

That said,  it can be beneficial to also offer helpful information that will prompt visitors to think of your website as a dependable and reliable source of credible, relevant material. 

Provide supporting information related to your site content through popups.

#5. Understand geographical differences

Understanding the differences between countries, states, cities–essentially geographical locations–will go a long way towards effectively communicating what you have to offer and providing information relevant to them. It helps create a sense of customizability in terms of messaging.

But there’s no need to completely overhaul your site just to accommodate the different demographics of your audience–you can easily use popups to communicate a customized message to your audience, based on where they live.

#6. Capture email leads

By targeting visitors using well-timed popups, you can get them to sign up for your offer. 

These pop ups are best timed to appear when the user has been on your product pages or blog for a period of time, which shows they are taking a keen interest in what you have to say. Be sure to highlight what they will get out of your offer on your popup.

Use popups to help capture emails for your database

#7. Get social media followers

If you’re running a promotion, want to highlight a particular blog post or simply want to build your social media following, try using a popup to build your database. Like capturing email leads, make sure that your user has spent enough to time on your site before allowing the popup to appear so that they realize the value of what it means to get regular updates regarding your site. This helps raise your credibility, visibility on searchers and ultimately, increase traffic and conversions.

Use popups to build your social media following

#8. Highlight special offers

By using popups, you can draw attention to deals that you are offering on your website. When you combine popups with your email subscription request, they act as an incentive for visitors to sign up.

When visitors know there’s an incentive to a particular call to action, they are more likely to respond positively. 

Draw attention to special promotions and discounts using popups.

#9. Use popups to collect feedback

Feedback will help you improve your website but more importantly, it will make your customers know that you care about what they think. When customers believe you are interested in serving them better, they’ll keep coming back and you’ll make more sales.  

Gather useful data with a simple popup prompt

#10. Recommend products

Present items that may prompt additional purchases through a popup

You can use popups to recommend popular products so that every visitor who comes to your website sees it. Shoppers are more inclined to buy a hot-selling product because they believe its quality can be trusted or because they don’t want to miss out, and the added visibility helps increase conversions.

#11. Provide additional information

Instead of redirecting shoppers to other pages to find information such as shipping terms, you can simply show that information in a pop up. This way, visitors will stay on the buying page as opposed to going to a different page on your site where their attention can be diverted.

#12. Create urgency

Create a sense of urgency by showing limited deals and discounts

You can  use popups to remind customers of the exclusivity and urgency of a particular offer. If you are giving a limited offer on a product, a pop up message that says, “Buy now! Offer expires in 6 hours”, will create immediacy and encourage visitors to buy and not miss out on the offer.

#13. Offer support or chat options

A support option shows visitors that your website is credible and always ready to assist. Websites with a support function appear more personal and this helps them to build trust among their customers.

Offer bouncing visitors an option to chat with your customer service representative

#14. Signup for updates and reminders

Encourage users to sign up for your newsletter and build your database

When visitors browse through products that are out of stock, this should automatically prompt a popup that will collect their email addresses so that when it becomes available, you can easily send them a message.  

Summary

These simple techniques and methods show how popups can be used to improve interaction, build trust, get contact information and increase conversions, while maintaining your business’ relevance and adding value to the user experience. 

If you have more ideas on how to best employ popups for added conversions, be sure to leave a message below and let us know.