When most of us hear the word “pop-up,” our mind goes to those marketing scourges from the early aughts. We think of dozens of flashing pages appearing on our screens faster than we could close them out, clogging up our user experience.
Because of this history, popups have become something of a taboo in modern web marketing.
But the truth is that popups can be an amazing marketing tool when you use them correctly. Read on to discover some types of popups that actually work and why your company should be using them.
1. Sale Alerts
When you’re building a pop-up, you want to make sure the content is something viewers will be excited to see. If it’s an annoying hard sell or some piece of information they don’t care about, they’ll close it out immediately.
But one thing everyone will always be happy to see is an opportunity to save some money.
If your business has a big sale going on, a popup can be a great way to promote it. The customer has already come to your site looking to see what you’ve got going on and potentially spend some money with you.
When they see there’s a sale going on, they may be more likely to make a purchase to take advantage of those great deals.
2. Email Signups
Getting email addresses can be one of the best ways to nurture leads and grow your customer base. Unlike social media and other mass marketing, email allows you to send a message directly to people who are already interested in your company. And popups on your site are a great way to gather email addresses for interested leads.
Put a popup window on your site requesting that customers sign up for your newsletter. Many may ignore it, but the few who do enter their email address will provide you with many more opportunities for a sale.
You can even put a discount offer on the popup to entice viewers to give up their contact information.
3. Consultation Offers
There are few things customers love more than hearing the word “free.” And if you offer services rather than products, one of the best opportunities you have to offer free goods to your customers is through consultations.
Not only do consultations give you a chance to sell your customers on your services, but they can also give you valuable information for marketing to those customers.
Set up a popup on your site offering visitors free consultations. They can enter their email address (checking another box on your marketing to-do list) and you can set up an appointment later.
Customers who have come to your site for more information will appreciate the personalized care and the opportunity to ask the questions they need to about your business.
4. Cart Abandonment Notices
When a customer fills a cart with items and then abandons it, it may feel like a loss at first. But in reality, what you have on your hands is an amazing opportunity.
This is someone who liked your products enough to go to your site and fill up a cart with items. They may just need a final discount or push to convince them to make the purchase.
Set up an automatic popup to show up if a customer has items in their cart and mouses over the close tab icon. Offer them a final discount before they go or let them know that a sale will end in a certain number of hours.
You can also follow up with an email reminding them of all the amazing things they’re missing out on in their cart.
5. Chat Windows
When people visit your site, they’re often looking for information or answers. You want to make sure your site is easy and intuitive to navigate so they can find the information they need on their own.
But you should also provide them with easy access to help should they have a more specific question.
Set up a chat window to pop up in the bottom corner of your home screen after a certain period of time. Create an automatic greeting such as, “Hi, can I help you find anything today?”
If the customer types a response into the box, connect them through to a live customer service representative who can help them.
6. Coupon Raffles
The only thing people love as much as the word “free” is the chance to try their luck and win a prize. Gamifying certain areas of your site can help to make it more engaging and motivate customers to make a purchase.
Consider setting up popups that provide your visitors with that “Are you feeling lucky?” experience.
Pop up a wheel that visitors can spin to get discount codes or even free items. Have them enter a raffle to win a grand prize; you can even use these as opportunities to gather visitor emails, too!
Just be sure to avoid the “You’re the 1,000th visitor!” schticks, as these seem scammy and cheap.
Discover Pop-Up Options That Work
Popups get a bad reputation, but that’s only because web designers don’t always use them correctly. Done right, a pop-up can give customers new ways to engage with your site, options to save money, and a new incentive to make a purchase.
Keep your popups simple, and always give customers an easy way to close them if they aren’t interested.
If you’d like to discover more tips for marketing with popups, check out the rest of our site at Popup Domination. We can help you convert a lot more of your visitors into customers and subscribers.
Sign up for our site today and discover how to make popups one of your best conversion tools.