How To Make Sure Popup Lead Generation Helps Works For You
As someone who is avidly trying to look for new ways to capture leads.
A question that often crosses my radar is, do pop-ups really work?
First of all, I would like to say that pop-ups are annoying. In fact, some popular opinions about them are that they’re rude, they’re annoying, they make you want to leave the website.
So one would assume that the answer to the question, do pop-ups really work would be no.
But that’s not the case.
In fact, some pop-ups when used rightly have the potential to convert up to 40% of your website visitors into leads.
That’s a huge number.
I admit popups have developed a really bad reputation for being downright annoying in the past decade or so.
But a lot has changed. Now popups are an integral part of any marketing strategy. However, there is a time when a popup will work and when it won’t.
And as a marketer, it’s your job to smartly place them into your plan.
But before we move on, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of using popups for lead generation on your website.
Pros
- Increase email lists
- Promotion content
- Work for lead generation
Cons
- Can feel like spam
- Interrupts customer experience
- No guarantee on quality leads
ProTip: Never use popups aggressively that fill up users’ complete screens. It will ruin the entire user experience for them.
To make the concept clearer, let’s just take a look at two examples here.
How Popup Lead Generation Can Be A Disaster
How Popup Lead Generation Can Work Effectively
Now, who can identify, why the second popup is going to convert?
- It’s offering an incentive, every website owner would like to have (to grow traffic)
- Used a color scheme that blends into the background
- Social proof is clearly highlighted that 289,012 websites have tried it
Now as I said above, popups, when done rightly, can prove to be a great asset and this is the perfect example of that.
Why?
Because it offers context. And as we all know
“Content is King, Context is God”
Now you’ll be wondering, what if we provide context and it still does not work?
There are some things that you can control and somethings you cannot. Buying decisions are not mostly rational and sometimes there are other factors that are affecting.
However, it does not take much for a popup to strike gold or hit nothing. And you can do that with the help of one letter.
Yes, you read that right, the letter P
When it comes to signup forms, there are 3 P’s that you should always be focusing on. Each P plays a role and is important for the success of your sign up form
Prominence: First of all, the signup form that you use should be prominent. It not only applies for the size and placement but also the color scheme used and how it stands out
Promise: Anybody who sees your form should clearly know what you’re promising. So think about how you can put your promise into words.
Proof: Like many purchase decisions on the internet, signing up to a form is influenced by social proof. So, provide any social proof that you can and it will be like gold.
Alright now that we understand the importance of context in our popups, let’s look at some more mistakes that you should avoid.
Remember, we discussed earlier that for a popup to work, it has to be used rightly at the right time.
“The highest converting popups don’t appear immediately”
A person came to your website and it was not for your popup, so never be in anyone’s face.
In fact, it’s better if your popup appears after they have spent some time on your website.
Now you’ll ask so when should it be triggered?
There is no concrete answer. For some, it might be more converting after 20 seconds while for some it works better if the popup appears after 40 seconds.
But always remember, offer value through your popups and not just anything that even you yourself would not bother to sign up for.
The Types Of Pop Up Lead Generation That Works
There is a common misconception about popups that all of them have to be a popup. But that’s not the case.
In fact, there are many different ways and practices you can use pop-ups that are not annoying and can be converting.
Here are several options for popup lead generation that you can look at.
Entry and Exit-intent popups are a great way for you to capitalize on every opportunity you can get to capture your visitors and turn them into leads. This might just be the best way for you to have an increased chance of converting more with your popups.
Another great way to catch your visitor’s intention is by using an overlay or lightbox popup that is prominently displayed all over the screen.
The best way to have an overlay popup appear is to make it appear slow. The user notices the page starting to fade and the overlay appears.
No flashy pops or distractions. It’s like you’re giving your users a subtle nudge to sign up.
3 - Slide-In Boxes
Slide-in popups often fall into the annoying category but they are effective nonetheless.
There are studies and reports that show that slide in popups has a higher conversion rate than any other popup type.
However, as we discussed, popups only convert when time rightly and slide in popups convert best when triggered after a user has scrolled 80% of the page.
(find a visual for this)
Rounding Things Up
For any popup strategy to work, it will take time. You cannot expect a popup to convert in the same time it takes for it to load. In fact, just like all other marketing tactics pop-ups require an approach, an objective and many iterations of data to be looked at that can be leveraged on to make popup lead generation work effectively for your brand.