How to Use Pop ups to Boost Sales without Driving Away Your Audience

Are you frequently stopped in the middle of your online shopping or research by pop-up ads? Do you find these pop-ups seriously annoying?

For most of us, the answer is YES!

The question that remains is why do websites even do that? Why do businesses still use these pop-ups when they are SO annoying and often drive away potential customers?

Although a majority of us hate pop-ups, when they are used correctly, they can actually boost sales.

What is it about these annoying little windows that makes them a preferred mode of interacting with online visitors and invoking their interest in the product or service you offer?

As per a recent study by the Statistical Research Inc., pop-up ads:

• Get about 49% more attention of the mass audience as compared to other digital marketing campaigns.

• They are also 70% more successful as compared to the other marketing techniques, per the same study.

• According to another article, pop-ups were found to be very effective in getting online visitors to subscribe to a website’s newsletter, increasing subscription ratesby a whopping 86%.

Fascinating results, aren’t they? But success with pop-ups can be achieved only if you are doing it the right way, or you will find your audience fleeing to your competitors.

How Do Pop Ups Work Best?

Although it is absolutely true that most people do not like pop-up windows, the concept actually WORKS.

Pop-ups get the desired attention and often action that leads to successful sales. A pop-up is impossible to ignore.  It blocks your view. It acts as an immediate call-to-action with the least amount of effort on the sellers part.

Typical call-to-action buttons (not pop-ups) are not always seen by a customer and are ineffective sales tools if they go ignored. A pop-up asks for immediate information like a name and email address in order to get a discount which gets customers to act without delay.

The pop-up window makes it seem like an important news flash and gets the required attention of the customers.

Moreover, with the rise in awareness about consumer behavior, pop-ups can now be structured to be more helpful and pleasing for customers.

So, instead of simply closing the pop-up or leaving the website, a potential customer is likely to click on the CTA (call-to-action) and leave their email address for further correspondence.

How To Get Rid Of The Annoying Factors In A Pop-Up?

Pop-ups can be highly effective if you can minimize the annoyance factors.

What are the annoyance factors?

Typical pop-ups, when created and implemented without much thought and care, tend to be perceived as rude, uninvited, and intrusive. This is not the way to treat your customers if you would like to keep them.

Here are a few points to consider in order to make your pop ups more acceptable to your visitors and to get them to respond the right way (and not make them run from your site):

1. Always offer your customer an easy exit, such as an obvious way to close the pop-up. Anexit button in a very small font size or hidden below the text only adds to the annoyance of a visitor.

2. Keep the request for information minimal. They are more likely to respond favorably to a pop-up if the information requested is limited to a name and email address.

3. Keep the pop-up subtle, simple, and uncluttered.

4. Make your call-to-action visible and easy-to-understand.

5. Time your pop-ups just right. Make sure the pop-up doesn’t open immediately when the customer visits your website or new page. This would help them get accustomed to the pagebefore the pop-up appears, usually 30-60 seconds.

6. Track your visitors through cookies to make sure the same customer doesn’t see the same pop-up every time he/she opens the website.

7. Make sure your pop-up is valuable to your visitor as well as relevant to the whole context of the website.

How To Effectively Incorporate Pop Ups in Your Website?

Just like the basic etiquette of common conversation with people, the pop-up should be more ‘polite’ and less ‘intrusive’ when it appears.

Instead of disrupting your visitors in the midst of their search, make the pop-up simple and helpful to them. While there is no foolproof formula or system to sense what is on the prospective client’s mind as they search your site, a few important factors can  we can make the pop up effective in terms of increasing sales or getting leads:

Timing is Everything!

As with all other marketing gimmicks, the right timing plays a major role in making the pop-up a success. If the pop-up opens before the client actually gets to see the home page of your website, it could cause annoyance and end up being closed without a second look.

For a good pop-up to work, it HAS TO get that second look! You need to give your customer time to get acquainted with your site and products before you allow a pop-up to appear.  This will make the pop-up seem less intrusive. Set the pop-up to appear about 30-60 seconds after the visitor has been on your website for best results.

Your pop up should be  perfectly timed, subtle, and appears after the visitor gets comfortable with the site.

However, the exit pop-up is said to be far more effective in making the customer stay on your page. The exit pop-up appears when a person puts their mouse over the browser area.  It senses that the person is going to leave and will appear as a final plea to keep them shopping, usually by offering a discount.

An exit pop-up can be also be placed as a reminder for the customers to complete their online shopping or complete the purchase process for the items still in their shopping cart.

Make Sure it Matches Your Theme

An out-of-context pop-up ad never works. For instance, if a client is on a subtle, pastel shaded website and suddenly a vibrant, colorful pop-up ad appears out of the blue, how do you think your customer will react?

In most cases, such pop-ups are instantly mistaken for spam, malware, and other trivial/spurious matters. So, the pop-up is immediately closed.

Try to make it in accordance with your site – bring the colors and images to match with those of the website, keeping the look uncluttered and subtle and easy-to read.

Do Not Ask For Much

Nobody likes to spend time on a pop-up – simply ask for the minimum information necessary that requires the least amount of effort from your client.

For instance, if you want the visitors to subscribe to your newsletter, just ask for their email address. No need to get into the other details. Or if you want them to follow you on Facebook, or YouTube, just place the relevant icons and let them click through.

Just asking for a simple email address doesn’t hurt.

Be Courteous

Make sure to leave a nice greeting after the customer gives his/her details. Or give the acknowledgment that their effort has been recognized. Never leave them wondering if the time they spent giving their details and entering the information were actually submitted or not.

A simple ‘Thank you’ message works great.

Give Them Something of Value

Give your audience something helpful. Instead of forcing a sale, try to engage them in some conversation or give them an offer they can’t refuse. You will be amazed at the results this yields.

The most annoying pop-ups we’ve all seen at some point are the ones that are irrelevant and offer absolutely no benefit. Why would a customer even look at a pop-up that has no benefit to them.

However, discounts, promotions, and special offers are always welcomed by customers. A good example is a simple pop-up that opens seconds after the clients have been to the site and offers a discount as well as a subscription.

Subtle, clean, and direct is one of the most effective pop-ups ads.

Include Social Media Icons

We are so involved in the social media today – Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. It is impossible to go anywhere without seeing their icons. It is so important to incorporate these icons into your online presence.

For all of your visitors, make the icons a part of your pop-up. Just one click will increase your followers and people will get immediate access to your posts and latest offers. The main goal here is to reach as many people as possible, and social media can help tremendously.  Don’t dismiss the impact those tiny icons can have on your business.

How to Increase Sales Through The Use of Pop Ups?

Many marketers use pop-ups in their marketing strategies, but some argue that pop-ups don’t have a significant impact on profits. The issue here is making sure the pop-up window creates enough interest to entice a customer to stay and shop, converting a casual visitor into a paying customer.

While there are strategic marketing techniques you can apply to make your pop-up more effective, you can also make use of some great software tools. ‘OptinMonster’ is one best tool for generating sales.

A good pop-up follows the AIDA model, one of the top-rated marketing efforts in getting sales leads:

1. It gets the visitors’ Attention.

2. It engages the audience and invokes an Interest in the offering.

3. Invigorates a sense of ‘Desire’ for the offering.

4. Finally, it gets the visitor to ‘Act’ and hence the conversion takes place.

Is the Pop Up Working For Your Website?

Considering the above points, adding a pop-up to your website can be very tricky and needs to be implemented with a lot of thought and careful assessment on how it’s working. Analyzing the results of pop-up usage on your site is very important. A common method to measure the effectiveness is by looking at the statistics before and after incorporating the pop-up, and comparing the results.

You have to consider the following two key points here:

• The Bounce Rate: If visitors leave your website within a few seconds of opening the page, then there is likely a problem with your pop-up strategy. The pop up is not doing what it’s supposed to, and your customers are being driven away by it.
• Traffic:The traffic or footfall on your website is also a good indicator of the effectiveness of a pop-up. They have a directly proportional relationship. If the pop-up is effective, traffic increases which increases sales and profits.

You must maintain tabs on the pop-up ad’s performance and remember that the pop-up should capture your customer’s attention and get them to sign up for a newsletter or entice them to shop (with a discount). If it is not working the right way, do not delay in tweaking your pop-up until it is working to gain a broader customer base and increase in sales.

Summary

Although pop-ups are generally regarded as an annoying interruption, it happens to be one of the most effective marketing techniques, which is the reason almost every website uses them.

If used strategically, the pop-ups can get you your desired leads and sales. Timing, design, relevance and value to your customer are the key components of making pop-up ads work for your business.  By taking the time to create an effective pop-up ad strategy, you can greatly add to your customer base and profits.

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