Imagine you’re having an important conversation with a friend, and a random person starts screaming in your ear. You’d probably get annoyed because you’ve just been interrupted in the most offensive way possible.
Companies do this to their customers every day: they bombard customers with annoying and irrelevant popups.
Even the inventor of the popup hates them. There’s nothing more frustrating than landing on a website with way too many popups.
What if we told you that there is a way to tastefully use popups, and it actually works?
Popups should enhance engagement, not disrupt it
There’s a right way and a wrong way to use popups.
The right way can really take your marketing campaign to the next level. Cybersecurity company, BitNinja, ran a popup campaign that boosted their conversion rate by an impressive 114%.
Using popups the wrong way will send visitors running for the hills. Nobody likes being hit with annoying popups that…
- Aren’t relevant
- Interrupt them while they’re browsing your website
- Are difficult to exit from
You might not lose customers because of annoying popups. But, that doesn’t mean they won’t abandon the ship down the road. If your competitor offers a better online shopping experience (aka one without annoying popups), your customers will notice. And, customers will start supporting your competition—it’s inevitable.
The last thing you want is to lose money and valued customer relationships because you didn’t use popups correctly.
So, the burning question: How do you use popups the right way?
- Your popups should be as relevant as possible. If you’re intending to offer deals to first-time customers, only target those customers.
- Timing is important. You don’t want to bombard people when they visit your website, but you don’t want to disrupt them while they browse either. A good rule of thumb is to delay your popups by 10-15 seconds or catch your visitors just before they leave with an exit intent popup.
Ready to see some good popups in action? Below are nine of our favorite popup examples that actual Shopify brands have created using OptiMonk.
Urgency sales. Just ask the headphones manufacturer, UltimatePods, who came up with a brilliant way to boost sales at the beginning of the year by using the Super Bowl.
What we love:
- UltimatePods used the Super Bowl, the most-watched sporting event in the United States, as an opportunity to highlight seasonal offers and drive sales.
- The Super Bowl’s popularity in the US and around the world, allowed them to use the event as part of their marketing strategy. It means they could organically become part of Super Bowl conversations.
- The attention-grabbing imagery is hard to forget. Everything about the advertisement leaves an impression.
- The “60% off” immediately captures your attention. Visitors know when they click the call-to-action, they can save big. And, you know what? They’ll probably click.
Who sees this popup and when:
The Super Bowl is popular across all segments of the population, so UltimatePods targeted all visitors with the popup who browsed the page for 10 seconds or more.
They were careful not to disrupt their customers’ shopping experience, so UltimatePods made this an exit-intent popup. Targeted visitors would see the popup just before they tried to leave the website—great strategy.
Tapestry Girls also used urgency to drive sales. Instead of using a specific event like the Super Bowl, they gave all customers who finalized their order within 15 minutes a 10% discount.
Customers who clicked “Get my 10% off” were shown a nanobar at the bottom of the webpage showing the promo code for their discount.
What we love:
- The countdown timer uses the power of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) to encourage customers to finalize their purchases. It is an effective way to reduce cart abandonment and has helped companies boost sales by as much as 330% or more.
- The wording of the “No, thanks…” opt-out reminds visitors that they have two choices–buy now or pay full price.
- The nanobar at the top of the website is a non-intrusive way to remind customers that they have a great discount available, without interrupting their shopping experience.
- The popup and nanobar are consistent with Tapestry Girls’ brand. Not only do they match the theme of the website, but they look fantastic.
Who sees this popup and when:
Tapestry Girls used this popup to target first-time customers with at least one product in their cart. Since they wanted to reduce cart abandonments, Tapestry Girls made it an exit-intent popup and showed it to visitors just before they left.
If you’re wondering how the campaign went–Very well! The popup and nanobar helped Tapestry Girls increase first-time customer conversions by 50%.
Tiny Beast Designs needed a solution that increased sales by targeting curious visitors who browsed their inventory.
With the help of OptiMonk, they created personalized popups persuading potential shoppers to complete their orders.
What we love:
- It’s personalized. Everyone that receives a popup is given a message accompanied by an image of a select product they viewed. This reminds customers of the item they were interested in buying.
- They used OptiMonk’s Dynamic Product Recommendation to automatically select the last product the visitor viewed in the popup message.
- Visitors receive a discount, further motivating them to complete their purchase.
- Spoiler alert: It works! The conversion rate of this popup was a jaw-dropping 30.56%.
Who sees this popup and when:
This popup notification needs to be relevant. Otherwise, it won’t work and you could end up annoying visitors who would actually benefit from it.
That’s why Tiny Beast Designs only targets returning visitors, and they use a welcome popup to target them as soon as their customers land on the site.
If you want to increase sales, make your advertisements relevant. That’s what health and wellness company, BlendJet, did when they delivered targeted popups to their Canadian visitors for an exclusive Valentine’s Day sale.
What we love:
- It’s super personalized. BlendJet targets visitors based on their geolocation, presenting them with a friendly welcome message based on their location.
- Offering a 10% discount to new users is an excellent way to turn visitors into customers.
- Not only do they offer free shipping, but they mentioned it in the popup too. Nearly 90% of customers will make an online purchase if there’s free shipping, so advertising is an excellent way to drive sales.
Who sees this popup and when:
BlendJet doesn’t target everyone with this popup, just new visitors. They also wait until the visitor has been on their website for 15 seconds before delivering the message.
This is an awesome strategy for engaging prospective customers—without overwhelming them with messages right away.
WeAreFeel is a health and wellness company that specializes in supplements that promote a happier, healthier lifestyle.
When WeAreFeel wanted to optimize their financial health, they turned to OptiMonk for help with creating an effective popup campaign.
What we love:
- First off, this popup looks great. Its color scheme fits with the website’s theme, and the pictures of happy customers draw your attention while adding a feel-good element to the opt-in form.
- We really love how WeAreFeel used one popup to increase mailing list subscribers and target first-time buyers with a 50% off discount.
- The popup is a great example of how to monetize first-time visitors.
Who sees this popup and when:
WeAreFeel ensured their popups were as relevant as possible by only targeting visitors who aren’t subscribers.
They also choose to make it an exit-intent popup, appearing when targeted visitors try to leave the site. That way, they could persuade visitors to convert and take advantage of the discount without interrupting their browsing experience.
Kiss My Keto sells healthy snacks and food for people living a low-carb lifestyle.
But, just because they stay away from sugar doesn’t mean they don’t know how to sweeten the deal with effective popups.
What we love:
- There’s nothing dull about this message. Kiss My Keto uses bold, contrasting colors to grab your attention.
- Adding “Get 15% Off Now” on the call-to-action button draws more attention to the discount. As soon as you see the popup, you immediately know you’re about to save on your purchase.
- They let the reader know the discount is only available for a limited time. This is a great way to use urgency to drive conversions.
- Because Kiss My Keto specifically targeted bouncing visitors with this message, the popup is effective at converting outbound visitors into customers.
Who sees this popup and when:
This popup is part of a lead generation campaign designed to turn visitors into subscribers and customers.
For their popups to work effectively, Kiss My Keto needed to target the right visitors without bombarding customers with irrelevant popups. Only visitors who aren’t part of their mailing list were considered for this popup, and they weren’t messaged unless they spent 15 seconds or more on the site.
Using exit intent, Kiss My Keto waited until visitors were leaving before showing them the popup.
Targeting visitors that browsed for 15 seconds means they’re engaging with people who likely looked through their store—and those are people more likely to become customers when persuaded with a discount.
Jewelry company, Bijuz, needed an easy and effective solution for reducing cart abandonment.
With the help of OptiMonk, they created personalized popups designed to engage would-be cart abandoners before they leave the site.
What we love:
- The popup looks incredible. The color scheme is consistent with their brand, and the floral drawing at the top is a nice touch. The message feels less like a popup and more like another part of their webpage—which is exactly what a good popup is supposed to do.
- When visitors see they only have 10 minutes to claim their discount, they’re more likely to finalize their purchase—especially if they were already thinking about buying something from Bijuz. This is how you can use scarcity (“the discount is for a limited time”) and urgency (“you must buy in the next 10 minutes”) to boost sales.
- The surprise icon jumps out at you, and it’s a subtle way to let the visitor know they’re receiving an exclusive offer and it feels more like a gift than a popup.
Who sees this popup and when:
This popup is part of Bijuz’s cart recovery campaign, so they only sent it to visitors with one or more products in their cart.
They also used exit intent, so only visitors leaving the site will see the popup. That way, they can target the group they’re specifically going after—cart abandoners.
Pretty Vulgar is a makeup company that prides itself on helping customers to look and feel great while being 100% themselves. When they created a cart recovery campaign, Pretty Vulgar applied those values to their popups.
They created messages that were visually stunning and helped the customer, rather than bombarding them with annoying sales pitches.
What we love:
- This popup is another way to successfully reduce cart abandonment. Instead of offering a discount or reminding visitors of the items they viewed, Pretty Vulgar gives a list of recommendations.
- By highlighting their trending products, Pretty Vulgar kills two birds with one stone. They promote items that their visitors may be interested in while addressing cart abandonment.
- The “Add to cart” button lets visitors continue their buyer’s journey without leaving the popup—this is convenient and effective.
Who sees this popup and when:
Pretty Vulgar only targeted visitors who were actually considering buying from their store. They did this by sending the popup to people who:
- Spent at least 20 seconds on a webpage
- Visited two or more pages
They also used exit intent, so targeted visitors would only see the popup when (and if) they were ready to leave the site.
Freshfield is a health and wellness company that sells a wide range of plant-based, 100% vegan supplements.
Whether you’re vegan or you simply want to make healthier lifestyle choices, Freshfield wants to help you unlock your body and mind’s full potential.
What we love:
- They acknowledge new visitors in the popup (“New here?”). That way, new visitors can subscribe to newsletters to learn more about living a plant-based lifestyle. This is great if you’re curious about going plant-based but don’t know where to begin.
- The popup image matches the theme of the website–– live a healthy and active life. This speaks directly to the target audience who are interested in healthy, environmentally-friendly supplements that strengthen their mind and body.
- Offering a 15% discount for new subscribers is a win-win situation. Visitors get to learn more about the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle and they get a discount, while Freshfield grows their mailing list and incentivizes first-time purchases.
Who sees this popup and when:
Freshfield uses this popup to connect with people unfamiliar with their brand, so they only target new visitors. They also wait until the visitor has spent 15 seconds on the website before sending the message.
That way, they don’t bombard visitors with messages right away—and as a bonus, they engage visitors who’re genuinely interested in their products (or people interested in learning more about plant-based living).
Good popups drive sales, bad popups drive customers away
The reason why these popups work effectively is that each example creates value in one way or another.
Either by offering discounts, product recommendations, or by giving visitors the chance to learn more by subscribing to newsletters—and they do it without causing unnecessary interruptions.
This turns every popup into a positive experience for both you and your customers.
Want to learn more about creating delightful experiences? Check out the Ultimate Guide to Customer Value Optimization. There, you can learn how to use popups and other campaigns to talk and actually engage with your customers, rather than talking at them.
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