We’ve become so accustomed to seeing basic email popups that we often tune them out. This is known as banner blindness—and it’s a real thing.
But this doesn’t mean you should give up on popups! To avoid banner blindness, you just have to make your popups enjoyable so site visitors don’t ignore them. And you can do that by using a gamified popup campaign.
In this article, we’ll look at the benefits of using gamified pop-ups and discuss how you can use this tactic to boost your online store’s conversion rates and increase sales without disrupting your users’ experience.
Let’s do it!
Gamification popups are a popular and effective way to create a fun and engaging user experience while boosting conversions—especially for first-time visitors exploring your site.
These popups come in a variety of exciting forms, offering a fresh and innovative approach to traditional marketing strategies that captivate and delight users.
Let’s see the most popular types of gamified popups!
Spin the wheel, lucky wheel, wheel of fortune, spin-to-win… many names, same game.
Visitors get the chance to spin a virtual wheel of fortune, adding an element of thrill and anticipation. The allure of winning a prize creates excitement and encourages users to actively participate.
Incorporating spin-the-wheel popups into your marketing strategy can yield significant benefits for your website.
They offer a highly engaging and interactive experience for website visitors. The element of gamification, where users have the chance to spin the wheel and potentially win something of value, instantly captures their attention and encourages them to explore your offerings further.
Another critical advantage of popup wheels is their ability to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity.
With this gamified popup, visitors are presented with a selection of mystery gifts, allowing them to choose the reward that most appeals to them.
The element of choice enhances user engagement as individuals feel a sense of control over their experience.
Site visitors virtually scratch off a digital card to reveal their prize, simulating the excitement of a physical scratch card. The instantaneous nature of scratch card popups provides website visitors with immediate feedback, enhancing the overall user experience.
The visual aspect of scratching off the card adds an element of fun and surprise, making it visually engaging.
But why would you want to create a gamified popup in the first place? Let’s look at some benefits of a successful gamification marketing campaign!
Gamified pop-ups come with several benefits, including:
Just how effective is using a spin-to-win wheel popup in ecommerce to solve challenges with conversions?
Here’s an example from one of our gamification case studies. The company Babyberry created a spin-the-wheel popup to motivate users to sign up for their newsletter.
Visitors could spin to win exciting prizes like discounts and free shipping. The result? Their conversion rate soared to an impressive 12.43% and they collected more than 3,000 email subscribers.
You can enjoy these same benefits by adding a gamification popup to your online store. Something as simple as a spin-the-wheel popup is perfect for lead generation.
Should you set up a gamification marketing campaign?
Absolutely. It’s an excellent business strategy. Here are some stats to prove it:
We’ve looked at the benefits of gamified popups, but how do you actually get started with them? Below are 4 successful ideas you can use to boost sales on your site!
Spin-the-wheel (or spin-to-win) popups are one of the best ways to collect email addresses, and they have a 13.23% average conversion rate.
Here’s exactly how they work: when a visitor sees your spin-the-wheel popup, they’ll need to enter their email address and then spin the wheel by clicking the “Spin!” button. When the wheel stops spinning, the visitor receives a prize (like a discount code), which they can use at checkout to claim their reward.
You can customize the prizes, as well as the probability of winning each.
To get started, pick a template from OptiMonk’s expansive library of spin to win popups:
The pick-a-gift popup is another gamification strategy that can help to create a memorable website experience your customers will love. This type of template is also an effective way to build your email list.
Here’s how it works: there are five gifts in total. The visitor enters their email and then chooses their gift. Again, OptiMonk lets you set the prizes and the odds of winning each.
Select a gamification template from OptiMonk’s library to get started:
Everyone loves scratch-off lotto tickets. Bring that same excitement to your ecommerce store with OptiMonk’s scratchcard popup templates!
With an average conversion rate of 7.17%, this type of popup allows website visitors to have fun interacting with your brand while you capture emails.
If a holiday or special event is around the corner, you can try one of our themed templates to gain subscribers using highly-relevant popups.
Giveaways are a great way to attract attention, grow your email list, and create excitement around your brand.
Here’s how it works:
OptiMonk offers customizable templates to help you launch an eye-catching giveaway popup in minutes.
There are several spin wheel popup tools available that can help create engaging and effective lucky wheel popups on a website.
Let’s take a look at some popular options!
OptiMonk: OptiMonk is a professional popup builder that enables digital marketers to create high-converting popup campaigns in minutes. Gamified popups (including lucky wheels, scratchcards and pick-a-gift popups) are just one of the many amazing features they provide. OptiMonk has a user-friendly interface with a range of customization options. It offers advanced targeting capabilities to show your popup to specific audience segments.
Spin to Win: Spin to Win is a pop-up wheel tool that allows website visitors to engage with a spinning wheel to win discounts, promotions, or other incentives. It’s commonly used in ecommerce websites and provides an interactive and exciting experience for users.
Gamify Optin: Gamify Optin is another spin-to-win popup tool that offers an interactive spin wheel interface for visitors. Users can spin the wheel to win discounts, exclusive offers, or other incentives. This tool adds an element of fun and gamification to increase user engagement.
Popup Prize Wheel: Popup Prize Wheel reinvents traditional subscriber popups by making them interactive and enjoyable. It includes features like a time-based trigger and exit-intent trigger to enhance user experience.
Optin Spin Wheel: Optin Spin Wheel is a gamified opt-in plugin specifically designed for WordPress websites. It provides an interactive spinning wheel interface for visitors to win discounts, coupons, or other rewards. With customization options and detailed analytics, this tool enables targeted marketing campaigns.
Wheel of Fortune Popups: Wheel of Fortune Popups is a spin wheel popup tool that allows visitors to spin a wheel and win various incentives such as discounts, freebies, or exclusive offers. This tool incorporates gamification elements to promote user engagement and enhance conversion rates.
When choosing a tool for spin wheel popups, it’s important to consider features such as customization options, targeting capabilities, and analytics to create a personalized and effective popup experience for your website visitors.
Recommended reading: 8 Best Spin-to-Win Plugins for WordPress to Boost Engagement
Now that you’ve learned how easy it is to get started with a gamified popup with OptiMonk, there’s only one thing left to do: set up your first lucky wheel popup campaigns.
Once you start using gamified popups on your website, you’ll understand why they’re becoming more and more popular. Users love playing them, and when you see your conversion rates, you’ll love them even more!
Browse our growing library of gamification popup templates to get started.
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Product updates: January Release 2025