Should Marketers Use Pop-Up Forms? A Comprehensive Analysis

There is a variety of online advertising approaches, such as content marketing, social media promotion, and email marketing. And one of the most intriguing questions about them is what makes some of them last while others don’t, despite going against the best user experience standards.

In this context, one of the most discussed but widely used strategies for attracting new visitors and customers online is the use of pop-ups.

Businesses should use pop-ups for their websites when they can, but they must beware of their potential dangers, especially if used without a well-thought-out strategy. While they are very effective in attracting visitors’ attention towards a message you want to convey, an offer you have, a specific product, etc., they can be intrusive, and even hurt your brand. This is why before you decide to use them, you should weigh the pros and cons, and when you start using them, you must know what you are doing.

There is no doubt that pop-ups are effective, which is why many marketers are resorting to this feature to generate leads. Using pop up email forms, surveys, offers, etc., can be a very successful tool for growing your email list, attracting new customers, decreasing cart abandonment rate, and so on. The trick is to find a way to avoid annoying your visitors, make it attractive, and inspire them to fill in the form.

The Most Popular Pop-Up Triggers

Pop-up windows that pop up at any time can annoy your visitors, making them abandon your page. This is why it’s crucial to find the right time to display them. There are many different choices when it comes to pop-up triggers, including:

• right upon entering the page (this may seem obtrusive it can be used successfully in conjunction with less intrusive styles like the top banner);
• after scrolling for some time (useful when you want to direct a reader to a specific section of your content, without including calls to action within the text itself);
• once a person has interacted with an element (like clicking on something, or upon a mouseover event, effective because the user took a deliberate effort toward a conversion);
• when the visitor has spent some time on the page (if the person has been reading for a while, they are likely interested in your products or services);
• when they’re about to leave the page or the cart (this way you may snag their interest right before they decide to go or save their purchase progress in case they can’t finish it for some reason);
• when they’ve been inactive for a while (this can remind them of what they were doing before and capture their attention once again).

Tips for Using Pop-Ups on Websites

As we know by now, there are many ways marketers can use pop-ups. There are, however, some ways to maximize their potential.

Give your users something of value in exchange for their time. This way, they will be more likely to finish the survey or accept your call to action. However, make sure that whatever you are asking of them doesn’t take too much time, and keep in mind that they’re much more likely to provide a name and an email than a phone number and a home address.

Furthermore, you should be relevant. Make sure that the message is relevant to the content of the page, the target audience, as well as the stage in the buyer’s journey. It can be very easy for pop-ups to become a nuisance. For instance, if they pop up on every page, or very often, they will do more harm than good. Also, make it easy for the visitor to close them. Don’t force them to have to click several times to get out of the window.

Make sure that you don’t rush your users. Use a pop-up only after they have had a chance to look at your page. And, finally, don’t forget to test different variations, to optimize their use in terms of converting visitors into leads while maintaining a positive user experience.

Conclusion

There are many reasons why marketers should use pop-up windows, and the most important one is that the use of pop-ups can increase conversion rates by attracting more potential customers. Because they’re hard to ignore, they’re effective in attracting your visitor’s eyes toward whatever you want them to see. However, marketers need to be careful about how they use them since they can also be harmful to the brand and the company’s bottom line, despite becoming less and less intrusive.

With all the information and calls to action on your website, pop-ups are the perfect way to direct visitors’ attention to one particular thing. They’re cost-effective and the possibilities for a profitable return on investment are substantial.