Pop-ups are a sensitive subject with marketers and consumers. There’s a lot of back and forth on whether they’re worth it or not, but research has shown that they’re definitely worth the investment.
AWeber found that pop-ups convert 1375 percent better than traditional forms.
That rate of success is supported largely by exit intent campaigns.
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It’s not uncommon for a visitor that only had the intent to browse your site to eventually move on their way. As they go to leave, or “bounce,” from your website, their mouse is tracked off of the page.
That moment right there, that’s exit intent.
And you can beat it with exit intent pop-ups. They’re designed to appear and act as a last ditch effort to pitch an enticing offer or collect their email for lead generation purposes.
Simply because you’re missing out on every single lead that leaves your site without having a pop-up stop them in their tracks and question their exit for even just a moment.
Cart abandonment and bounce rates are pretty high, and it’s rare for a lead to remember to actually come back and check out.
With exit intent marketing, you have a higher chance of convincing them that your business is worth their time.
Visually, there’s not much of a difference between your average pop-up and one triggered by exit intent. The only true difference you’ll spot is in the copy.
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Still, it’s important to be able to identify all of the necessary elements when building your own. Here are all of the core parts of an exit intent pop-up:
The pop-up is triggered by a JavaScript snippet that tracks the speed and direction of a visitor’s mouse.
If they quickly move it toward the top of their screen, toward either the back button or the exit button, your website will be able to sense the intent to leave, prompting the ad to appear.
There’s a variety of ways that you can frame your text to try and keep an exiting visitor on your website longer.
Whether you boast about a new service demo or use reverse psychology, like a negative CTA, the goal should always be to convince the potential lead to stay.
However you want to spin it, it’s important that the copy is relevant, straightforward, and high quality. If it’s too vague or too long, you’ll lose their interest quickly.
Make sure the text is focused on the offer and as personalized as possible.
This is the main sell. This is how you get them to stay.
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The offer can be anything that works best for your business:
The pop-up shouldn’t just be an empty “Sorry to see you go” box. That’s not going to stop them from leaving; that’s just you waving at them as they walk out the door.
Exit intent pop-ups are meant to recapture a visitor’s attention and interest in your business, so you’ll need to present them with an offer they can’t refuse.
Even if you’re not able to keep a visitor from moving on from your website or landing page, you still may be able to convert them into a lead.
By including a short and easy form, usually an email request field, you’ll have an opportunity to turn them into a customer later down the line with a great email marketing campaign.
Ask them to submit their email in exchange for a coupon or some other promise of value. A sale may not happen right then and there, but you’ll have another shot in the future.
Once you have the basics down, you can start testing your exit intent pop-up on different pages and measure how they fair in the real world. As you analyze their numbers, you may identify room for improvement.
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As the same with every other component of a campaign or strategy, there are ways to optimize your conversions by leveraging best practices.
Here are some great tips to help make your pop-ups work to the best of their ability:
Quality pop-up design is more important than you may realize. Size, font, color, and images all affect how visitors react and engage with the ad.
Of course, it should all make sense and feel cohesive, but there’s a decent amount of thought that should be put into it.
Think of your audience and how they engage with a website. Would a full screen pop-up be effective? Should it be a small box? Should you design a bit of movement or a sound to go along with it?
Even the location of the close button should be considered. A unique tactic is doing away with the “X-to-close” button entirely. Instead, the visitor needs to actually read the pop-up in order to find and click a “No thanks” or similarly phrased button at the bottom of the ad.
You can segment your pop-ups to make sure that the right message reaches the right person. Depending on the page that a visitor is on, they may receive a targeted ad after they’ve indicated exit intent.
For example, if a user is leaving a transaction page, you can design a pop-up that offers them a discount in exchange for their email.
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You can also target them with content that appeals to their interests as well. Visitors reading blog posts can be offered more information in the form of an ebook download.
Make it easy for your audience to relate to the pop-up and what it is they’re doing. You’ll have a much easier time converting them that way.
There’s a ton of best practices to follow when it comes to effective calls to action, and they should all be exercised within the design of your exit intent pop-ups.
If your offer has done its job and enticed your visitors to follow through, then you’ll need a tasteful CTA to seal the deal.
A good CTA will eliminate all confusion and make the value of your offer clear. You don’t want to give your visitors a reason to second guess themselves. Their interest is waning enough as is.
Branding is important in all aspects of your business, and your exit intent pop-ups are no exception. Your audience has certain expectations when interacting with your company.
It’s important that the design of the pop-up fits the style of the rest of your website. If you have certain themes in place across your site, it should be reflected in your ads as well.
If your pop-up design is too different, then the contrast can actually detract from the message you’re trying to convey.
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Visibility actually has a lot of sway on your audience’s decision making.
When trying to get a visitor to convert, you can help make the choice obvious for them. For example, you can highlight the desired CTA in a bright color (that’s still in line with your site’s color scheme).
The text can be used to guide their decision as well. Negative CTAs bribe visitors to follow through on interacting with your brand through humorous or bold phrasing – click yes and win some way, click no and lose out.
Exit intent has become a popular tool leveraged in multiple industries, and from it, masterpieces have been produced.
In order to spark some awesome ideas for your own business, we’ve gathered some of the coolest pop-ups keeping people on pages today.
UNIQLO takes advantage of the user’s entire screen to offer a 10 percent discount.
This tactic practically demands the user’s attention before they click out since it appears like the webpage has changed to something entirely different from before.
A custom proposal is an excellent offer, and KlientBoost does an excellent job of personalizing it as well.
Inkbox leverages the appeal of sweepstakes and winning to gather emails in their exit intent pop-ups.
PixelMe does a great job of capturing leads who were interested enough to visit their pricing page, but not quite ready to make a decision yet.
The promise of a surprise related to a service they’re already curious of is hard to resist.
There’s a sense of urgency in Xero Shoes’ pop up. The addition of a countdown forces the visitor to make a decision quickly. Do they want to miss out on the offer or not?
Neil Patel can identify exit traffic and convert leads simply by offering up his SEO expert advice… after you take his quiz. His pitch is logical and giving a time estimate definitely helps visitors justify clicking yes.
HubSpot flexes its numbers in a humble brag to try and collect emails for their lists. If your business is successful and you have the social proof to back it, no one can really blame you for showing off a little.
Fundera doesn’t ask a lot of its visitors, which works in their favor.
Requesting a ton of information or asking a complex question can push visitors even further off your page. Instead, Fundera asks a simple question to start a conversation, keeping their visitors engaged.
For visitors that were probably looking for a more engaged conversation, Sumo offers them an opportunity to speak with their service team and hopefully eliminate any confusion.
It’s a smart way to capture traffic that was going to abandon business unnecessarily.
Lush has designed a funny and unique pop-up that doesn't really feel like a pop-up. With a mild opacity, it doesn't interrupt the user experience in the same way a traditional box would.
Exit intent is a great second try at winning a lead, and combining the practice with the power of pop-ups means real success.
With so many great examples to look at, you can be well on your way to designing your own and converting what once was abandoning traffic.