Pop-up ads have a bad reputation. They’re annoying, distracting and we don’t like them. There’s nothing good about them, right?
Well, not so fast. Pop-ups may not be the most popular form of advertising, but the problem may lie more in their timing than anything else. After all, nobody wants to be harassed by an in-your-face ad as soon as they click onto a new page. If you’re like most internet users, you want to proceed through a site at your own pace—do a little research, read an article, click around a bit. You certainly don’t want to have to deal with a marketing message that holds you hostage until you acknowledge it.
However, many site owners are finding that pop-ups can still have a place in their internet marketing strategy—if they're used the right way.
Pop-Ups—A Smart Exit Strategy
Do you like the idea of pop-up ads but don’t want to annoy visitors into leaving your site for good? Exit pop-ups are a clever solution. Exit pop-ups are timed to appear when visitors are leaving the page rather than when they first arrive. How can they improve your site? To start, utilizing exit pop-ups tell visitors that you are respectful of the user experience. They realize that by refraining from using entry pop-ups, you've allowed them to proceed through the website unimpeded, which encourages them to be more receptive to the exit message.
From there, exit pop-ups can do three key things to improve your conversion rates:
1. Target each visitor more precisely. Waiting to make your offer until after the visitor has browsed your site has a distinct advantage that could garner you more sales. Once you know which products or services that visitor is interested in, you can have exit pop-ups display messages based on the particular pages that were visited.
2. Prompt further action. Now that the visitor knows what you have to offer, an exit pop-up is a great tool to boost your content marketing strategy. You can use these pop-ups to invite visitors to request a quote, download your eBook, submit contact information or subscribe to your blog or newsletter.
3. Get buyer information. Pop-ups with content that describe your company's benefits are often successful at getting visitors to share their contact information. Here’s an idea: offer them the opportunity to participate in a survey, enter a contest or get a promotional discount in exchange for submitting their email address.
Pop-ups do have a place—and a time—in your marketing strategy. It’s just a matter of knowing when to display them and how to capture your visitors with the right message at the right point in their sales journey. With the appropriate pop-up ad timed for maximum effect, you can not only get people to click and buy—you can get them to return to your site and have others do the same.
