The Revival Of The Marketing Overlay Or (Evil) Popup

Hey dear,

Remember way back in 2004 when ads popped up like a scary Jack-In-A-Box all over the place. Ads from third party media. Untargeted. The most hated online advertising technique.

Much has changed since. Designs have improved. Tech is more smooth now. And researched showed that a marketing layover can substantially increase your conversion. More subscribers. More sales. Increased customer retention. All adds to our bottom line.

Angus Lynch at KissMetrics wrote a blog post about the 7 habits of highly effective website  marketing overlays. Go read it. I think it will give you something to think about.

My main take aways:

  • Know what your audience values before introducing one
  • Use it only to offer visitors incredible value
  • Be selective with regards to whom you serve a marketing overlay, how often you serve them and what kinds of call to action you serve.
  • Make sure the button text emphasize the benefit (Get Your Discount or Grab Your Book as opposed to Submit or Subscribe)

 

Before you go

If the contents of this article interested you, would you please do me a favor and leave me a comment?

  • Have you ever taken action on a marketing overlay?
  • Will overlays annoy you up to a point that you click away?
  • Do you use overlays on your website?

As a thank you for leaving a comment, a link to your latest article will appear at the end of your contribution.

Photo credit: Pascal

2 thoughts on “The Revival Of The Marketing Overlay Or (Evil) Popup”

  1. I can appreciate that pop-ups have a purpose and are effective in some cases. However, one of the biggest mistakes I see is that webmasters make them appear MUCH TOO SOON. Long before I have had a chance to even grasp the message of a website, a pop-up appears–often obstructing what I was trying to read.

    If you are going to use them, please time them appropriately!

    1. You are right Patty, that annoys me too! Big time. And I am a big fan of “do not unto others….” so IF I am going to use them at some point, I will make sure to allow for plenty of time. I read about keeping your list clean somewhere, as in, you want responsive people in and inactive people out, therefore I think delaying the pop-up would be a healthy habit. Has anyone read about research on the best time for a pop up to, ehmmmm pop Up?

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