Your blog popups are probably annoying as #&^%! See why ours aren’t.

We’ve all been there…

You’re reading a blog post and are just about to get to the insight you’ve been waiting for.

And then, BAM! A popup appears, completely interrupting your flow.

There’s nothing more annoying.

The thing is, popups actually work (and well!).

When you put on your marketer’s hat, you know that presenting an offer directly on that same page boosts conversions significantly.

But there’s still the annoyance factor: Interrupting readers is not an optimal user experience.

What if you could get your reader to take the action – to choose to see the popup – and not have to force it on them?

You’d think it would be impossible, but it’s not.

I’ll show you how.

Strategy Briefing

Get user permission to show your website popup using one of the hottest lead-generation tools of 2014: Click Popups.

A click popup is a popup that opens when a visitor clicks a call-to-action. A call-to-action is a banner image on the side or bottom of a blog post or website.

Let’s see what makes them the most effective lead generation tool:


Forced Popups vs. Click Popups


Forced popups are those annoying popups that appear when you least expect it. Like when you first come to a blog and you’re greeted with an entry popup. Or after reading through 70% of the content you get a scroll popup. They’re annoying.

Click popups are less annoying, because visitors clicked a CTA to access the content in the popup. This means that these types of leads are way more engaged. You know that they’ve opted-in to your popup form to get your content – instead of just entering an email to make it go away.

Forced popups are like when you go shopping and the sales clerks won’t leave you alone. The first one grabs you as you enter the store. You shrug them off and seconds later you hear, “Can I help you find something?” But you haven’t even browsed yet. Click popups are the clerks that are there to help but only when you ask.

Click Popups vs. Lead Generation Page


Usually when website visitors click on a call-to-action button they’re taken to a lead generation page. They have to wait patiently as a new tab opens and the page loads. And with each second the page takes to load, 11% of interested parties drop off.

A click popup does the same thing as a lead gen page but without making the interested party wait. The popup loads in the background when a person lands on the page. So when they click the CTA, the popup appears instantly.

Think of click popups as an ATM and lead gen pages like an in-bank teller. They both help you accomplish the same goal – taking out money. But chances are, the teller is going to take way longer. You’ll have to go inside. Wait in a lineup. And resist the urge to grab your money as the teller counts out each individual note. Click popups, like an ATM, streamline the process.

4 Step Formula We Use:


  1. Make your readers feel that they won’t be able to solve a problem without your ebook using your headline.
  2. Exploit people’s curiosity with secretive sounding benefits and sneak peaks in the “What you’ll learn” section.
  3. Place your CTA in the right spot to get readers intrigued at the right time .
  4. Propel people to take action using an action word or phrase on your popup form.

    Get the worksheet to create your own click popups

Make your readers feel that they won’t be able to solve a problem without your ebook using your headline

You need to make your readers feel like they can only solve their problem with your ebook. Your headline is your first chance to do this.

You need to hook your readers by creating curiosity. Convince them they have a gap in their knowledge, and without your ebook they’ll be left in the dark.

A great headline pulls readers in like a magnet. A bad headline repels them.

Think of a bad headline like those aggressive street “marketers” that try and get you to donate to a charity. You actively avoid them. It’s potentially a really great cause but you’ll never know because you would never stop.


Headline formulas pack:
How to [insert task here] that [main benefit or reward]

How to build landing pages that generate quality leads.


Why it’s good:

This headline says, if you learn how to complete this task you’ll be rewarded. You’re showing them a desired outcome which makes them more willing to give out their information, like an email address.


Stop [something negative from happening] now by [doing mundane task]

Stop losing leads now by creating urgent headlines


Why it’s good:

It reinforces that there is something bad happening and you have a solution to stop it. It also uses the word “now” to create urgency.


Why [target audience] should be using [product] to do [mundane task] but they’re probably not

Why marketers should be using click popups to generate leads but they’re probably not


Why it’s good:

This targets a specific niche and makes them think they’re missing out on something. If they don’t read your ebook they’ll never know for sure what they’re missing out on.

Dos and Don’ts for writing a headline that gets people to download your ebook

Do

Show readers they’ll learn something

Do this by using “how to” and/ or a number in your headline. This illustrates that they will be shown step-by-step how to complete a task.

Get your readers to take action.

Show your readers what’s in for them. Why they should be reading your ebook. Why it will help them.

Personalize it so readers can relate.

If you use “you” or “my” in your headline it can make them feel like it’s theirs.

Don’t

Confuse your readers by being too wordy.

You need to be as clear and concise as possible. If no one knows what your ebook is actually about they’re not going to click.

Make your ebook sound too spammy.

Your readers aren’t going to download something that sounds too good to be true. Telling them they’re going to make $7542 a day working from home is going to sound unrealistic.

Just put the title of your ebook.

Ebook titles can be boring and won’t always hook your readers in.

Why the headline “Tired of your traffic never turning into leads? – Learn how to drop your bounce rate now with my comprehensive guide” is great:

  • Tired of your traffic never turning into leads? This helps empathize with the reader’s fear that they aren’t generating leads. Writing the fear in the form of a question allows the reader to answer the question themselves. Always make sure it’s a question they’re easily able to answer.
  • Learn how to drop your bounce rate now with my comprehensive guide. Gives the guide (or ebook) as the solution to people bouncing.

Exploit people’s curiosity with secretive sounding benefits and sneak peaks in the “What you’ll learn” section.

You’ve hooked your reader’s attention with a great headline. Now, it’s time to reel them in.

Do this is by showcasing your offer’s main benefits in a bullet point list. Bullets make it way easier to read. Instead of reading a full paragraph to find relevant information, they’re able to pick out the points most relevant to them.

When constructing your bullet points think of them as “mini” headlines.

The “what you’ll learn” section is like the (30 second) trailer of a movie. You already know the title of the film and who’s starring but you want to know a little more before you commit. You start watching. The movie voice guy comes on. If done right, you’re on the next train downtown to see the 7pm show. If done poorly, you don’t even finish the trailer.


“You want to express a clear benefit and promise to the reader. Each time you do this, it’ll encourage them to continue reading to your call-to-action.”

  • Brian Clark

“What you’ll learn” Formula Pack:
The [X-Number] [What you do] mistakes that are costing your business conversions

The 8 sales mistakes that are costing your business conversions


Why it’s good:

This formula instills fear in the reader that they might be doing something wrong. They won’t know if they’ve made a mistake or not until they’ve downloaded your ebook.


You’ll learn [how to do something] and [how to do something else] to make your own [end result]

You’ll learn how to create headlines and calls-to-action to make your own click popups


Why it’s good:

This point shows readers how easy it is to reach their goals. You’re giving them two tools that they can use in order to reach a desired outcome.

We always use a bullet list structure. This makes it very easy for readers to skim and find exactly what their looking to learn in the ebook.

We structure each bullet to say that they’ll learn how to accomplish a certain goal using a certain strategy or tool. For example, one bullet reads “How to sell your product without being too pushy.” It’s much more powerful than just saying “How to sell your product”. It shows the reader that what they’ll be learning in the ebook will be new, useful strategies – not just fluff.

3

Place your CTA Banner in the right spot on your blog, to get readers intrigued at the right time

Your call-to-action needs to be easy to find. Failure to do this means no one will see your popup.

Think of a strategically placed CTA banner like insurance. You don’t know when you’re going to need it but when you do, it’s there. If you didn’t have it and something bad happened, you’re out of luck.

Placing multiple calls-to-action on your blog increases the chance of conversion. It also gives you an opportunity to showcase different offers.

How we place CTA Banners on our blog (and you can too)

1. Top of article:

  • Place a call-to-action that contains a worksheet at the top of your article (like i’ve done in this article.) This gets readers engaged with your article by encouraging them to interact with your content as they read it.


2. End of article:

  • Place a call-to-action at the end of your article to provide readers with further information. Say you wrote an article on tips for optimizing a landing page. You could offer them an ebook on landing page case studies. This is great because it’s a logical step for a person to go from learning a new strategy, to wanting to see examples of strategy in practice. At the bottom of their blog, Search Engine Journal started placing a free White Paper on the same subject as the blog. This helped increased leads by 212%.

3. Side of article:

  • We also place CTA banners along the side of the article. These are your super-premium calls-to-action and will be related to the overall topic of your blog. This way, even if the article they’re reading isn’t 100% related to your CTA they’ll still be interested. We currently feature a video course on the side of our blog. It’s such great value that anyone could be enticed to click it.

4. Propel people to take action using an action word or phrase on your popup form

The last thing someone will click before converting on your popups is the “submit” button the form. The words you place on this button influence if people convert or not. Choose your words wisely.

Imagine you’re lost in the woods. It’s getting dark. Think of a good CTA as a light that will guide you to safety. And a bad CTA as a darkness that will keep you stumbling around the forest until the next morning.

Your call-to-action also needs to show readers that by clicking your button their life will improve. What he’s saying is that you need to be giving more than you’re taking. Show them with the words on your CTA button.

I’m going to show you how to create great CTA button text that converts for both banners and click popups. It’s great because the same rules and formulas apply to both.

“Perceived value of the click needs to be greater than the perceived cost of the click. ”

  • Lance Jones

Bonus tip/stat:

Remember you should always be testing your button text. Empire Flippers increased their conversion rate by 33.1% by changing the text of their CTA from “Join us” to “Make Money Flipping Websites.” To me those CTAs don’t even feel like they belong to the same company.

Formulas to use on your call-to-action button:
Get [your/my] free [piece of content] [urgency word: now, today, limited amount]

Get your free ebook today


Why it’s great:

This formula uses personalization to answer the question, “What’s in it for me?” They’re getting an awesome piece of content from you, right away and it’s going to benefit them.


Start learning how to [activity] [urgency word: now, today]

Start learning how to build landing pages now


Why it’s great:

This formula begins with the action word “Start.” This encourages your reader to start their action immediately. The formula ends with an action word which uses urgency to get the reader to act now instead of later.


Join the largest network of [type] professionals and get a free [piece of content]

Join the largest network of marketing professionals and get a free white paper.


Why it’s great:

“Join” in combination with “largest network” implies that most people are already doing something. Why hasn’t this reader joined yet? The bandwagon effect explains why “join” works so well. People will do something if other people are doing it regardless of their own beliefs.

Take Action

Now it’s time to take action. Use this full stack of tutorials to walk you through creating your webinar thank you page. The necessary formulas and templates are below.

How-to Guides:

Related Reading:

If you have Shopify or use WordPress, check out Wishpond’s Free Shopify Popup Builder App and Free WordPress Popup Builder App.

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