Many users will say that pop-ups are a rather aggressive tool in the arsenal of a marketer for an engineering company. Still, their effectiveness depends entirely on the appropriateness of use. Let’s give a simple example – a pop-up offering a promo code or a discount coupon to a potential customer of an online store hardware store will be perceived favorably, and a pop-up advertisement blocking the reading of the horoscope will make the visitor flare up and leave the site. In general, before deciding to use this tool, it is necessary to get to know it better and carefully weigh all the pros and cons of its use.
Advantages of pop-up windows:
- Guaranteed to attract the attention of the visitor of the web resource. It is impossible to ignore such an advertising banner, and if it contains really valuable and useful information for the visitors, they will most likely perform a targeted action and will not leave the site.
- Opportunities for conversion growth. Statistics say that pop-up templates can be an order of magnitude more effective than stationary banners.
- Ample opportunities for personalization of banner content for hardware engineering stores.
- Quick response to user requests. If you place answers to common user questions or a link to the support service in the pop-up window, their benefits become obvious.
Disadvantages of pop-ups:
- Negative behavioral factors. If a pop-up banner is displayed without considering visitors’ interests, it irritates them and causes them to leave the site.
- Reduced audience loyalty. An excess of pop-ups is a negative phenomenon since it forces users to interact with something against their will, and such obsession sharply reduces customers’ trust and loyalty.
- Blocking pop-up windows. By using special programs, users can block the demonstration of pop-ups on their gadgets so that all efforts to implement and configure them are in vain.
10 ideas on how to use pop-ups on an engineering website
The easiest way to say that pop-ups are evil is to abandon them. However, many marketers do not know how to set up pop-up advertising correctly or see how many unique opportunities for turning traffic into leads this tool hides. After reading a dozen ideas on using pop-ups, engineering companies like hardware stores will surely find your web resource’s best option (or even several).
- Barter. You offer the client a “delicious candy” – a promo code, a gift, or a discount in exchange for contact information and consent to data processing and receiving informational letters from you. Why not? The clients think, and now they have already gotten into the loyal base.
- Interactivity. Such a pop-up contains an offer relevant to the resource visitor (calculate the cost of a wardrobe, the price of a tour to the Maldives, etc.), the results of which will be sent to the mail. Of course, you will have to provide contact information to do this. Remember that it is better to warn the client that the results will not appear immediately.
- An offer of friendship. Pop-ups offering to make friends on social networks are gaining momentum, which is inevitable in the digital marketing era.
- Notifications about promotions. A simple and effective idea is to talk about bonuses, promotions, or special offers (sometimes, it is possible to go to the discount page).
- News. Pop-ups can also be used, not quite for their intended purpose—expanding the customer base and increasing sales—but to inform visitors about certain events (changes).
- Clarifications. Commercial resources often use pop-ups to clarify users’ geographical locations and select the relevant offers for them.
- Gratitude. A pop-up will perfectly replace the “thank you for subscribing” page; the banner should also contain links the buyers need or a nice bonus.
- Playing on emotions. The user’s attempts to leave the site will hardly be stopped by tearful requests of charming kittens or other touching animals – “Don’t leave, we will miss you.” But, be sure, customers will remember a site with mimic faces. To keep them, marketers recommend immediately handing them a “bun”, for example, a discount on the next order. Then, the user will stay on the site, and the cherished email will enter the database.
- Consultation. Pop-ups can be very relevant when working with clients who prefer live communication. The offer to call the clients back and advise them on goods or services if they enter a phone number is often in demand.
- Time-bound help. Pop-up notifications can monitor how many minutes users have spent on the site and offer them a manager’s consultation. This pop-up is not always perceived favorably, but sometimes it works.
Practice will show which option will work in your case and which will be useless. To avoid conducting mediocre experiments, it is worth listening to the recommendations verified by experts regarding the competent design of pop-up windows.
Tips and tricks on how to make pop-up windows that do not scare, but sell
If pop-up notifications are ineffective for an online store, you do not know how to use them. When making a pop-up, listen to these basic recommendations:
- pause so that the visitors have time to familiarize themselves with the content;
- use up-to-date and relevant content on the site information for pop-ups;
- do not be intrusive so as not to create associations with spam;
- create motivational headlines and call-to-action buttons to make your pop-up “delicious.”
- remember about personalization, because customers value respect for themselves and are more likely to buy a product where it is offered to them, and not to a faceless anonymous;
- do not deprive the user of the opportunity to close the pop-up to avoid a negative attitude towards the resource;
- try to ensure that the appearance of a pop-up causes minimal damage to the functionality of the site (unobtrusive placement at the bottom of the screen is always preferable to a sudden appearance in the center);
- be specific and concise, and use extremely clear wording because you have little time to arouse the user’s interest.
No, there will not and cannot be a single, unmistakably working formula for a pop-up banner for engineering companies. However, there are individual requirements and general recommendations based on which pop-up windows should be configured. Then, an interesting period awaits you—testing and tracking the results.
