· 14 min read

Top 13 Popup Use Cases To Increase Conversions

If you’re looking for the right types of popups to use on your website, there are a variety of options available.

There are tons of different popup use cases depending on what you want to accomplish with them.

Perhaps you ask yourself which popup brings me the most conversions.

How can I generate quality leads? Or when is the best time to use popups?

Here we curated the best popup use cases and shared with you a few tips & tricks to get you started!

But first, let’s talk about what a pop-up is and how it can help you.

What is a Popup?

Popups are windows that suddenly pop up in the foreground of a visual interface.

If you’re one of those who still think that popups are evil, then it’s time for you to change your mind.

There are many proofs that they work.

a Buy one get one free popup example with an image of a leg covered in white socks on the right side

You just have to know how to use them. If you use the same popup on every page, your conversion rates may be low.

The problem with generic popup campaigns is that they’re not optimized for different pages on your site.

Imagine if you could show your popup to just the people who are most likely to buy from you.

That means you can focus on converting your audience rather than wasting money showing popups to every visitor.

When Should You Use Popups?

an animated Christmas popup offering 50% off for a Holly Jolly Xmas

Popups should only appear on pages that hint at specific types of content or offers that may be of interest to the visitor.

There is a common fear among digital marketers that displaying popups can cause visitors to leave and will create a bad user experience.

But the truth is that popups can be highly effective and lead to high-quality leads and conversion.

Yes, you read that right, popups convert, but only when they are used at the right time and place.

Any pop-up you display on your website should be relevant to the visitor and presented creatively and amusingly.

Often, the short attention span of your website visitors is not because they are uninterested in your content or product but because they have no idea how to navigate the site or where to begin.

In such occasions navigational popups can be the best solution to enhance your users' exprience. Just take a look at the example below:

a Navigational popup example from logo helping users with different sections to find their way around the sire

Moreover, when readers and viewers are focused on a particular task, they are prone to something known as "inattention blindness", meaning that they fail to notice something obvious.

This is exactly when you need popups to interrupt them and, with an eye-catching overlay and call to action, grab their attention and help them to navigate to your desired destination.

What are the Popup Use Cases?

Now, we'll discuss some of the most effective popup use cases and give you different examples on how to use them to achieve the best results.

Here are some of the best popup use cases you can take advantage of for your e-commerce website.

1. Informational Popups

2. Gathering Email Popups

3. Cookie Popups

4. User Login Popups

5. Lead Magnet Popups

6. Limited Time Promotion Popups

7. Product Recommendation Popups

8. Cart Abandonment Popups

9. Testimonial Popups

10. Feedback Rating Popups

11. Phone Call Popups

12. Coming Soon Popups

13. Social Media Popups

1. Informational Popups

Not every visitor to your website is familiar with your brand or product. In this regard, you should act proactive and keep them informed of the latest updates and products.

Asking how? Using informational popups.

an Informational covid popup example with a title that says "How We Are Coping With COVID-19"

Informational popups are simple messages that you can send to your store customers.

They can be purely informational, like sending out a notice about changing your store hours, or they can be linked to a call-to-action, such as offering a discount on an item when the customer purchases another product.

a Blog promotion popup example with a text that says "Best Landing Page Call to Action Tactics" and a CTA buttom that says "Read Blog Post"

2. Email List Popups

Email popups are the most used types to gather emails addresses from visitors.

The main goal is to convert targeted visitors into email leads and give the best user experience.

This will give you the chance to connect with them on a personal level and offer your products/services that suit their needs.

There are many ways that you can use a popup to collect emails from prospects. You can:

  • Offer Free Shipping
a Free shipping popup example that asks for users email address with a picture of a girl sitting on her leg looking at the camera on the right side
  • Promote Free Webinar Invitation
a Webinar popup example with a title that says "Hey, don't miss upcoming webinar" and a countdown timer that is counting until the day of the webinar
  • Offer Free E-Book
a Free ebook download popup example with a picture of a hand holding a yellow book on top and a call to action that says "download free ebook"

Using multistep popups help increase sales conversions because they allow you to connect with your customers in real time.

This way, by seting up a success popup to pop after your initial popup, you ensure the recipients that the process is successful and direct them to the right place.

a Free ebook download popup second step example that says "Success, You can check your email for free ebook."
  • Use Gamification in Your Popup
an animated and gamified lottory popup

Using spin the wheel strategy for your popup can gamify and incentivize your campaign and result in a great number of sales and conversions.

  • Offer Instant Discount Code
a Full screen Nine West popup example asking for users emails address in return for 15% discount

You can also use a full screen popup to capture your users' attention and offer them an instant discount code to make them share their email address immediately with you.

3. Cookie Popups

To comply with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), ePrivacy Directive (ePR), EU, and California cookie laws, you must store cookie consents from your visitors.

Cookies consent refers to the interaction between your site visitors and a consent management platform (CMP) that allows them to choose whether or not to allow cookies to collect their personal information.

In most cases cookie popups are the best solutions to inform your users that you save their data.

Here is a good example of how Mercedes’s homepage show cases their cookie popup:

an screenshot of Mercedes's homepage showcasing a cookie consent popup

You can use many GDPR cookie consent tools, including the Popup Cookie Creator, a free tool that allows you to quickly create Popups for your website.

Popupsmart cookie popup creator gomepage

4. User Login Popups

Similar to gathering email popups, user login popup will also gather email data from prospective customers.

Additionally, you will improve the user experience (UX) by providing them an easy login.

This will simply enroll using the popup and they can continue browsing the site.

a User Login Popups asking for users email address with an illustration of a rocket on top and a text in big bolf font that is saying "Hey You"

5. Lead Magnet Popups

A lead magnet is a product or service that you give away in return for a piece of information such as email addresses or phone numbers.

Offer Freebies:

a lead magnet popup example that says "KNOCK KNOCK Treat yourself today with a new pair of stilettos & get a free lipstick." with a picture of highe hills and a lipstick on the right side

Schedule a Meeting:

schedule a meeting popup example with a picture of a girl laughing on the left side

Promote New Products with Free Shipping:

a Free shipping popup example with a picture of sneakers on top and a text that says "JUMP INTO THIS DEAL, Get Free Shipping"

6. Limited Time Promotion Popups

One of the best ways to induce a sense of urgency in customers is to use limited-time promotions.

You just have to know what triggers your audience the most and then use it as a plan to persuade them to interact with your popup.

You can easily create a promotion Black Friday popup or Halloween with an easy to use popup builder and schedule your campaign between specific dates.

an animated Black Friday popup example with a black background and a countdown timer

7. Product Recommendation Popups

If you display your products in a way that appeals to customers, it is more likely that they will buy additional items.

Product recommendation popup is a great way to promote your seasonal marketing campaigns and give your visitors new ideas.

a product recommendation popup example, recommending different product for Men and Women

Using this popup use case you can increase the amount of money your customers spend on your store.

If the customer clicks "no", they still have the option of picking one of their items or adding something else. If they select "yes", then an overlay that shows product recommendations will be displayed over the page.

8. Cart Abandonment Popups

your visitors need to know why they should choose you over your competitors so you better offer your potential customers value before they leave.

Cart abandonment popups are great way to prevent your visitors from navigating away.

You can give a discount or coupon code upon subscription.

a cart abandonment popup example that says "Before You Go, Would you like to get a 20% off on our first order?" with a picture of a boy and girl on the right side

You can prevent cart abandonment masterfully with exit popup technology and display your win-back offer at the right time to boost your revenue

According to MOZ, the average eCommerce site loses about 70% of its potential sales due to abandoned carts (or roughly $14 billion).

 a cart abandonment popup with a picture of a sad puppy and a text that says "Wait! Tell us why you haven't completed your purchase"

For many reasons, shoppers leave their carts and never come back. This is a very serious problem that all marketers encounter.

You can take a look at our post for cart abandonment statistics for more information.

9. Testimonial Popups

Nine out of 10 people trust what a customer says about a business more than what that business says about itself.

That's the power of social proof!

A testimonial is an authentic recommendation from a customer or client.

It's a type of marketing content that can build trust and credibility for your brand, as well as humanize it.

a testimonial popup example with a picture of a girl and her testimonial on the left side and a text on the right side that says "Over 1,5m satisfied users trust us" and a call to action that says "Explore our services"

Content with a personal touch will be more believable than content that is purely factual.

Customers want to know that you're genuine and they'll respond better to testimonial and review popups that show the human side.

10. Feedback Rating Popups

In order to get a better insight into customer opinions, you should ask customers how likely they are to recommend your product and service to their friends. This way you can get valuable data and emails.

a Feedback popup example that says "we care about you experience" asking users to rate and enter their email and their message

You can also use the Yes/No Questions on the feedback popup.

Asking yes/no questions to visitors allows them to answer quickly and easily, which encourages them to provide feedback.

This type of question makes it easier for the visitor to respond because they do not have to explain why they like something or dislike something.

a feedback popup example with a Yes or No buttoms and a title that says "Stopping by to check" with a picture of a woman using night goggles

You can collect post-purchase feedback from your customers with popups as well.

11. Phone Call Popups

Even if some visitors aren't ready to make a purchase yet, that doesn't mean they aren't interested.

You can gather phone numbers with an eye-catching SMS popup, reach out to them via phone or SMS, and give them a special offer to persuade them to take action.

a SMS popup example form Livetinted brand offering 10% off in return for users phone number with the picture of the brands product on the right side

Alternatively, you can let visitors call you directly via pop-ups to close more sales quickly.

A user-friendly phone call popup lets customers type in their phone numbers, request a callback, and not have to leave your site.

12. Coming Soon Popups

Popups can be a great way to announce a product or feature that will be launched soon.

This will ensure that more people see the announcement and it helps with building a customer base.

When creating a popup for your website, it’s important to remember that different types of popups work for different businesses and websites.

Take a look at this example for items not being in stock yet. You can gather emails to inform customers when the stock is available.

a popup example with a title that says "Hold On" offering users to subscribe to the email list to be the first one to know about the available sizes with a picture of a girl in orange hoodie sitting on the right side

The visitor has a chance to get notified when their favorite item is back in stock, and the business has a chance to grow their email lists.

13. Social Media Popups

You can drive traffic from your website to your social media platforms and increase your user engagements with popups.

a simple popup example that is promoting Imstagram account with a text that says "Follow us on instagram and get more tips about"

You can direct users to follow you on Instagram, link to your Tiktok account, or even Twitter.

This way your users will feel more connected to your brand, ultimately becoming loyal customers.

Conclusion

There are many different types of popups that can be used to increase your conversion rate and it all depends on what you want to achieve.

You can learn more about popup designs best practices and sign up for our services if you need help creating your own popups today!

There are still dozens of other popup use cases you can make use of.

Popupsmart makes it easy to choose the right popup type for your needs, and no coding skills are required.

So why not try it out and give your e-commerce website a boost in sales and conversion?

Get Started With Popupsmart Today!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Timing is Important in Popup Engagement?

Having the popup appear at the right time makes a difference between a high or low level of engagement.

By displaying a popup too soon, you can annoy your visitors by interrupting their experience on a page and most likely ignoring your popup without even looking at it.

Are Popups Really Effective?

Yes, they are. A well-designed popup with witty and sincere language eliminates distractions, make your customers interact more, and greatly simplifies the decision process.

You can also take a look at these related blog posts and lean more about popups: