Let’s talk about how to increase the effectiveness of those pop up boxes by running multivariate tests.
I know popup boxes can be annoying because they detract from user experience, But there’s no doubt they result in more users signing up for your mailing list.
The two questions you should consider when implementing one are:
1 Will this ultimately result in a higher ROI than not having one on this page
2 How can I most effectively serve a popup while maintaining optimal user experience
To answer the first question you’ll need to determine your average profit per visitor in relation to the profit per user going through your email funnel. Unless you are testing a direct response offer or making a killing from advertising, the answer may be a resounding YES.
So then, let’s look at how to best serve a popup that best serves our goals. Wait, our goals?
Establish benchmarks to measure specific goals
Consider the following examples of factors you may take into consideration when setting up an pop up opt-in box. You can get this comparison data through your analytics program:
- The number of seconds before display vs average users time on page
- Effectiveness of displaying form on first visit/every page vs. number of pages user visits per session
- Value of opt-in lead vs other web goal. Sale/signup, etc.
- How do different designs affect conversion?
- How do different contents affect conversion?
- How do different offers affect conversion?
- How do different headlines, sublines, images and offers affect conversion?
Keep All Other Factors Consistent During Multivariate Testing
When you are running multivariate tests (as opposed to split testing), you want all other elements to be equal, so you can measure performance of specific elements in relation to another. So the landing page should contain exactly the same content, unless you are split testing the landing page itself.
Begin by running each multivariate test on 5,000-20,000 visitors and record your performance in a spreadsheet, then pit the winner against another contendor then rerun the test. Through iterative repetition of these different test, you will come up with an optimal configuration for your target market. Here’s a full walkthrough on split testing.
In one of my tests I discovered that if I gave users enough time to engage with the page content, but not enough time to click off the page, that the popup had an increased effectiveness. This was furthered by a highly targeted message relative to the topic of the given page a user was visiting.
If you want to take this concept further, it can be repeated for each niche you are targeting in your campaigns. Each market will yield different results.
One final thought, metrics are only as valuable as the latest numbers. Run tests regularly and improve your campaigns as you get more data about what’s working, and what’s not. Try out Super Popup Pro free here.
So what do you think of popups? Annoying distraction or useful lead generation tool? Leave a comment below and speak your mind.
