Are Pop-Up Opt-In Forms Still Effective? Part 2

This is part 2 of this post.

Check out part 1 of “Are Pop-Up Opt-In Forms Still Effective?”

Pop-ups will give you more subscribers but less loyal ones

By getting subscribers via a pop-up form, they are more irritable.  This means that they are more likely to unsubscribe upon the first hint of a shameless promotional email sent to them.  Yes, you have their email, but you started off the relationship on the wrong foot and you really need to over-deliver to make up for this.  This is why the first and second emails you send them are the most important ones you will ever send. If you fail, your irritable subscriber will leave your list and be even less trusting of any pop-up forms they encounter in the future.

These pop-ups have become so bad that I am now doing something I NEVER used to do.  Once in a while I WILL see a great ebook I want to read that is free if I just submit my email on this pop-up form.  But with these distracting little forms I am more likely to download the ebook and then unsubscribe right away.  I know, I know, it’s a terrible thing to do and I do not condone it.  But this is one of the common practices that has been brought about by 2 things:

1.  Pop-up forms are annoying and we just want them to go away.

2. People are subscribed to too many lists already and you need to stand out to keep them

I have been on the war path lately unsubscribing myself from a few lists that have become nothing but commercials in my inbox.  I won’t mention any names, but there are some very BIG marketers that have been pumping nothing but advertisements into my email and offering no value at all.  In fact, I even got an email from one internet marketer inviting me to a webinar, which I was promised would be mind-blowing.  After sitting there for an hour in this webinar there was not one shred of useful content.  Instead, it was an infomerical about how great his apprentice program was and how much money people are making.  If I wanted that I might as well have gone to an Amway meeting.

So people are becoming less loyal to email lists if we are not offering value to them.  I don’t care if you as a reader never buy a single thing from me.  I would rather have you as a loyal visitor and email subscriber that can leave helpful comments and offer some insight now and then.

Should You Still Use Pop-Up Forms?

I am not saying to just completely stop using these annoying little critters.  I am just saying that you need to be aware that they are going to be getting less and less effective.  People don’t trust these forms anymore because they have gotten so much garbage in their emails.

But not all hope is lost.  YOU can still stand out from those other guys.  Here are some tips on making a pop-up opt-in form that works:

1.  Make it easy for someone to CLOSE the box with an obvious “X”.   If they want to leave don’t make them even more irritable.
2.  Don’t over-do it with heavy bold text.  You already have their attention.
3.  Don’t let the slide-in form go reeeeeeeaaallllly slow.  You are just dragging out annoying process.
4.  Don’t have the form pop-up as soon as your page loads.   At least let them read the content they came to see.
5.  Over deliver on what you are offering and be honest about what they get. Don’t promise they will be rich in 7 days, if it takes 30=)
6.  Make sure that same person will not see your pop-up every time they visit your site

I use aweber and they have an option for this.  If someone sees your pop-up you can choose for them not to see it again until after 7 days, 30 days, or whatever.  This way they don’t have to click off that box every time they visit your site.  I mean you DO want them to come back, right?

Let us know what you think with a comment below…