"No I Hate Saving Money" Pop-Ups Are Bad: Here's Why and How to Fix them
When’s the last time you saw a website ask you: “Would you like free shipping? Yes/ No?” Odds are your answers options were more like: “Yes I want 15% off / No I hate saving money.”
There's something really good about moving beyond yes-no pop-up marketing window (realizing you can break outside of yes-no and infuse value and personality and increase conversions) and something really, really bad about it (where you make someone you want to nurture feel bad based on their choices).
I appreciate this article Chason Gordon (no relation) wrote for Input titled Pop Up Ads Are Trying to Shame You and subtitled “Do you like being a cool amazing person or a total loser who hates fun?” This quick read explains so well how selecting copy for no that would make your user feel bad; can in fact get them to click the other button, but at what cost?
Here’s why I think this is worth sharing: A lot of people writing their own copy—and now we see this social media polls all the time—think it’s simply funny and smart marketing.
And it can be, when the goal is to make sure your user feels good either way.
There are a few ways you can do this:
First: Never have an option where your user is asked to identify themselves as a jackass to click out. You can make your no creative without making it bad.
Second: My favorite strategy—on polls in particular—is a double yes option. What’s a double yes? You may’ve seen them on polls where people say: Do you agree? And the answer choices are YES and YOU KNOW IT. I like to get strategic with this by asking for more information or planting the seed that someone can come back later. So either YES or I’LL DM YOU WITH MY QUESTIONS (on social) or YES or MAYBE NEXT TIME in a yes/no pop-up.
We do so much to impact how a user feels when they experience our content. A higher conversion is not worth feeling tricked—or worse clicking “No, I hate saving money/ anything good.” Think about how you’re asking your user to view themselves when they connect with you. It will make a difference.
P.S. If you enjoy thinking in this way, grab a cup of coffee and watch this fireside chat app interview with aligned marketing strategist Anais Ganouna where she talks about values-based marketing.
P.P.S. If you’re a business owner who wants to dig a bit more into pop-ups and conversion rate, here’s some more info: Pop-ups are proven effective : According to recent article from Entrepreneur, average pop-ups have a 3% conversion rate and the best ones can have a conversion rate of 60%. (Did I lose you? Pop-up ads are the little boxes that “pop up” while you’re scrolling a webpage to ask if you want free shipping or for your email in exchange for a freebie. I break down the basics of what every business owner should know about conversion rates —how many people click yes or enter their email from the example above—here).
