Quality over quantity

Hi there ,

Improving your conversion rate is always a good thing, how could it not be?

But in order to benefit from that improved conversion rate, you need to have enough potential customers going into the funnel.

You need leads.

But don’t make the mistake of thinking all leads are of equal value - a lead is a lead, right?

Nope. You need high-quality leads, so here’s why and how to get them.

You’re missing a golden opportunity

Often a focus on rapid lead generation, such as with lead ads on Meta, will lead to low-cost leads.

This would be a great thing, but the result of these low-cost leads is that almost none of them convert.

Why?

Just because the lead wants a free recipe book or joins a competition, it doesn’t confirm that they have the problem that your brand offers to solve.

They’re not relevant to your market.

Additionally, these types of campaigns end up optimising for users who love to opt-in for e-mails, rather than potential customers.

They’re more likely to engage with it but are not your target demographic.

So you’ve paid for a lead that has no chance of converting.

But the biggest issue with this type of lead generation is the golden opportunity that you’re allowing to slide through your fingers.

You’re missing the chance to create leads out of relevant traffic, right there on your website.

To popup or not to popup?

Instead of wasting your time and budget on lead generation for lead generation’s sake, focus on optimising your website opt-ins.

What should you expect from a successful opt-in on your website? Usually I see something like this:

• 8% - 10% sign-ups for a straight-forward popup

• 3% - 5% sign-ups for a quiz

But before I tell you how to get this, I’m going to start with two caveats:

1. There are cases where a lead gen makes sense

A great example of this is Oddbox and their incredible dating for vegetables campaign for Valentine’s Day. Not only did it result in great PR, but it made sense as it was highly relevant to their product’s aim in reducing fruit and vegetable waste. They had great additional relevant reach and a very relevant lead gen tool.

2. Using discounts for popups

This is one that teams love to debate.

Personally, I’m for them (depending on the brand), but I will note that you should analyse the value of the additional leads vs the cost in margin, as some would’ve bought the product anyways.

You can then reduce lost margin by getting more specific in when and where you show the popup.

Creating the perfect popup

Now that we’ve got the negativity out of the way, let’s look at what you should consider in your popup.

I won’t discuss quizzes today, but they definitely might pop up in a future newsletter - apologies, it was too punny to miss!

I’ve ranked the following improvements in order of priority:

1. Personalising it based on high traffic pages. If you have enough traffic taking the time to personalise the pop-up (and flows) will be far more impactful than using the same one everywhere.

2. The option to keep it visible after closing so that users can return to it. This is possible with tools like Klaviyo or Sleeknote.

Note: for some websites this just isn't an option UX wise as the tab for the pop up will overlay checkout or your chat function.

3. Creating a mobile friendly version. Too many brands just use the same popup for mobile and desktop with the result being a tiny popup on mobile.

4. What you’re offering. There are many options, including a discount, free product, downloadable product or chance to win something. My advice is to test it.

For example, I’ve seen that £5 can work better than 10%, but this can vary based on the audience and product price.

5. Your visuals! You can never go wrong with some human imagery and colours that pop. Ensure it is consistent with your brand guide, though.

6. The fields to enter. For example, test the impact of having one vs two fields, such as email or email and name. The more info, the better, but too much can be off-putting.

7. The copy. Last, but certainly not least, your copy can have a huge impact. In particular, take a look at your headline and the clarity of how the email address will be used.

Recommendation

In every edition of Growth Waves, I also share a related book, individual or newsletter to check out related to the week's topic.

Let’s shift the spotlight to Josh Blackburn!

I’ve been following him on LinkedIn for six months, and I find his email content to be incredibly practical and insightful. Every post is actionable and full of learnings:

I definitely recommend following him to improve your email marketing as an eCommerce business.

It’s easy for companies to question popups or no popups, but I think the real question is how you can make popups work for you.

And never forget to put yourself in a customer’s shoes and consider when you see a popup offering you something…

My online shopping habits would be very different without popups, so I personally know how effective they can be!

Now it’s time to go pick up my packages…

Daphne