How To Create Pop-Ups Using MailChimp

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The pop-up form. Website owners, specifically e-commerce store owners, are using pop-up forms as an additional method of customer interaction. Pop-up forms elicit a sense of urgency and instantly attract a visitor’s attention. For many businesses, they have a big impact on conversion rates. In this article, we’ll discuss the pop-up form and just how useful they can be for e-commerce merchants. If you’d like to read a bit more about pop-ups and see some examples, click here.

Why should I consider a pop-up form for my website?

Whilst ten years ago pop-ups were simply a spammy marketing stunt (I recall frantically clicking the ‘x’ in the fear that a virus was eating into my computer) - times have changed. Today, they are an integrated and embedded feature of websites, and users are becoming increasingly familiar with and responsive to these pop-ups. The pop-up form has become something of a “welcome” from e-commerce website owners to their potential customers. However, it’s important to ensure that your pop-up form offers something that will interest browsers – discount codes, free shipping codes, announcement of early-bird sales: the list is endless. You’re setting up an exchange, so establish what you want from your customers. This might be expanding your mailing list, or increasing conversion rates.

Many businesses are using MailChimp, one of the leading email marketing services, to help to set up their pop-up forms. Here are 3 reasons why you should use MailChimp for your pop-up forms.

1. Your pop-up form is completely customisable.

Using MailChimp, you can design your pop-up form in line with the rest of your website. Your pop-up form should compliment the design and experience of your website as an entirety. Whilst most website owners opt for their pop-up form to appear centrally, you will be able to position your pop-up based on the layout of your webpage.

Check out the three different formatting options below:

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Here's an example of how you can tailor the design of your pop-up form to your liking:

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MailChimp also allows website owners to adjust the timing of their pop-up, and when it will become live. Some websites choose for their pop-up appear around 5-10 seconds after a visitor reaches their website. Alternatively, you can set your pop-up to trigger when a customer engages with your website in a particular way. MailChimp essentially tracks the user’s activity on your site, which prompts a pop-up to appear. MailChimp also has a feature which triggers a pop-up when a potential customer is navigating away from your store. This is a kind of last attempt to lure customers back in and convert them, usually with a discount code.

2. Your messaging

The content and copy of your pop-up form is entirely up to you, but it should relate to your strategy: if your aim is to grow your mailing list, your pop-up might be an email sign up form. If you want to maximise conversion rates, an attractive discount code for first time buyers can be effective. Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make pop-ups stand out. Luckily, MailChimp allows marketers to customise pop-up content, embed videos, images, HTML and more, so get creative! Remember that your pop-up also acts as a “welcome” note for first time visitors, so ensure your copy is inviting.

3. Collecting Data

MailChimp gives its users access to reporting software so that you can assess the efficacy of your pop-up form. The software makes it easy to track the subscribers that your pop-up generates. By responding to the result of your pop-up, (testing different timings, copy, promotions) you are able to streamline your pop-up and maximise the results.

In the same realm, business owners should consider integrating a permanent signup form on their site. This is also known as an email bar, which typically sits at the top or the bottom of your website (you can also easily set this up with MailChimp!) For more information on acquiring email contacts though your e-commerce site, click here.

As an e-commerce merchant, there are a variety of strategies and promotions you can integrate into your pop-up form to extract customer details. When you are browsing online, pay attention to the copy and format of different pop-up forms. One example of a popular pop-up form is birthday promotions. In this case, the form will ask for the customer’s date of birth, and in return they will receive a promotional offer or free gift on their special day. Automatically adding subscribers to your newsletter list and/or mailing list is an amazing opportunity to share promotions, news and other important announcements.

For Shopify merchants looking to set up pop-up forms through MailChimp, click here.

Get Poppin'

Setting up pop-up forms has become an important part of building a website. Through MailChimp, you can build, install and run your pop-up forms. At Elkfox, we specialise in optimising Shopify stores to help business owners hit their targets and set up the latest features. If you’d like some more information, get in touch with us here.

* Image via Thing Industries