Pop advertising: The most powerful marketing tool ever

Pop advertising: If you have been on the internet over the last twenty years, you will surely have seen your fair share of advertisements; banners, and videos trying to catch your attention in any way they can.

There is, however, another kind of ad you might be familiar with: pop ads. In the earlier days of the modern internet, entering a website could lead to a new window opening with the ad, either above the current window (“pop up”) or beneath it (“pop under”).

Even as the technology around it has evolved and users have grown savvier to marketing techniques, pop advertising remains extremely effective throughout the years.

THE POWER OF POP ADVERTISING

When it comes to advertising and marketing, there is a concept known as “banner blindness”: After a while, the wider audience has simply started to ignore banners altogether, as they are easily recognized as advertisements.

On the other hand, pop up ads are not like a billboard or banner, sitting passively in the hopes you notice it; instead, they act more like promoters bringing the offers actively towards you. This makes a clear imprint on the user, and so, it is far more resistant to banner blindness.

This method makes for a far, more proactive approach that leads to up to 3% of all users who view them following the ad through. This may sound low until you compare it to banner ads; from a meager 1% from 2013 to numbers as low as 0, 86% in 2020, and the argument for pop up marketing is made.

Steps to make effective pop advertising work

Due to their nature, you could assume pop up ads should be as active as you possibly can. A better approach, however, is to not be quite as pushy, and instead allow a curious user to engage with the ad:

1. Save them for when the user is ready to see the ad: You can use pop ups for when users are about to leave the page or submit a form.
2. Curate your ads to ensure they are relevant to the page and offer your product clearly.
3. Make the ad itself as creative and attractive as possible: This can range from being genuinely marketable to something quirkier, like a funny plea to stay or a small joke.
4. Be respectful towards the user: Instead of taking the center space of the page, make it appear on the side, so it does not obstruct the view.
5. You can make your pop ups innocuous to the point of being legitimately helpful to your visitors, netting you a higher amount of downloads or sales.
6. Make the ads themselves easy to quit: If they are not interested, allow them to leave with no issue.

How do users really feel about pop advertising?

The difference between pop ups and other types of ads is the attention the user pays to them. Most banners and other ads get ignored, a pop up has a 100% attention rate.

There is a constant truth that is universal across all media: ads are not exactly everyone’s cup of tea, and pop advertising is no exception. Do not worry, though; if you can make your pop ups both helpful and valuable, a visitor to your site might actually see the pop up as a great addition.

How do users interact with pop ads?

The user’s reaction and interaction with pop ads will depend greatly on both, the type and use of the pop up. A well-implemented pop ad can help streamline the whole experience, making the site easier to read.

Other good uses include hiding any form to submit under pop ups that have to be activated, promoting a particular landing page from other pages in your site, and preventing shopping cart abandonment for e-commerce.

The best way a pop up can be implemented is to allow the user to engage the content, according to how they interact with it. A pop up that is activated by the user, leads to a lot more conversions into downloads or sales; making your page more compact and adding more information just as they need it.

How to test your pop advertising

There are several metrics you can use to measure the effectiveness of your particular pop up marketing to enhance and maximize the pop ad traffic.

One of the first things you can look at is the user side of the experience. Simply visit your site in a preview mode and see how the ads work for yourself. You can see how easy they are to interact with or dismiss, how much information it does show, and how it impacts the flow of navigating your site.

You can also appreciate the time users spend on your site; if you have thousands of new visitors that just stay on your landing page and leave within seconds, it may be a sign that something is wrong.

Alternatively, why not receive feedback directly from your visitors? You should have an open voluntary survey on your site about the quality and usefulness of your pop ups. This has the added benefits of both being in touch with your user base and letting them know in turn that you indeed care about their experience.

And finally, take a look at conversions. A conversion is when one user downloads or buys the product or service you are offering them. It is the end goal for any ad you are displaying, especially pop ups.

THE POP UP IS AS USEFUL AS YOU CAN MAKE IT

The benefits of pop advertising are clear then. It is up to you to make the ads as attractive and the least irritating as possible. You have to remember that the user is already predisposed to dislike any type of ads; but with clever use, pop ups outperform all other types of ads by a wide margin.

Be sure to take advantage of this tested and proven method. The sooner you get started with pop up advertisements, the sooner you will see a lot more action on your site.