What Is a Popup Window and How It's Used in Marketing

A popup window has multiple uses and effects. It can be perceived as annoying, disturbing the user while they are consuming content, or attractive, able to catch their attention so they leave the page to check what the popup is about. 

It all depends on how you design and plan the popup window. To not commit any mistakes, first, it's necessary to learn more about what a popup window is and get to know its different types and benefits. 

What Is a Popup Window?#

It's a type of window that appears automatically on a website while the user is browsing through a page. It "pops up" in the screen, therefore the name popup window. It can be placed on a page for several reasons, to notify an error, send an alert, or as a marketing asset. 

In the last case, the popup window has the purpose to drive attention and influence the reader to take a specific action. It can be to buy a product, subscribe to a newsletter, download an ebook, participate in a survey, give feedback, and much more.

You can use popup windows to increase the number of leads, gather information about your target audience, and create awareness about events, and promos as well. 

Different from what many people may think, there is a set of strategies related to when a popup appears on the screen, where it's placed, and to whom it will be shown. That's what can make popup window campaigns successful or not. 

Pros and Cons Of Using Popup Windows on Your Website#

The pros and cons of popups are more connected to how and when you use them, along with the design choices.  It's essential to be strategic and know your target audience to achieve the desired results with popup campaigns.

Pros#

• High visibility

One of the benefits of using a popup window is that it gives visibility to the message you wish to convey. It drives the reader's attention away from what he is looking for, to direct his vision to the popup. 

• Generate leads

It's possible to create popup window campaigns focused on gathering leads. For example, by inviting your website visitors to fill out a contact form in exchange for enjoying benefits like getting an ebook, a coupon discount, or free shipping.

• Drive traffic to landing pages: 

You can also use the popup window to redirect visitors to landing pages, for example, to launch a product or promote an event. You must create a compelling call to action that convinces the readers to click on it and go to explore the landing page.

• Share Informational alerts

Popup windows are also very useful to send notifications and alerts. For example, they are used to inform users if there is a connection error or warn that they are clicking on a suspicious link. 

• Advertise promotions

One of the main uses of popup windows in marketing is to make advertisements. In this case, the popup's purpose is to convert website visitors into customers. The popup will highlight a product or service and have a specific call to action to direct the user to complete a purchase. 

Cons#

• Interrupt the user’s reading.

Popups can be annoying when you are browsing a page and they appear in the middle of it, preventing you from enjoying the content you were interested in. It feels intrusive and instead of attracting attention to the popup information, the person will close it as fast as possible without even looking at its content. 

• Bad user experience

The misuse of popups can cause a bad user experience. Imagine when you enter a page and several popup windows appear at once on the screen, then you can hardly find the close buttons, and when you do, other popups appear immediately. It causes a poor user experience and makes people mad with the popups instead of interested.

• Trust Issues

Multiple popups with close buttons that are difficult to see affect a website's credibility. Users feel misled, and your website loses credibility. 

Types of Popup Windows#

Bar Popup#

This type of popup is a thin bar that appears at the top or bottom of the page.

Source: Adidas

Popup Box#

This one is the most traditional type of popup window. It has a large size and appears in the center of the screen.

Source: Glossier

Full-Screen Popup#

As the name suggests, the full-screen popup takes the whole screen, covering the entire page below it. 

Source: Blume

Slide-In Box#

The slide-in box is considered less intrusive than the other types of popups because it is shown on the side of the screen, without disrupting the rest of the page.

Create PopUp Campaigns With the Jivo Marketing Tool#

With Jivo Marketing, you can create successful popup campaigns and easily personalize the popup window with your brand's identity. You just need to choose a template, the color palette, and images, and add your text. 

Then, define to whom the popups should appear by using triggers to segment your audience based on their actions and behavior This way, the popup will be shown only to people who are likely to be interested in your offers.

With the help of our analytics and AI tools, you will be able to measure how a popup window is performing and improve continuously. Enjoy our free trial and explore everything JivoChat has to offer.