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You might think that site visitors consider exit-intent popups as irritating or annoying. But this doesn’t have to be true.
When used correctly, an exit-intent popup delivers tremendous value to both the customer and the business. In fact, studies have shown that exit-intent popups can increase conversions by up to 4x, from 2% to 8%.
In this article, we’re going to detail how you can maximize the impact of your exit popup to increase conversions and retention.
What is an exit-intent popup?
An exit-intent popup is a display that occurs on the user’s screen when a website detects that they’re about to leave. They work by tracking the cursor of the visitor, and displaying an attention-grabbing popup when it appears that they’re about to close the window or visit a new site.
Typically, these popups offer something compelling—a discount, ebook, free gift, etc.—but as we’ll explore shortly, there are many different ways to approach them.
On mobile devices, these popups work based on touch sensitivity and scroll behavior, instead of mouse movement. They also take into account the time spent on a particular page or screen, sensitivity settings of the user, and the responsiveness of the website or app.
If you’re not yet using them, consider that Allison Caufield, the Senior Marketing Manager at FiGPiN, told us in a podcast interview that:
“[The popup has been] extraordinarily successful compared to the newsletter sign up at the bottom…in the previous six months we had about 120 or so people sign up for the newsletter link at the bottom. But we’ve had…over 2,000 sign up via the popup, so absolutely more exposure and more signups through that popup.”
Try out beautiful exit-intent popups in Omnisend for free. Get started now
Exit-intent popup best practices
Like anything related to marketing, there’s not a best exit intent popup—there are various approaches you can take, and some are more effective than others. Before we look at some real-world examples, here are six considerations to help your popups achieve strong conversion rates:
Have a concise message with a clear benefit. Remember that this person is about to leave the site, so you need to grab their attention quickly and require very little effort from them.
Ask only for relevant information. As above, you don’t want to ask for too much here, so exclude anything you won’t actually use. That said, if the visitor is already giving their name and email address, it’s worth also asking for a phone number and/or birthday—it adds just a few seconds for them to complete and gives you additional segmentation opportunities, which can pay dividends later.
Target the popup. Using the same popup on every page is likely to be much less effective than tailoring the message to the page. For example, a discount might make sense for a homepage, while product pages may highlight some of the benefits of your store to reduce cart abandons; e.g., free shipping, free returns, or introduce other products.
Try gamification. Popups don’t have to be static blocks of text and images. The Omnisend Wheel of Fortune is an interactive game that has a sign-up rate of almost 13%!
Use social proof, a.k.a reviews. Gaining someone’s trust can be difficult, especially when we see so many adverts every day. That’s why social proof is so powerful: it helps to remove some of the perceived risk by showing your visitors that other people enjoy what you offer.
Generate urgency. Urgency and FOMO can help to push your conversions up. For example, instead of just offering a discount, make it clear that it’s for a limited time or has exclusive benefits.
Make it easy to close: Your exit-intent popup should be easy to close. This way, you know that you’re not causing frustration for your customers.
Test and optimize: Before deploying new exit-intent popups to your customers, remember to run a quick test to check if everything’s working as expected. See if the URL is correct, if there are any typos in the copy or design, and that the popup is responsive.
30 exit-intent popup examples
Now that we’ve looked at what an exit-intent popup is and best practices for using it effectively, let’s dive into some real-world exit-intent popup examples. We’ve listed 30 of the best exit-intent popups below, categorized by use-case so you can easily find examples to suit your requirements.
Like most of the best exit popups, this one by Artesano is concise and to the point, doesn’t request too much information from the visitor, and offers a generous 20% discount on the first order. And instead of the button having the usual “Submit” or “Sign up,” it reinforces the offer with an enticing “Get 20% off.”
2. Smart Watch For Less
This popup example from Smartwatch For Less is a great reminder that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. There’s nothing in this offer that isn’t used elsewhere, but the image is perfectly on brand and research has found that human faces can significantly increase conversion rates.
3.Omen Clothing
Omen Clothing‘s exit popup not only offers a 10% discount but also generates FOMO by mentioning subscribers are the first to hear about new releases.
4. Butter & Blacksoap
Butters & Blacksoap‘s exit popup offers a 20% discount and creates a sense of FOMO in customers about being the first ones to hear when any new product drops.
5. Amberlights
Amberlights offers a generous 15% off on the first order for any users who display exit-intent without making a purchase.
Early bird discounts
6. Ecovacs
This popup offers visitors the opportunity to take money off a purchase, which plants the seed of saving money, while also promoting an early bird special. Ecovacs also uses this popup to highlight its warranty and price match guarantee.
Holiday discounts and special sale offers
7. Father’s Factory
Father’s Factory takes a different approach. First, its popup is larger and second, instead of the typical discounts, its offer is to get early access to Holiday Specials and its Black Friday event. It also shows one of its products being used by a child, making it clear to parents why they should sign up.
8. Array of Beauty
This popup by Array of Beauty utilizes Omnisend’s Wheel of Fortune, which adds a fun and interactive element. Instead of a standard discount that applies to everybody, each visitor has a chance to spin the wheel and receive a specific prize—in this case, a discount between 3% and 20%.
9. Balkan Bred
Balkan Bred adopts FOMO in this popup, promising an exclusive Black Friday discount—but delivered on the day. It’s clear, quick to submit, and strengthened by a bold image.
Gamified discounts
10. Shop spaces
This popup also uses Wheel of Fortune, replacing the Black Friday theme with Shop Space‘s own color palette and using a more concise headline.
11. Posh Lady Company
This example by Posh Lady Company is a small teaser that appears once a visitor has visited three pages. This indicates the visitor is interested in the brand, and so they see an opportunity to claim a gift. Once they click on it, a Wheel of Fortune appears with a request for an email address and phone number so they can “spin the deal wheel.”
Tiered discounts
12. Social Shop
Social Shop uses this popup to highlight different discounts, depending on the size of an order. Although smaller orders receive an 8% discount, this popup cleverly incentivises visitors to place larger orders for bigger discounts.
13. Tulip Interiors
Notice the enticing language in this example by Tulip Interiors: “join our VIP club” “the world of luxury living” and “invite only private sales.” In addition, this popup offers an additional 10% discount on top of the existing sales.
Retention discounts
14. Wayre
Wayre keeps its exit popup simple: appearing on its cart checkout pages to entice potential buyers who are about to leave, it offers an additional $10 off.
Non-monetary offers
15. Haydawn
Haydawn‘s exit popup is different from the other examples as it doesn’t offer a discount. Instead, it’s offering free support and advice for growing a business. This shows a deep understanding of the audience and their desires.
Urgency-based discounts
16. Atomic Defense
Atomic Defense creates a sense of urgency through a strong message in both the title and the CTA of this exit popup. Notice how the word “today” has been marked in bold. They have also added a reassuring message that you can unsubscribe at any time, so customers feel more secure about giving their email information.
Lead generation
17. Bounce and Bella
Bounce and Bella‘s image leave no doubt about who it caters for, and 50% off treats is a compelling offer for dog owners.
18. Morbid Mates
Morbid Mates incentivizes visitors to leave their email in exchange for a 10% discount. This is a great tactic to use for anyone who is interested in your products but is unwilling to commit right away to a purchase.
19. Oli & Tess
Notice how Oli & Tess create curiosity by positioning the offer as a question of whether customers want to find out about sample sales or special offers. This sense of exclusivity also prompts customers to sign up more easily. The choice of CTA is also interesting: “RSVP here,” creating a further sense of exclusivity and intrigue.
20. Steps to Literacy
Steps to Literacy optimizes its exit-intent popup by giving the message as directly as possible: sign up and be the first to hear about updates! It also speaks to the customer by mentioning the specific topics they would be interested in, along with a relevant picture for this target audience.
21. Balardi
Balardi offers a clear message: sign up and be the first to hear about a new product. This message will resonate well with their target audience, and a clear CTA—“Get my offer”—is mentioned up front to close the deal.
Incentivized newsletter singups
22. Harvesto Farming
Harvesto Farming‘s a great example of tailoring content for exit-intent popups, and the large, bold “LEAVING ALREADY?” is the perfect way to grab their attention. Once the popup has that attention, it has a clear and short 10% discount offer.
23. Bakell
Like Harvesto Farming, Bakell uses a large, bold “LEAVING ALREADY?” to grab attention from visitors before they leave with a 10% offer.
24. In The Vintage Kitchen
There are different exit intent popup strategies you can use, and this is a perfect demonstration by In The Vintage Kitchen of tailoring content to the type of popup. The line “Before you go… thank you for stopping by” only works on an exit-intent popup, and wouldn’t make sense on an immediate popup. It also has a great use of personality, as well as enticing people with reasons to join, and the phone number field allows them to keep in touch via SMS.
25. New Balance
New Balance uses a large exit-intent popup. It has prominent and clear imagery alongside a clear offer of becoming a VIP and receiving a 10% discount. The form also asks for email, name, phone number, gender, and birthday for better personalization and segmentation in future campaigns.
26. Posh Lady Company
This is the first of two examples from Posh Lady Company. This first exit-intent popup offers a 10% discount as well as entry into an “exclusive community.” The CTA also reminds the visitor about the discount, stating “active discount” instead of a more typical “submit.”
27. The Gears Clock
The Gears Clock also utilizes FOMO: instead of tempting people to subscribe to be the first to hear news, this popup provides a 20% discount but only for November.
28. The Teahouse Santa Fe
This exit intent popup example from The Teahouse Santa Fe uses strong imagery with a clear discount offer.
29. Homeseer
HomeSeer’s exit-intent popup is short and compelling. Notice how the brand has chosen a popup without an image to make the message stand out more clearly.
30. Cuisine Solutions
Cuisine Solutions creates a strong sense of FOMO by mentioning “Don’t miss out!” followed by specific discounts on their products based on certain actions taken by the customer. The CTA is clear and capitalized as well, to emphasize what they’re signing up for.
The main benefits of exit-intent popups
Exit-intent popups can be hugely effective elements of a marketing strategy, directly leading to more subscribers and, in turn, customers.
Omnisend completed a four-week experiment with Organic Aromas to build an audience list, and with just one hour’s work, created various popups that went on to capture 661 leads—an increase of 150% compared to Organic Aromas’ previous conversions.
Here are the four main benefits of exit-intent popups:
Build your list. Compared to immediate popups, exit-intent popups not only have a higher conversion rate, but they also give your list a boost by acquiring site visitors who were about to leave, having seen and ignored the immediate popup.
Reduce cart abandons. One of the most common reasons shoppers abandon their carts is the cost of shipping. Exit-intent popups help to overcome this by offering a discount or free shipping when signing up.
Reduce distractions. Although popups can be hugely effective, it’s possible to overdo them and distract your site visitors. As exit-intent popups only show to people about to leave, they don’t appear for people who are actively browsing your site or completing a purchase.
How to set popups in Omnisend
Omnisend offers a variety of popups, which you have full control over: not only when they show but also what pages they appear and don’t appear on. And setting them up couldn’t be easier, so you can quickly build your own version by taking inspiration from the best exit popup examples above.
The first step is to create a popup form by selecting Forms in your account menu and then clicking the “Create form” button. From there, you can select an existing popup template:
Next, you can edit the contents of your form to fit your website and brand style. You can set up the form layout, behavior, and theme according to your preferences.
In our updated Form Builder, you can:
Add new input fields
Change images and headlines
Enable opt-ins for email and SMS
Enable GDPR and TCPA consent checkboxes
Change the messages visitors see when they subscribe
Add additional property fields, including custom properties
And, of course, you can change your success message and see how it looks in the preview:
Once this is done, you can select the display settings for your form, i.e. when you want to display it to a particular user. You can set display triggers based on page visits, time spent on a page, scroll depth, or exit intent.
Once you’re happy with the design, content, and display settings, you can review and tweak the settings:
Change the timing of when the popup form appears for your visitors (e.g. immediately, after a few seconds, or set it to be an exit intent popup)
Target to choose who will see your form
Limit how often the form appears
Omnisend’s popups also have the ability to include a discount code. Just set it up in your store’s admin and add it to the popup—each contact will receive an identical code, with a seamless user experience because they won’t need to leave your website to access it.
Conclusion
Incorporating an exit-intent popup on your site is a highly effective method for growing your contact list and boosting your sales and revenue. A particular benefit is that they can be used in tandem with other popups, catching some of the visitors that ignored your other sign-up forms.
They’re highly customizable and, as this article has shown, there’s no shortage of different ways to use them. The best exit-intent popups are direct with clear benefits, so try to incorporate your personality, branding, and an appealing offer. Omnisend includes exit-intent popups on every plan, so you can try them out for free today.
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Richard is a Content Marketing Manager at Omnisend. An avid writer, he's said to have been born holding a pencil. Fascinated by all things handmade, if he's not reading or writing he can often be found practicing leathercraft.
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