The TL;DR:

• Let’s Chat D2C: Ecommerce Lead Capture 101 - Strategies, tactics, and examples of how brands can capture the most emails and phone numbers to market to.

• What I’m Thinking about this Week: Tech Platforms have a choice, become everything for everyone or double down on what they do best.

• The D2Z Podcast: In this week’s episode, I sat down with Carter Snyder, Associate Director at The Sasha Group, a VaynerX company built for marketing, education, and consulting to scale brands.

• App Updates & Highlights: Malomo’s New 2-Click Tracking Page.

• Upcoming Events: LA 10/2-10/6 for the Shopify Enterprise Partner Summit and Cleveland 10/8-10/11 for the Forbes 30under30 Summit.

Also, you can now easily share this newsletter with a friend! As you refer, you earn:

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Let’s Chat D2C - Ecommerce Lead Capture 101

In the world of ecommerce, capturing leads is crucial for success. After all, the more leads you capture, the more potential people you have to convert into first-time buyers. One effective way to capture leads is through the use of pop-ups. I compiled all of the different strategies and techniques you can employ to maximize the effectiveness of your lead-capture pop-ups.

Understanding Ecommerce Lead Capture

Before delving into the specifics of pop-up strategies, it is important to understand the significance of lead capture in ecommerce. Lead capture is the process of collecting information from potential customers, such as their email addresses, in order to build a database of leads that can be nurtured and converted into sales. This database becomes a valuable asset for your business, allowing you to communicate directly with potential customers and guide them through the buying journey.

Key Elements of Effective Ecommerce Lead Capture

When implementing a lead capture strategy in ecommerce, there are key elements that you need to consider for maximum effectiveness.

Firstly, it is important to have a compelling offer that incentivizes potential customers to provide their information. People are more likely to share their personal details if they feel they are getting something valuable. This could be a discount code, a free e-book, or exclusive access to content that is relevant and useful to them.

Secondly, the lead capture form should be simple and easy to fill out, requiring only the essential information you need. Lengthy forms with too many fields can be off-putting and lead to higher abandonment rates. Keep it concise and ask for necessary information for your marketing efforts.

Lastly, make sure to create a sense of urgency or scarcity to encourage immediate action. Limited-time offers, or limited availability can create a fear of missing out, prompting potential customers to act quickly and provide their information.

By implementing these key elements, you can optimize your lead capture strategy and increase the chances of converting potential customers into loyal buyers.

Exploring Different Types of Pop-ups

Pop-ups have long been a controversial topic in the world of web design. Some argue that they are intrusive and annoying, while others believe they are effective for capturing leads and increasing conversions. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, it's hard to deny the impact that pop-ups can have on your list growth.

So what are the different types of pop-ups you can test?

Entry Pop-ups and Their Benefits

One of the most common types of pop-ups is the entry pop-up. As the name suggests, these pop-ups are displayed when a visitor lands on your website. The goal of an entry pop-up is to grab the visitor's attention right away and encourage them to take action.

Entry pop-ups can be highly effective for capturing leads. By offering a compelling incentive, such as a discount or freebie, you can entice visitors to provide their email addresses and become leads. This type of pop-up is particularly useful for ecommerce websites, where the ultimate goal is to convert visitors into paying customers.

However, it's important to strike a balance when using entry pop-ups. While they can be effective, they can also be seen as intrusive if not implemented properly. Ensuring that your pop-ups are relevant, non-obtrusive, and easy to dismiss is crucial. By doing so, you can maximize their effectiveness without alienating your visitors.

Exit-Intent Pop-ups: A Last Chance Strategy

Exit-intent pop-ups are another type of pop-up that can be used to capture leads. As the name suggests, these pop-ups are triggered when a visitor is about to leave your website. The goal of an exit-intent pop-up is to give visitors one last chance to convert before they exit.

Exit-intent pop-ups can be a powerful tool in your lead capture strategy. Offering a special deal or discount can entice visitors to reconsider and provide their information before leaving. This type of pop-up is particularly effective for reducing bounce rates and increasing conversions.

However, it's important to use exit-intent pop-ups sparingly and strategically. Bombarding your visitors with pop-ups every time they try to leave can be counterproductive and may lead to a negative user experience. Instead, focus on providing value and relevance in your pop-ups to increase their effectiveness.

The Full List of Choices You Have When Creating a Pop-up

There are a host of decisions you have to make when creating your pop-up.

Display

• Pop-up: Your standard pop-up that takes up a specific screen dimension.

• Full page: A pop-up that takes up the entire screen, and the only way to continue on the site is to exit or decline the offer.

• Bubble: This is a bubble CTA that typically lives in the bottom left or right corner of the website with some sort of messaging like “Get 10% Off” that, on click, opens up the pop-up.

• Flyout: Instead of popping up on screen, this type of lead capture flies out from the top, bottom, or sides of the screen.

• Embed: Technically not a pop-up; this is an embedded form you can put on a landing page, in your site footer, etc.

• Spin-to-Win: Customers click a button to spin a wheel showcasing various offers they could win. Typically, you set the % likeliness that a given offer will be rewarded.

Another thing to consider is the # of steps as well as if you’ll be utilizing tap to join on mobile. My preference is to do a two-step pop-up where on screen 1, you enter your email; on screen 2, you enter your phone #; and then screen 3 provides the CTA to shop. On mobile, screen two can be a tap-to-join CTA, where on click, it will automatically open a text with a pre-populated message to your short code that customers will press send to immediately opt-in to your program. They’ll then receive an immediate text back with the offer.

There’s also a tactic called micro-commits, where on the first screen, you ask for no information; you just ask visitors a question such as “Do you want to get 10% off?” and then they click “Yes” or “No” - some tests show that visitors who click yes convert at an even higher rate than just showing a regular pop-up.

Targeting

• URLs: Do you want to show the pop-up on specific URLs? For example, maybe you only show a specific exit intent pop-up on certain product pages.

• By location: Do you want to show different pop-ups to visitors based on their location (i.e., state, country, etc.)?

• Device: Do you want to target desktop, mobile, and tablet users with different types of pop-ups?

• New visitor vs. returning visitor: Show different pop-ups to visitors based on whether they are new or returning.

• Specific list: You can even target specific lists in your CRM with certain types of pop-ups.

Timing

• On page load

• X seconds after the page loads

• After scrolling X% of the page

• On exit intent: By using exit-intent technology, you can trigger pop-ups at the precise moment when a visitor is about to navigate away from your website. This timing can be crucial in capturing their attention and encouraging them to take action.

Information Captured

• Email

• SMS

• First Name

• Age (Alcohol Brands)

• Birthday

• Miscellaneous

Offers (You can read my post about all different types of offers here)

• Percentage off

• Gift with Purchase: You can gate the gift behind a $ threshold to encourage higher-order values. If you want to get crazy, have 1 or 2 gifts of increasing value that unlock at higher spend thresholds (i.e., you get this if you spend $50, but if you spend $100, you get this which is even better).

• Tiered Discounting: Even if it’s a traditional % off, this encourages customers to spend more (i.e., Spend $100 and get 20% off, Spend $150 and get 25% off).

• Limited Quantity Exclusives

• Buy X, Get Y

• Ethical Promotions: Donate a % of all sales to a cause or allow customers to choose whether they take advantage of your discount or donate to a charity 

Designing High-Converting Pop-ups

When it comes to pop-up effectiveness, design plays a crucial role. A well-designed pop-up can capture attention, convey your offer effectively, and inspire action.

Essential Design Tips for Ecommerce Pop-ups

When designing your ecommerce pop-ups, keep these tips in mind:

1. Keep it simple: Avoid clutter and overly complex designs that distract and confuse visitors. A clean, minimalistic design can help visitors focus on the main message and call to action.

2. Use eye-catching visuals: Incorporate compelling images or graphics that align with your offer and capture attention. Visuals can help convey your message more effectively and make your pop-up more memorable.

3. Create clear call-to-action buttons: Make it easy for visitors to take the desired action using clear and concise buttons. Use action-oriented language and ensure the buttons stand out from the rest of the design.

4. Optimize for mobile: Ensure that your pop-ups are mobile-responsive and provide a seamless experience for users on any device. With the increasing use of smartphones for online shopping, it's crucial to design pop-ups that are easily accessible and user-friendly on mobile devices.

Measuring the Success of Your Pop-up Strategies

To continuously improve your pop-up strategies, measuring their success and analyzing the results is essential. By understanding the importance of lead capture, exploring different types of pop-ups, designing high-converting pop-ups, crafting compelling content, implementing strategies strategically, and measuring the success of your efforts, you can create effective ecommerce lead capture and pop-up strategies that drive growth and conversions for your business.

Key Performance Indicators for Pop-up Strategies

When measuring the success of your pop-up strategies, consider the following key performance indicators:

• Placed Order rate: The % of leads captured who place an order.

• Form Submit rate: The percentage of visitors who provide their information.

• Engagement rate: The number of interactions with your pop-ups divided by the number of visitors.

• Bounce rate: The percentage of visitors who leave without interacting with your pop-ups.

Form submission rate is a crucial metric to track as it directly reflects the effectiveness of your pop-up strategies. A higher conversion rate indicates that many website visitors are engaging with your pop-ups and providing their information. This can lead to increased leads and potential sales.

Engagement rate measures the level of interaction with your pop-ups. A higher engagement rate suggests that your pop-ups capture your audience's attention and encourage them to take action. But, if you have a high engagement rate and low form submit rate, something is off.

Conversely, the bounce rate measures the percentage of visitors who leave your website without interacting with your pop-ups. A high bounce rate may indicate that your pop-ups are not effectively engaging your audience or appearing at the wrong time or place. It is important to analyze the reasons behind a high bounce rate and make necessary adjustments to improve the effectiveness of your pop-up strategies.

Analyzing and Improving Your Pop-up Strategy Performance

Regularly analyze the performance of your pop-up strategies to identify areas for improvement. Test different designs, headlines, offers, and timing to find the optimal combination that maximizes lead capture and conversions. Use analytics tools to track and analyze your pop-up performance and make data-driven decisions. Some things you can experiment with:

• Different colors, fonts, images, and layouts

• Headline copy

• Type of offer

• Timing of pop-up

• Placement of pop-up

• Targeting

What I’m Thinking About This Week - Tech Companies Have a Choice

Tech companies are faced with a critical choice right now. Become everything for everyone, or double down on what they do best. I will use two competitors, Klaviyo and Attentive, to highlight the different paths businesses can take now.

Become Everything for Everyone - Klaviyo

In the past few months, Klaviyo has released two new major products: reviews and CDP. I expect products like quizzes, surveys, and on-site personalization to come next.

Where they’re headed? Becoming the HubSpot of Ecommerce. An all-in-one platform for everything.

Double Down - Attentive

In the past few months, Attentive has been releasing significant improvements to its email and SMS products leveraging AI, addressing cross-channel orchestration and targeting in a big way. For example, why am I telling the platform who should receive an email versus a text and when should they receive it? Leveraging AI, we can be far more personalized and relevant with our communications, taking one step closer to actually being able to deploy 1:1 communication.

Where they’re headed? An extremely robust customer communication platform best leveraged by enterprise brands or customers who want best-in-class solutions that work cohesively together.

This Week’s The D2Z Podcast

#75 – The Shift in Media Consumption and Advertising Trends

🎧 Listen Now 🎧

In this week’s episode, I sat down with Carter Snyder, Associate Director at The Sasha Group, a VaynerX company built for marketing, education, and consulting to scale brands. Specifically, we explored the following:

💰 How the giants of digital platforms - like Walmart and Amazon - mold how we consume media.

📲 The shift from linear TV to streaming.

😎 How TikTok is shaking up Google search.

🚀 The art of managing teams and handling situations when performance doesn’t meet expectations.

App Update: Malomo’s New 2-click Tracking Page Creator

Malomo’s New 2-click Tracking Page Creator

With the new creator, brands can push a tracking page live in 2 clicks, add design assets, and easily drop other Shopify storefront apps on your page.

This makes hosting multiple order tracking pages and segmenting your customers to provide unique transactional experiences even easier.

Upcoming Events

October Schedule

LA 10/2-10/6 for the Shopify Enterprise Partner Summit, and Cleveland 10/8-10/11 for the Forbes 30under30 Summit.

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