5 Creative Popup Strategies That Actually Enhance Brand Loyalty

While there seems to be a bit of a debate as to the usefulness of popups in 2024, it cannot be argued that popup strategies – particularly, well thought out strategies – have the potential to transform casual website visitors into engaged, loyal customers. The key lies in designing popups that provide actual value – working not only to guide the customer but enhance their overall experience. To do this, you will need to be creative. 

It’s not enough to simply pop up a generic offer or message. In 2024, online shoppers are more discerning than ever, so a one-size-fits-all approach will likely fall flat. To truly stand out and foster a sense of loyalty, your popups need to feel personalised, relevant, timely, and resonate completely with the individual’s needs and interests. With this in mind, here are five creative popup strategies that we think can actually enhance brand loyalty, rather than drive customers away.

Welcoming the Customer Personally

There’s no doubt that initiating a popup immediately upon a customer entering your website is risky. As mentioned before, many people aren’t fans of popups as a concept, and there are some customers who might find it intrusive. But they won’t find it intrusive if you’ve made personalisation the name of the game and demonstrated that you care about them as individuals. 

Personalised welcome popups can be a great way to help customers feel recognised, creating an immediate connection that starts off the relationship on a positive note. Some of the Shopify popup tools can be particularly helpful here. With tools allowing you to track customer behaviour – including their cart items and past purchases – you can create dynamic popups that show relevant content based on what they’ve previously engaged with.

Inviting the Customer to Exclusive Programs

We can’t tell you the amount of times we’ve clicked on a website, only to be met by a generic popup offering a similarly generic discount. It’s important to write this plainly: generic discount offers do not work. What does work is a customised invitation for customers to join exclusive loyalty or rewards programs. You need to present your popup as an opportunity to interact with the brand, join a VIP club, and get special perks – such as early access to sales, members-only content, or reward points. By creating a sense of exclusivity, you’re working to strengthen the emotional connection the customer has with your brand, encouraging them to feel more personally invested.

Engaging the Customer with Gamified Popups

One of the latest website trends in 2024 is ‘gamification’, where brands utilise interactive elements to engage customers and add an element of playfulness and excitement to their experience. This can similarly be achieved with popups. Whether it’s a little ‘Spin the Wheel’ game or a quick quiz that rewards customers with discounts or gifts, you have the opportunity to engage visitors on a different level, making them feel both connected and rewarded for spending time on your site. 

Aligning the Popup With Your Brand

The majority of internet users will close a popup without actually reading the content, so it’s important to get the design right. By that we mean, don’t put all your effort into the content itself, but put effort into the way that content looks. A visually appealing popup – with elements that align clearly with your brand’s aesthetic, including colours, tone, typography and imagery  – can grab the attention immediately, making it far more likely that the visitor will stay long enough to read what’s inside.

In many cases, popups are strategically designed to help the user navigate a site, sending them to the right places and making the overall user experience far more intuitive. But this won’t happen if the popup itself doesn’t feel organic. You need to work hard to ensure it’s not a jarring interruption, but more of a clean, natural, and elegant addition to your site – an extension rather than a disruption.

Creating a Sense of Urgency

Lastly, with the aesthetic in mind, you should also draw the eye by creating a sense of urgency. For example, a popup that states: ‘Hurry, 10% off ends in 2 hours!’ is far more likely to incite engagement than a popup that takes its time and doesn’t offer any immediate value. You need to tell the customer that there is a quick chance of a reward or exclusive discount if they interact with the popup, and subsequently increase the likelihood of engagement and future purchases. 

To read more content like this, explore The Brand Hopper

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