❌This is hurting your email sign-ups→ how to fix it

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Final day of the work week. Try not to let it get you down.

I’ll keep my chin up with today’s Main Thing→ the smartest forms I could find for collecting email addresses. All are swipeable and adaptable to any type of business. 

They don’t require big visual changes to your forms or technical fixes.

Afterward, dig into This Week’s Marketing Wrap-Up. Quick poll below, then we’ll get going…

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The Main Thing

#1 Tweak to Increase Email Sign-ups

Muscle memory is your enemy.

Your audience has X’d out a million pop-up forms. 

If you’re using the traditional “X at the top right corner” of pop-up forms, you’re making it too easy for people to close the pop-up form (see below).

That X is the most recognizable indicator in the history of the web.

Give users a different way to close the pop-up. Get rid of the X.

Don’t worry about irritating people. Nobody’s gonna cancel their internet service because they couldn’t close yours form fast enough. 

Want to keep the X? Put a 3-second delay on it appearing. 

All you’re trying to do is “UNautomate” the closing of the pop-up due to muscle memory.

That’s the best way to get more sign-ups IMO. But I listed a few alternative forms you can try.

First, more proof about the power of muscle memory defeating your marketing efforts.

1. 10-15% of users who would’ve naturally left the site can be retained when presented with a well-crafted message at the right moment. Proves muscle memory and habitual browsing make many users leave sites early.

2. Adding an opt-out button (instead of an "X") increases conversion rates by 14.34% (from 7.04% to 8.05%). 

3. Mobile pop-ups outperform desktop pop-ups by 42.04%, This suggests desktop users have more ingrained habits for slamming pop-ups closed, due to years of conditioning with the "X" in the top right corner.

Now for Those Alternate Example Sign-Up Forms…

Example above is smart to use a happy reader’s quote. Better when the reader is a big deal like in the one above.

This one above fails to remove the X but at least it blends with the background. Points for the form matching the vibe of the webpage (yoga-ish).

A+ on this final one above. No X. Has a prominent discount AND a countdown timer. 

Let’s slide into This Week’s Marketing Wrap-Up.

Thanks for reading Inbox Hacking. Please share it with a friend, co-worker, or good-looking stranger. It might be a romantic ice-breaker, who knows?

Shane McLendon - Copy Kingpin

“The main point of a pop-up ad is to make visitors feel like they’re getting something others aren’t.” ~Neil Patel