Content Types
As a business owner, watching potential customers leave your website without engaging can be frustrating. It’s a challenge that directly impacts your bottom line.
But this isn’t an isolated problem. Research shows the average website conversion rate sits at a meager 3.68%. This means out of every 100 visitors browsing your site, only 3 or 4 people are likely to take any sort of action.
So, what can you do to grab hold of these missed opportunities? Exit-intent popups might be just the answer you’re looking for.
Exit-intent popups are strategic tools to help you potentially win back lost sales and connect, engage with and convert website visitors into leads.
In this article, you’ll learn all about exit-intent popups and how to create one for your website. We’ll also show you real-life examples of exit-intent popups in action to inspire your own.
An exit intent popup is a window with a message that “pops up” on users’ screens as they’re about to leave your website.
These pop-ups work by tracking the real-time cursor movement of your website visitors and triggering a strategically timed message. This could be a special discount, an announcement, a chance to sign up for your newsletter or simply a reminder of what they’re missing out on.
The goal is to make users think twice before leaving, possibly keeping them on the site longer or convincing them to take some sort of action.
Do they work? Yes, they do.
The latest studies show that exit-intent popups typically convert 2-4% of your website visitors. Yet, this begs the question: how does this strategy work for the growing number of users browsing on mobile devices?
Let’s explore this below.
The short answer is yes—exit intent popups work on mobile.
But since mobile users don't use a mouse, these pop-ups work differently than on desktops.
Here are a few triggers used to activate exit-intent popups on mobile devices:
Each trigger is designed to interpret the user’s intent to move away from your webpage. And then pop-ups swiftly appear to present a compelling reason for users to stay longer, or better yet, convert.
Visme is an all-in-one visual content creation platform that lets you easily create presentations, documents, infographics, printables, web graphics and more.
This exit-intent popup from Visme appears as visitors attempt to leave the blog. It features an animated character to grab attention, a short form and an ebook download in exchange for names and email addresses.
Why it works: Visme’s popup is created with the platform’s own form builder, which has been proven to boost conversions by up to 300%. It’s interactive, animated and offers a relevant lead magnet as an incentive—a guide to creating presentations for readers already consuming educational content on the blog. Plus, the short form has placeholder questions that make sign-up feel like a conversation.
We have an extensive library of templates to help you create interactive and 3D animated forms like this.
GQ is a famous international magazine that blends journalism and lifestyle content to create content focused on men's fashion, style and culture.
Their exit intent popup features a black-and-white color combination that’s aligned with their website's colors, clean fonts and a prominent “Subscribe Now” button. It also shows an image of the hat that new subscribers can expect to receive once they make a purchase.
Why it works: This exit intent popup by GQ is especially effective because of its unique offering. Not only do they offer a big 60% discount to new subscribers, but a free hat too. An offer like this creates immediate FOMO and encourages readers to buy before it’s too late.
Kiss My Keto offers a range of keto-friendly products and resources to help buyers achieve their health and fitness goals through a low-carb and high-fat diet.
Their exit intent popup features an eye-catching product slideshow that includes their granola line, breads and gummies, a multiple-choice question that visitors can use to identify themselves and an empty email field.
Why it works: Kiss My Keto’s exit popup is guaranteed to catch your attention, thanks to its vibrant slideshow and interactive short survey that not only gives visitors a 15% discount but also shows them personalized recommendations for products they might like.
The “UNLOCK 15% OFF” CTA button is also action-oriented and focuses on the incentive. It makes people feel like they’re doing themselves a favor instead of simply joining an email list.
HidrateSpark specializes in producing smart water bottles that help users monitor their water intake by syncing with a mobile app.
Their exit intent popup features on-brand colors and visuals, snazzy copy that incorporates emojis and an empty email field at the bottom.
Why it works: HidrateSpark’s exit intent popup is fun to interact with, especially because of its creative wordplay and abundance of emojis. They tell potential customers the type of emails they can expect to receive once they sign up and the “I don’t want 15% off” opt-out makes website visitors think twice before skipping the deal.
Rothy's is a sustainable fashion brand known for its eco-friendly shoes and accessories made from recycled materials.
Their exit intent popup uses a subtle background color, a relevant product image and a 20% discount offer for new subscribers. The layout is simple and attractive and aligns with the look and feel of their website.
Why it works: Rothy’s uses a straightforward approach with their exit-intent popups—no lengthy copy or questions, just a simple “I’m in” button for those who’re interested and a disclaimer at the end. This style works because it's less intrusive and respects the user's time and decision-making process.
HubSpot is a robust platform offering marketing automation, sales and support solutions to help businesses grow and manage customer relationships effectively.
Their exit-intent popup promotes an original research report that HubSpot releases an updated version of every year. The State of Marketing report contains the latest statistics and trends in marketing and is a popular resource for professionals all over the world.
Why it works: HubSpot’s State of Marketing Report is already a well-known resource, which in itself makes it an attractive lead magnet.
Most visitors to the website might not be aware that the company recently released an updated version of the report, which is why promoting it in their popup is a great idea. It entices visitors to be one of the first people to read the report, and since they were leaving anyway, HubSpot gets to grab their emails on their way out.
Zendesk is a customer service platform that streamlines support and engagement through its suite of communication tools.
Their website popup is unique in that instead of offering a lead magnet, a newsletter subscription or some kind of discount—it offers a demo instead.
Why it works: Zendesk’s popup shows the platform is confident in its ability to impress leads with its product. As a visitor attempts to leave their site, Zendesk offers to give them a tour of its customer service platform with a pre-recorded demo. It’s a smart way to make confused, hesitant or middle-of-the-funnel leads stay for longer and familiarize themselves with Zendesk’s platform.
Lush is a cosmetics brand known for its ethical., handmade and fresh products, including bath, body, hair and skincare items.
Their exit intent popup features relevant brand colors, product photos and a "Continue in app" button that catches visitors on their way out, making it easy for them to switch to the mobile app for a more personalized mobile shopping experience.
Why it works: The imagery on Lush’s exit-intent popup brings everything together, from brand colors to product offerings. The app redirect button works especially well because not only does it enhance user experience but also boosts your app engagement—a win-win for all.
CRAFTD is a jewelry brand known for its durable, trendsetting pieces designed for everyday wear.
Their exit intent popup showcases a cool product photo on one side and a discount offering on the other that incorporates CRAFTD’s branding assets including colors and logo.
Why it works: This exit intent popup is simple and direct, which alone makes it effective. Potential shoppers are immediately drawn in by a striking product photo and a tempting 10% discount offer in exchange for their email address. If the price was a concern, this discount directly addresses it, turning hesitant browsers into subscribers and potential customers.
Curls is a hair care brand that offers nourishing, natural and organic products designed especially for curly and textured hair.
Their exit intent popup offers an incentive for visitors to sign up to their email list and officially become a “CURLista.”
Why it works: The vibrant, colorful photo with an exaggerated facial expression works great for grabbing attention—much like in YouTube thumbnails. Plus, the 20% discount Curls offers as an incentive for something as simple as signing up makes the popup hard to resist, especially for shoppers who might be leaving because of the price tags.
SNOW offers advanced at-home teeth whitening solutions, combining innovative technology with safe ingredients to deliver fast and effective results.
Their exit-intent popup is bold, visual and offers a 25% discount to visitors who sign up with their email address.
Why it works: SNOW’s popup is attention-grabbing and offers an exciting incentive for visitors to subscribe and make a purchase. Better yet, it’s timely and uses urgency/scarcity to drive sales. By making it a “Valentine’s Day Sale”, the brand turns the discount into a limited-time offer shoppers should take advantage of as soon as possible before it expires.
Skullcandy designs audio products like headphones and earbuds that stand out for their exceptional sound quality, durable construction and trendy styles.
Their exit-intent popup is a classic example of how ecommerce brands can reel in potential customers. It offers lots of value upfront and asks for a simple email address in return.
Why it works: Skullcandy’s exit-intent popup not only alerts visitors about their ongoing sale but also gives them another reason to stay—an additional 10% discount if they sign up for their email newsletter and SMS marketing.
There are dozens of real-life examples proving the power of exit pop-ups. Different sources report from a 30% to a 300% increase in sales thanks to this handy CRO tool. While the credibility of most of these claims is doubtful, they still have a grain of truth to them. Even a 3% increase in conversions, as found by Sumo, is still a great opportunity you can’t afford to ignore.
Unlike on-page pop-ups, the ones triggered by an exit intent popup usually don’t hurt the UX or distract the visitors as they browse through your website. They don’t interrupt the user flow by blocking the content on the website while the visitors read it. As a result, they are less annoying than other types of page pop-ups.
The more options you offer, the fewer actions your visitors will usually take. Based on this phenomenon, also known as the paradox of choice, you should use only one CTA, clear and bold, if you want more conversions. With a full-screen exit intent popup, you can draw maximum attention to your CTA. As a result, your visitors cannot help but notice it.
There are many ways to take full advantage of your exit pop-ups. You can reinforce your initial offer by repeating the CTA used on the main page. In this case, make sure it doesn’t sound too pushy.
Alternatively, you can pitch visitors a different CTA. Maybe there is a reason why the original one didn’t work? You can also use a special offer, a free bonus, or simply ask them to sign up for your updates.
Exit pop-ups appear only when the visitor shows intent to leave the website. As a result, the visitors you are targeting are already about to leave. So, there is nothing to lose, right? The worst-case scenario is that they close the tab anyway.
On the other hand, they might as well change their mind if you manage to grasp their attention with a tempting offer or appealing message. In any case, it won’t hurt to try.
Considering these facts, our marketing team at Chanty also experimented with the exit pop-ups. Luckily for us, our efforts paid off well: we saw a 25% increase in sign-ups. Here are some takeaways you can put to test right away.
This infographic sums up everything you need to know about creating effective exit intent popups.
Made with Visme Infographic Maker
Creating an exit intent popup with Visme is super easy.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make one for your business:
Log in to your Visme account or sign up for free. Then head over to our form builder to create your popup.
On the screen in front of you, choose the type of form you want to create. Visme offers a variety of form types, including email popups, lead forms, contact forms and event registration—all of which can be effectively utilized as an exit intent popup.
Once you’ve made your form selection, you’ll see a bunch of interactive form templates to get started with.
All Visme templates are designed to grab your visitor's attention and fit with your site's look. So, pick one that catches your eye or matches your brand’s aesthetic and design.
Next, it's time to edit your exit-intent popup template.
All Visme templates are fully customizable—you can edit text or links, add/remove fields, change characters, add animations and interactivity, enable/disable form icons, or add images or videos using our intuitive editor.
You can also enable legal consent on your forms for GDPR compliance.
Pro-Tip: If you’re facing difficulty writing a copy for your form templates? Use our AI text generator. All you have to do is type a detailed prompt and let AI do all the heavy lifting for you. Edit the results, or ask AI to regenerate text till you're happy with what you have.Speed up your form creation and make sure everything is spot on by collaborating with team members—tag collaborators, assign/resolve tasks and share comments and feedback.
Before you move on to the next step, don't forget to apply branding elements to your forms, including colors, fonts and logos.
Instead of manually uploading your design assets, use the incredible power of Visme’s brand wizard tool. Just enter your web URL and the tool will automatically pull out all your design elements.
Make the most of your Visme forms by integrating them with other apps like Mailchimp, HubSpot, Salesforce and ActiveCampaign.
For example, you could set up an integration with HubSpot that automatically sends contacts collected from your forms to HubSpot. This won't just save you time but also boost the efficiency of your marketing campaigns.
Ready to share your form? Hit publish to get started.
Choose your embedding style, configure settings and copy and paste the embed code to your website or blog.
To enable exit intent popups, make sure you’ve turned this on:
Track the performance and analytics of your exit intent popups to see how it did—total views, form submissions, completion time and more. Use this data to test different messages, designs and offers to see what resonates with your audience.
You can also sort your form analytics by mobile device to track the effectiveness of your pop-ups across platforms. Then, create engaging reports with data visualization tools to analyze your popup activity and share the intelligence with your team and management.
Exit intent pop-ups work by tracking your website visitors' mouse movements. On mobile, they work by tracking behavioral cues like rapid scrolling or attempting to close a tab.
Triggering an exit intent popup is super easy in Visme.
Once you're done designing your popup, head over to the Publish page and toggle on the “When viewer attempts to leave page” option.
Visme utilizes advanced tracking algorithms to monitor user behavior on both desktop and mobile devices, so whenever it seems that the user is about to leave your website, the popup will appear.
Yes, exit intent popups are super effective. They provide a second chance to convert website visitors into subscribers, customers, or followers who might otherwise leave without taking any action.
The average exit intent popup conversion rate is between 2-4%. This number can increase or decrease depending on the industry, the offer and how well the popup is executed.
Every day, countless potential customers slip through the cracks, leaving your website without taking action. Use an exit-intent popup to re-engage some of these leads at the last minute and convince them to stay longer on your site, sign up or make a purchase.
With Visme, you can design engaging popup forms that visitors won’t be able to resist. They’re high-converting, interactive, super easy to build and integrate with your favorite apps. They also come with built-in analytics so you can easily track your popup’s performance.
Better yet, use Visme to create a bunch of other lead generation content, including lead magnets, social media posts, blog graphics and more. Personalize everything to fit your brand, use AI tools to speed up and enhance creation, and share and download in various ways.
Improve your data collection from emails, leads, to surveys and more, by using beautifully designed forms that convert up 2X better.
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About the Author
Zain is a freelance writer for eCommerce and SaaS businesses. When he’s not crafting converting copy and insightful content, he can be found making travel videos or discussing soccer on social media.