pop-ups – Maine Creative Services

When marketers act like pushy strangers

Tom McKay — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:03:55 +0000

Imagine a complete stranger walking up and demanding your name, phone number or other contact info. Whether it’s on the sidewalk or at a party, that degree of pushiness, especially by a complete stranger, would be totally unwelcome. And yet marketers do it all the time.

I’m talking about those pop-up windows that ask for your email address in exchange for some information that might be worth your time and might interest you. Then again, it might not. After all, they don’t know you, or anything about you — except that somehow you landed on their website. You probably know little or nothing about them too.

Entry “pop-up sign-ups” are the most annoying. These appear almost immediately after you land on a page — before you’ve had a chance to look around and see what the site is all about. Another appears every time you click anything. If you’re anything like me, you quickly tire of the nonsense and exit the site.

Supposedly, they’re a proven way to increase sign-ups. Maybe. But I wonder how many frustrated visitors (like me) enter a phony or never-checked email address just so they’ll be left alone. If that’s the case, the quantity of sign-ups may increase, but the quality suffers.

Are you suffering from "Premature Pop-up?"

Tom McKay — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:39:01 +0000

Too many information marketers are making the same stupid mistake. Seconds after you arrive at their site, a pop-up (or slide-in) window appears, asking you to fork over your precious contact information. Hey man, I don’t even know you.

Just like in comedy, the secret is… (one, two, three) timing. Why would I be willing to fill out your form when you haven’t even given me a chance to read anything yet! I don’t know you, how good you are, or whether your expertise is even relevant to the problem I’m trying to solve. Back off, Jack.

Imagine a guy walking up to a good looking woman at a party or bar. Instead of saying hello and getting acquainted, he immediately says, “Please give me your name, e-mail address, and maybe your phone number too, while you’re at it.” The fact that you would even ask for that kind of intimate information before you’ve established any kind of relationship makes you seem a little, well… creepy. It’s annoying and off-putting.

Business owners and marketers: Don’t be a victim of “premature e-POP-ulation.” Get to know your website visitors a little before you ask them if you can contact them. Otherwise they’re going to look for someone who’s not so pushy.