Have you ever tried to get a word in with your group of friends but to no avail? You have something important to say but it’s impossible to convey your message when your friends’ attention cannot be captured.

The online world often operates like this. Even if your business or organization does succeed at drawing visitors to your website, it’s another challenge to get them to answer your call-to-action (signing up for a mailing list, downloading an offer, etc.). Your visitors’ attention is constantly being divided between Internet and real-world distractions.

That’s why many website owners utilize lightbox popups to generate more leads. Lightboxes are forms that appear on your website after a visitor has been on your page for a certain amount of time. The lightboxes might urge visitors to sign up for emails, offer information about learning more about a product or service, or provide a link to a promotion.

But as with any tool, there are right and wrong ways to incorporate lightboxes into your digital marketing strategy. It should be noted that lightboxes aren’t for everyone; some businesses choose not to use lightboxes out of concern that it might be more distracting than helpful for their site’s visitors. Digital marketing isn’t one-size-fits-all but here are a few ways you can harness the power of lightboxes if you wish to start using them or improve what you already have:

1. Time Them Strategically

If your popup is activated the moment a visitor goes to your website, you might overwhelm them. You’ll do better to time your lightbox according with a visitor’s website behaviors and mouse movements. You can create “exit” lightboxes that are activated if the visitor makes an action that makes it seem that they are about to leave your website, or you can create lightbox plugins that pop up after a visitor has been on your site for awhile. But make sure your lightboxes have a clear, identifiable “X” button so that they can close it. Yes, lightboxes will give you a better chance of getting a lead but don’t annoy your visitors in the process of getting one.

2. Create Multi-page Forms

If you want to get more in-depth information about your visitors so that you can properly perform segmented marketing in the future, you should use lightboxes that include more than just an email signup form. The first page of your form can be a place where people add their names and email addresses while the subsequent pages can ask for more detailed information, such as job type, gender, location, goals, etc.

Just be sure that you don’t have so many pages that your potential customers get frustrated and abandon your form altogether. The good news however, is that if they’ve already entered their email addresses, you can still market to them in future campaigns because you have their contact information.

3. Be Clear About Your Calls-to-Action

What is it that you want to give visitors as a ‘reward’ for becoming one of your leads? Whatever it is you’re offering to potential leads in exchange for their contact information, it’s important to relate the offer to your business. Don’t present a coupon for an eatery if you’re a financial/debt settlement firm or non-hospitality business. Don’t give all your information away for free, lest your visitors simply use your free services in lieu of actually hiring you. Don’t offer a free subscription to your newsletter if it doesn’t exist. And don’t offer promotional deals if it’s not within your budget to do so.

4. Match Your Lightbox with Your Branding

Make sure your coloring, lighting, images, text, and voice match the rest of your website and marketing collateral. You may confuse visitors if your lightbox differs drastically from the rest of your branding. In fact, they might confuse your popup for an ad or spam.

Get in touch with Social Spice Media to learn more about developing an affordable, functional website for your business and how you can effectively spend your marketing dollars. Our team pays attention to your goals and creates a custom strategy that delivers results.
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