Get More Email Subscribers With Exit Intent Popups [LNIM180]

Every visitor who leaves your site without subscribing is a missed opportunity. Exit intent popups give you one last chance to capture that visitor's email before they disappear. In this episode, Mark explains how exit intent popups work, how to make them convert, and why they should be part of your email growth strategy.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• What exit intent popups are and why they work for capturing email subscribers
• How to craft a compelling offer for both e-commerce and content sites
• Six proven techniques for increasing exit popup conversion rates
• Why retaining existing visitors is cheaper than acquiring new ones

Episode Summary

Mark opens with an important business principle: it is cheaper to bring back a repeat visitor than to acquire a new one. First-time visitors usually cost you money through ads or the significant effort of building organic traffic. Once you have them on your site, keeping them is relatively cheap, and that is where your email strategy becomes critical.

Mark has been experimenting with exit intent popups, which are triggered when a visitor's mouse moves toward closing the browser tab or navigating away. They are essentially a last-ditch attempt to capture a subscriber before they leave.

For e-commerce sites, the goal might be getting visitors to make a purchase before they leave. Offer a coupon or discount that is only valid for that moment. This way you can charge full price to visitors who are not leaving and reserve the discounted price for someone who was going to leave anyway. That is revenue you would have lost entirely.

For content sites, the goal is typically capturing an email address. The best way to do this is with a compelling lead magnet: a free course, a valuable download, or exclusive content they cannot get anywhere else.

Mark shares six techniques for making exit intent popups convert better:

1. Personalize the message. If you have the technology, use the visitor's name or other information to make the popup feel personal and relevant.

2. Offer content upgrades. Bonuses, infographics, or visual representations of your download make the offer more tangible and enticing.

3. Handle objections on the popup. Know your buyer's primary objections and address them directly in the popup copy.

4. Create scarcity and urgency. Limited-time offers or countdown timers increase the motivation to act immediately.

5. Try a pivot. Offer something unexpected like a quiz or assessment that engages the visitor in a different way.

6. Interrupt the pattern. Use an unexpected image, humor, or something that breaks the visitor's leaving behavior and makes them pause.

Key Takeaways

• Retaining visitors through email is significantly cheaper than acquiring new traffic
• Exit intent popups capture subscribers who would otherwise leave without converting
• E-commerce sites can use exit popups for last-chance discounts on abandoned visits
• Content sites should offer high-value lead magnets in their exit popups
• Personalization, urgency, and objection handling significantly increase popup conversion rates
• Pattern interrupts like humor or unexpected images can stop the leaving behavior

What's Changed Since This Episode

Mark recorded this episode in September 2019, and the popup landscape has shifted significantly. Google introduced stricter interstitial guidelines that penalize sites using intrusive popups, especially on mobile. Exit intent popups on desktop are generally not affected, but mobile implementations need to be carefully designed to avoid search ranking penalties.

Privacy regulations have expanded. GDPR in Europe, CCPA in California, and similar laws globally have added requirements for how you collect and handle email addresses. Your exit intent popup needs to include proper consent language and comply with the privacy laws applicable to your audience.

Popup tools have become more sophisticated. Platforms like OptinMonster, ConvertBox, and built-in tools from email providers now offer advanced targeting based on scroll depth, time on page, number of visits, and referral source. This allows you to show different exit intent offers to different visitor segments, dramatically improving conversion rates.

The Divi theme and Divi Life resources Mark mentions remain popular WordPress tools, though the WordPress ecosystem has expanded significantly with full-site editing and block themes becoming mainstream options alongside page builders.

Resources Mentioned

• Apple Podcasts — subscribe to LNIM
• Spotify — subscribe to LNIM
• LNIM Podcast

Related Episodes

If you found this episode helpful, you might also enjoy:

• LNIM181 — Email Deliverability: How To Protect Your List
• LNIM179 — Get More Traffic With Browser Push Notifications
• LNIM178 — Google Search Traffic Trends And Tips

Listen and Subscribe

Listen to Late Night Internet Marketing on Apple Podcasts or subscribe at latenightim.com/internet-marketing-podcast/. Have a question for Mark? Call the digital recorder at 214-444-8655 or drop a comment below.