Digital products like audio files, eBooks, templates, stock photos, and even software can be a great stream of revenue. Without the need for inventory or shipping, you can scale your digital product sales more easily than sales of a physical product.

In this article, I’ll show you step-by-step how to sell digital products with WooCommerce, and share some pro tips for increasing your digital product sales.

• What Is a Digital Product?
• What Is WooCommerce?
• How to Sell Digital Products With WooCommerce
• Next Steps: Customize Your WooCommerce Store
• How to Sell More Digital Products

What Is a Digital Product?

A digital product is a piece of media or other asset that is sold and used on a device like a computer or smartphone.

Digital products can be educational, entertaining, or a bit of both. Some examples of digital items include:

• Apps or plugins
• Music files
• Graphics (like stock photography or illustrations)
• eBooks
• PDFs
• Online courses
• Memberships
• Content subscriptions

Digital products have several advantages over physical products.

1. You can sell unlimited quantities with little or no additional production and delivery costs.
2. There’s no need to store inventory or deal with shipping.
3. Delivery can be instant.

There are also some disadvantages:

1. It can be harder to demonstrate the purpose and value of a digital product.
2. Digital products are perceived as lower value.
3. The market for digital products tends to be crowded.

Since you’re reading this article, we assume that you’re interested in selling digital products. Let’s look at one of the best solutions to do that: WooCommerce.

What Is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is an eCommerce platform for selling both physical and digital products on WordPress websites. In fact, as a WordPress plugin, WooCommerce itself can be considered a digital product!

The core WooCommerce plugin is free and open source. There are hundreds of other related plugins, extensions, and themes for customizing your digital store. Some of those plugins and extensions are free, while others are paid.

Many eCommerce businesses use WooCommerce to sell their products. The plugin is well supported and reliable. Like WordPress itself, WooCommerce is almost infinitely customizable. You can use it to create the perfect digital product store for your business.

Now let’s learn how to set up a WooCommerce store to sell digital products.

How to Sell Digital Products With WooCommerce (Tutorial)

Selling digital products on WooCommerce is relatively easy. We’ll walk you through the process step by step. Here’s a map of what we’ll be doing:

• Before You Get Started
• Step 1: Install WooCommerce
• Step 2: Set Up Payments
• Step 3: Configure WooCommerce for Digital Products
• Step 4: Create a Digital Product Listing in WooCommerce

Before You Get Started

First, let’s make sure we have all the necessary “ingredients.” To sell digital products with WooCommerce, you will need:

• A hosted WordPress website and domain name, which you can get from a hosting provider like Bluehost
• The WooCommerce plugin, which you can download for free from your WordPress dashboard (we’ll show you how!)
• Your digital product file
• A title, description, featured image, any additional product images, and price for your digital product
• A payment gateway account like PayPal or Stripe (you can choose more than one)

It’s good to have all the pieces ready to go before you start. That way you don’t have to stop in the middle of the instructions to look for a file or try to write new copy quickly. Once you have everything you need, let’s get started!

Step 1. Install WooCommerce

The first step I took was to install the WooCommerce plugin. From my WordPress dashboard, I navigated to Plugins » Add New.

I simply searched for WooCommerce in the search box near the top of the page.

I found WooCommerce in the search results and clicked the Install button.

Once installation is complete, the button text will change to Activate. I clicked on Activate to finish installing the plugin.

You’ll see a setup wizard. You can click to skip the wizard for now if you like, since many of the questions only apply to physical products. You’ll just need to enter your location. Don’t worry, I’ll walk you through the exact steps for selling digital products.

Step 2. Set Up Payments

Now, let’s make sure you can get paid. To start this process, I clicked on WooCommerce » Settings in the left navigation menu and then clicked on the Payments tab.

Click the toggle to enable the payment processors you want to use. I want to use WooCommerce’s payment gateway, so I found WooPayments at the top of the list and clicked the Install button.

You’ll need to follow the instructions for setting up whichever payment method you choose. If you choose WooPayments, follow the WooPayments Startup Guide.

Step 3. Configure WooCommerce for Digital Products

Next, let’s get WooCommerce set up to deliver your digital products properly. I navigated back to WooCommerce » Settings and clicked on the Products tab.

Then I clicked on Downloadable products.

You’ll see a dropdown menu for File Download method. I recommend selecting Force downloads or X-Accel-Redirect/X-Sendfile to protect your file link from unauthorized sharing. Force Download uses PHP to force the file to download without loading the file URL in the browser.

Choose a level of Access restriction. I recommend not requiring login and granting access after payment for fastest product delivery. Make sure you enable guest checkout if you aren’t going to require login. You may need different settings if you’re selling memberships or subscriptions.

If you only sell digital products, you can also turn off stock management to remove options from your dashboard that you won’t use. Go to WooCommerce » Settings » Products and click on Inventory.

Click the checkbox to uncheck Enable stock management.

Now you’re ready to create your digital product listing!

Step 4. Create a Digital Product Listing in WooCommerce

Here are all the pieces of a WooCommerce product listing and where they appear on the live page.

Now let’s build this step by step!

From the WordPress dashboard, I clicked Products in the left menu. I clicked on the Create Product button.

This is where you’ll add your product name.

Next, add your long description. This should include a detailed description of the product and how it will benefit the customer. You also want to clearly state which files they’ll get and how it will be delivered, such as instant download or email. Finally, make sure to include a call to action that recaps the benefits

Once that’s done, I’m going to configure this product as a digital product. I scrolled down to the Product data section and checked the checkboxes for Virtual and Downloadable. This will remove the options for shipping, which you don’t need, and add options for downloadable digital files. For now, I’ll stick with creating a Simple Product.

Add the price of your digital product. You can also schedule sale prices to stop and start ahead of time.

Now it’s time to add your digital product file. Click on the Add File button.

Give your file a name. This will be visible to customers, so make it informative and easy to read. The product name along with your business name should be included.

If your file is uploaded somewhere else like Dropbox or Google Drive, add the file URL. If you need to upload your file to WordPress, click the Choose file button.

When the WordPress media library pops up, click on the Upload Files tab and either drag a file into the window or click Select Files to choose one from your computer. Once it’s uploaded, click Insert file URL.

If you’d like, set the Download limit. This is how many times a customer can re-download the file after purchase. It’s convenient to allow more than 1 download in case they lose the file or need to download it onto another device. You can also leave this field blank to allow unlimited re-downloads.

You can also set the Download expiry if you want. This is the number of days before a download link expires. Setting a link expiration date motivates customers to download and start using their file quickly while they are still excited about their purchase. If you do set an expiration date, make sure to note this in the product description. If you leave this blank, the link will enver expire.

Enter a short description. This shows up at the top of the product page and may also show up on product tables and archive pages, depending on your WordPress theme and other design settings.

Now, I’ll add some product images. These are very important for digital products to give customers an idea of what they’re buying. The product image is similar to the featured image on a WordPress blog post. It’s the main image that represents the product, so choose wisely. Click on Set product image to upload a product image.

You can also add additional images in the product gallery. This is a good place to add a table of contents and sample pages for eBooks, watermarked versions of stock photos or illustrations, or a preview of what a plugin or app looks like when installed.

You can also add product tags or categories just as you would for a blog post. Here’s a tutorial for how to add categories and tags in WordPress if you need help.

Congratulations, you just added a digital product to your WordPress site!

Next Steps: Customize Your WooCommerce Store

Now that you have a digital product ready to sell, you can repeat the process for other digital products.

You may also want to consider further customizing your WooCommerce store to match your branding and workflow. There are hundreds of extensions and themes for WooCommerce to help you do that.

A full tutorial on customizing your WooCommerce store is too much to include in this article, but here are some articles on building a custom product page, creating a checkout page popup, and choosing the best WooCommerce theme.

How to Sell More Digital Products

Selling digital products is just another form of eCommerce. Many of the eCommerce optimization strategies originally meant for physical goods apply to digital products as well. Here are some of our favorite tips for boosting your conversion rates and digital product sales.

1. Capture Abandoning Visitors

One of the biggest challenges facing online business owners is cart and site abandonment. This is when visitors leave their shopping cart or your entire website without taking any action.

The good news is that both problems have an easy solution: exit-intent popups.

An exit-intent popup is a campaign that appears as users are navigating out of your website.

Imagine a visitor reaching your digital download product page. They spend a few seconds looking at it but start to leave the page. This triggers a popup to grab their attention and contact information for follow-up emails.

Here’s an example of what an exit-intent popup might look like:

Exit-intent popups have been proven to grow email lists and drastically BOOST sales. But how can you make these campaigns if you’re not very technical?

That’s where OptinMonster comes in:

OptinMonster is the best WordPress lead generation plugin that you can use to build high-converting campaigns FAST.

You start by choosing one of OptinMonster’s many campaign types. These include things like:

• Popups
• Floating bars
• Fullscreen welcome mats
• Slide-in scroll boxes
• Gamified spin-to-win wheels
• And more…

From there, you can select from any of OptinMonster’s 700+ templates:

These are all mobile-friendly and 100% responsive, so you know they’ll look and function great across devices. Plus, we offer dozens of mobile-first templates, which you can pair with our Device-Based Targeting.

Then, your campaign will appear in the OptinMonster editor. This is where you can add new features or change the text without any coding experience.

That’s because OptinMonster has a drag-and-drop editor that makes modifications EASY:

Once your popup looks the way you want it to, you can determine precisely who will see your campaign and when. You can do this in just a few clicks with our display rules.

To create an exit popup, you’ll choose Exit-Intent® in the display rules Our Exit-Intent® technology lets you show your best offers right as users are about to leave your online store. Exit popups can help you win a sale or collect a shopper’s email address, so you can continue nurturing them through email marketing.

Once you’ve selected Exit-Intent®, you’ll set the sensitivy level for the feature and save:

OptinMonster also integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, so you can target your campaigns based on the product page your shopper is viewing, their cart total, and more.

Once you have your display setting exactly how you want them, simply publish your campaign and start seeing results!

Shockbyte used OptinMonster’s Exit-Intent® popups to double their sales and grow their business 10x!

We’re confident that you can see similar results by clicking below and starting your 100% risk-free OptinMonster account today:

2. Incentivize Your Audience

As a business owner, you have specific actions you want your customers to take. But they will only take the action if they feel like they get something out of it.

This means you need to incentivize your audience to take action. This can be done in a few ways, but the most effective is with a sale or discount on your downloadable product.

As we mentioned earlier, you can quickly create and schedule sale prices for all of your digital goods directly in WooCommerce. So an incentive could be as simple as a popup reminding them to check out the sale prices.

You can also use Advanced Coupons for WooCommerce to extend your coupon features.

Advanced Coupons lets you give your customers more exciting offers like BOGO deals, loyalty program points, URL coupons, auto-apply coupons, and much more. There’s also a free version of the plugin with limited features.

You can use OptinMonster’s many campaigns to promote these incentives across your website.

Imagine, for example, showing a sale for your digital product in a floating bar on key pages across your site:

And you also have the ability to target these campaigns to any page on your website.

Or you can let your user’s behavior determine whether or not the campaign will appear. You have 100% control over when, where, and to whom this incentive appears.

As a result, you’ll have a more personalized customer journey and more sales for your WooCommerce digital product.

3. Add Social Proof

It’s no secret that when it comes to marketing, social proof just works.

Online consumers are hardwired to look for signs of social proof to be sure others have tested (and loved) your products.

That’s why you should leverage social proof across your website to increase conversions for your digital downloads.

Social proof can take many forms, including:

• Reviews
• Testimonials
• Social media posts talking about your brand
• Case studies
• And much more…

But the most effective form of social proof comes in the form of a small notification.

These messages looking something like this:

The example above would be for physical products, but you can create the same type of notification for digital downloads, too.

How? You can quickly create social proof notifications with a tool like TrustPulse:

TrustPulse is hands down the best social proof software on the market. It lets anyone create highly effective social proof notifications in minutes.

Plus, there are no technical or coding skills required.

Once you download and activate the TrustPulse plugin, you’ll have immediate access to 4 types of campaigns:

• Recent Activity: Show a live stream of website activity like purchases, registrations, signups, and more.
• On-Fire: Display the number of people taking action on your website in a given period.
• Visitor Analytics: Highlight active interest in your site by showing real page visitors over time.
• Action Message: Show a single static notification to drive more visitors into action.

It’s no surprise that TrustPulse users have seen instant boosts in sales by up to 15%.

Ready to see it in action for yourself? Get started with your 100% risk-free TrustPulse account today!

4. Run an Online Contest

So far, we’ve looked at a few ways you can boost sales from people who are already on your website. But what about getting more people who AREN’T on your website to come visit your product page?

For that, there’s no better solution than running an online contest.

In many cases, you’d want to make the prize something your target audience really wants. So it only makes sense to create a contest around your digital product. Not only will this expand your brand’s presence online, but it will also educate more of your audience on what your product is and why it’s the perfect solution to a problem they face.

And if you use a tool like RafflePress, you can design these contests to get TONS of traction:

RafflePress is the best giveaway and contest builder plugin for WordPress.

RafflePress lets people enter contests with “entry tickets.” But each participant can have multiple entry tickets depending on the actions they perform.

You could, for example, award 1 entry ticket for users who check out your product page. But then you can add 3 entry tickets to people who sign up to your email list.

Now a single participant can have 4 entry tickets which will increase their odds of winning. As you can imagine, this gives people an extra incentive to interact with more of your calls to action (CTAs).

After the contest is over, you’ll have 1 winner. That means you’ll also have:

• 1 solid lead for a testimonial in your hands
• A long email list with warm leads who’ve shown direct interest in your product

From there, you just need to nurture your leads through some email marketing best practices.

Get started with your 100% risk-free RafflePress account today!

5. Leverage Push Notifications

If you aren’t currently using push notifications to reach your audience, then you’re missing out.

Push notifications are small messages that appear on your audience’s browser. But they also stay on their browser until there’s an interaction:

They either need to click to visit your product page or click to close the notification.

Either way, they need to click.

Plus, these messages are easy to subscribe to since your visitors only need to hit an Allow button to sign up. That means they never have to hand over personal details like their name or email address.

Imagine having an audience of thousands that you can instantly share your digital product with.

How can you make that happen? We highly recommend going with a software like PushEngage:

PushEngage is the leading push notification software on the market today.

It has everything you need to target your audience and send high-converting messages. Plus, it comes with all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a premium software such as segmentation, personalization, and automated drip sequences.

Other key features include A/B testing, campaign scheduling, cart abandonment sequences, and much more.

Want to see it in action for yourself? Try out PushEngage 100% risk-free today!

Start Selling Digital Products With WooCommerce

Now you know how to sell digital products with WooCommerce.

Digital products can be a scalable and sustainable revenue generator for your business. WooCommerce is a great solution for selling digital products, whether you also sell physical products or not.

Want to learn more about selling digital products? Here are some resources to help:

• How to Sell Digital Products Online (5 Proven Tips)
• How to Launch a Product: 14-Step Checklist for Your Next Product Launch
• How to Market Digital Products: 11 Proven Strategies

For example, here at OptinMonster, we understand that our ideal customers include entrepreneurs, small business owners and marketers, and marketing professionals at medium and large businesses. Our target audience wants to improve their website conversions with an affordable, easy-to-use tool. This knowledge helps us create buyer personas that inform all our marketing and sales efforts.

In this blog, I’ll share a step-by-step guide on how to create a buyer persona, along with free buyer persona templates and examples.

• What is a Buyer Persona?
• Why Are Buyer Personas Important?
• Types of Buyer Personas
• How to Create a Buyer Persona
• Buyer Persona Templates and Generators
• 188 Buyer Persona Questions
• Buyer Persona Examples

What Is a Buyer Persona?

A buyer persona is a detailed, fictional profile representing your ideal customer or a segment of your target audience.

Also known as a customer persona, audience persona, or marketing persona, this tool is crafted from research and data about real customers and helps you better understand and relate to your potential customers’ needs, behaviors, and preferences.

It includes information but is not limited to:

• Who your customer is
• What they do for a living
• Their basic demographic info
• What problem they need to solve
• Their buying habits

Here’s an example of what a typical buyer persona might look like:

You may have more than one buyer persona. In fact, you probably should. Most products and services are a good fit for several different “types” of people, so you’ll need to create a buyer persona for each.

That way, when you write any blog post, email, or sales pitch (or even create a new product), you’ll know precisely which buyer persona(s) you are targeting. And in turn, you’ll enjoy much higher conversion rates.

Why Are Buyer Personas Important?

Buyer personas are important for businesses as they enable personalized marketing, improve customer experiences, foster team alignment, and support data-driven decision-making.

1. Personalized marketing: A buyer persona allows a business to tailor their marketing efforts to its target audience’s specific needs and wants.

2. Improve customer experience: By better understanding their customer pain points and goals, a business can create products and services that better meet their needs and provide a better overall customer experience.

3. Align teams: A buyer persona helps teams across the organization have a common understanding of the target audience, which leads to more consistent marketing messaging and branding.

4. Make data-driven decisions: By using data and research to validate the buyer persona, businesses can make data-driven decisions about their marketing and product development strategies.

Okay, now that you know what a buyer persona is and why it’s so important for your business, let’s dive into how to create your own!

Types of Buyer Personas

Here are some common types of buyer personas:

1. The Bargain Hunter: This persona is primarily price-motivated and always seeks the best deal. They are likely to be influenced by discounts, coupons, and sales.

2. The Quality Seeker: Quality and durability of products are the main concerns for this persona. They are willing to pay a higher price for products that offer superior quality or unique features.

3. The Brand Loyalist: This persona strongly prefers certain brands and is less price-sensitive regarding their favorite brands. They often make repeat purchases and can become brand advocates.

4. The Researcher: This buyer persona spends much time researching products before purchasing. They are detail-oriented and seek out comprehensive information, reviews, and comparisons.

5. The Impulsive Buyer: Often driven by emotion, this persona makes quick purchase decisions without much prior research. They are more likely to be influenced by eye-catching marketing and time-sensitive offers.

6. The Ethical Consumer: This persona prioritizes products and brands that are environmentally friendly, socially responsible, or aligned with their values.

7. The Tech Enthusiast: Always on the lookout for the latest technological advancements, this persona values innovation and cutting-edge product features.

8. The Convenience Seeker: For this persona, ease of purchase, delivery, and use is key. They value straightforward, hassle-free shopping experiences and might prefer online shopping or products that save time.

How To Create a Buyer Persona in 4 Steps

• Step 1: Conduct Market Research
• Step 2: Identify Pain Points and Goals
• Step 3: Create a Profile
• Step 4: Validate, Refine, and Update Your Persona

Step 1: Conduct Market Research

Identify the Target Audience

The first step in creating a buyer persona is identifying your target audience. This may involve analyzing your current customer base, looking at demographic data, or conducting surveys and focus groups. The goal is to understand who your customers are and what they need from your product or service.

Gather Demographic Information

Once you have identified your target audience, gathering demographic information is next. This may include age, gender, income, education level, location, and interests. This information will help you better understand your customers and create a more accurate representation of your ideal customer.

Analyze Market Data

In addition to demographic data, iit’s important to analyze market data such as customer behavior and purchasing habits. This information will give you insights into how your customers make buying decisions and what factors influence them.

You can gather your audience’s data from your customer database, Google Analytics, and social media analytics.

Step 2: Identify Pain Points and Goals

Determine the Challenges Faced by Your Target Audience

It’s important to understand the challenges faced by your target audience, as this will help you identify their pain points. This may involve researching common problems in your industry or conducting surveys and focus groups to gather customer feedback.

Understand Their Goals and Aspirations

In addition to identifying pain points, it’s important to understand your customers’ goals and aspirations. This will give you insight into what motivates them and what they hope to achieve by using your product or service.

The sales team and customer support department are key to answering these questions. Still, another great way is to engage in some social listening and social media sentiment analysis.

Putting up search streams to track mentions of your brand, products, and competitors gives you real-time insight into what people are talking about you online. This way, you know what they love about your products or what needs to be improved.

Step 3: Create a Profile

Give Your Buyer Persona a Name

Once you have gathered all your data, the next step is creating a profile for your buyer persona.

Start by giving them a name. Giving your persona a name will help to humanize them and make it easier to refer to them when making decisions about your business.

Develop a Detailed Description of Your Persona

The next step is to develop a detailed description of your persona, including demographic information, pain points, goals, and motivations. You can also include a photo or illustration to help you visualize the persona.

The more detailed the profile, the better you’ll be able to understand your target audience and tailor your marketing efforts to their needs.

 Step 4: Validate, Refine, and Update Your Persona

Conduct Surveys and Interviews With Your Target Audience

To make sure that your buyer persona is accurate, it’s important to validate it through surveys and interviews with your target audience. This will give you additional insights and help refine your persona as needed.

Analyze Customer Feedback and Data

You can also analyze customer feedback and data to see how well your persona matches your customers’ actual behavior. You may need to revise and refine your persona based on this information.

Your buyer persona is not set in stone and should be updated as you gather more information. Continuously review and refine your persona as you collect new data and insights.

Buyer Persona Templates and Generator

There are tons of free buyer persona templates and buyer persona generators available on the internet, but here is a curated list of all the best ones.

1. Xtensio’s User Persona Creator

Xtensio’s User Persona Creator is a neat app that offers a buyer persona template that allows you to enter your persona’s demographics, goals, frustrations, bio, motivations, preferred channels, and brands. You can even add modules to the avatar as you see fit. Register for a free account to get started with the tool.

2. Digital Marketer’s Customer Avatar Worksheet

Digital Marketer’s Customer Avatar Worksheet is the buyer persona template we use here at OptinMonster. It includes all the important areas in a simple PDF format that you can fill on your computer.

3. Demand Metric’s Buyer Persona Template

Demand Metric’s Buyer Persona Template is an Excel spreadsheet that includes multiple tabs for multiple consumer personas. It’s a great way to view all of your target customers at a glance, with all relevant information. They’ve even included a video with helpful instructions for filling it out.

4. Marketo’s Marketing Persona Cheat Sheet

Marketo’s Marketing Persona Cheat Sheet is unique because it includes a fill-in-the-blank map for creating your consumer persona. It also contains instructions for how to create a customer journey, along with a buyer journey template.

5. Filestage’s Buyer Persona Template

Filestage’s Buyer Persona Template is simple and elegant. Some unique features of this template are sections for a tag cloud, archetype, and product adoption group. It also comes with a PowerPoint version as well as a PDF version.

6. “MakeMyPersona” Buyer Persona Generator

MakeMyPersona is a buyer persona generator by HubSpot. All you have to do is click on the “Start Making My Persona” button, and it will ask you a series of questions about your ideal customer. Once you’re done, they’ll send you a PDF with a headshot for your customer avatar.

188 Buyer Persona Questions

While the above buyer persona templates are excellent starting points, sometimes you’ll want to go more in-depth than the questions covered by any generic template.

Depending on your industry and your products, certain “niche” buyer persona questions are important for your business to answer.

To help you discover these questions, we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of every possible question you want to ask about your target customer. The list is broken down into categories, so focus on your business’s relevant categories and questions.

Demographics

1. What is your name?
2. What is your age?
3. What is your gender?
4. Where do you live?
5. What is your racial/ethnic heritage?
6. What is your annual income?
7. What is your highest level of education?
8. What is your occupation?

Back Story

1. What is your birthplace?
2. Where did you grow up?
3. Was it a rural, suburban, or urban area?
4. What kind of house did you grow up in?
5. Who raised you?
6. What did your parents (or primary caregivers) do for a living?
7. Are your parents still married?
8. Did your parents have a permissive or authoritarian parenting style?
9. Do you have any siblings?
10. What is your birth order?
11. What are your favorite childhood memories?
12. What were your favorite childhood activities?
13. What was your favorite subject in school?
14. What was your least favorite subject?
15. What grades did you get in school?
16. Do you enjoy learning new things?
17. Did you have a lot of friends, a few close friends, or no friends?
18. Did you get in trouble at school?
19. Did you attend college?
20. If so, what did you major in?
21. What college did you attend?
22. Did you enjoy your college experience?
23. What did you do after high school if you didn’t attend college?
24. What stopped you from going to college?
25. What was your first job?

Personal Life

1. What is your marital status?
2. Are you happy about your current marital status?
3. Do you have any children?
4. If so, how many and how old are they?
5. Are they boys or girls?
6. Do your children live with you?
7. If you don’t have children, do you want to have children in the future?
8. Are you likely to have children in the future?
9. Do you have any pets?
10. If yes, how many and what are they?
11. What type of housing do you currently live in?
12. Who lives in the house with you?
13. Are you happy with your current situation or wish it was different?
14. How close are you to your extended family?
15. Do you currently have many friends, a few friends, or no friends at all?
16. Do you see your friends often?
17. Who are the most important people in your life?
18. Are you religious?
19. What is your political orientation?
20. Are you actively involved in politics?
21. Do you make an effort to stay fit and healthy?
22. What type of exercise do you do?
23. If you don’t exercise, why not?
24. Do you play any sports?
25. Do you care about your appearance?
26. What hobbies do you currently pursue?
27. What do you like to do in your free time?
28. What social groups/activities do you participate in?
29. Are you environmentally conscious?
30. What is your favorite TV show?
31. What is your favorite movie?
32. What type of music do you listen to?
33. Do you enjoy reading?
34. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
35. What do you do first thing in the morning?
36. Do you cook at home or eat out?
37. Are you a neat freak, or are you OK with messes?
38. How much time do you spend at work and at home?
39. How do you spend your weekends?
40. Where do you shop?
41. What do you read for fun?
42. Do you drink?
43. Do you smoke?
44. Do you experiment with recreational substances?
45. What do you wish was different about your weekly routine?
46. Are you tech-savvy?
47. What news sources do you read?
48. Do you enjoy traveling?
49. Do you regularly go on vacation?
50. If so, where do you go?
51. Have you ever been backpacking?
52. What is your current literacy level?
53. Do you prefer baths or showers?

Career

1. What is your industry?
2. What is your job title?
3. What are your responsibilities?
4. Who do you report to?
5. What is the size of your company?
6. What skills are required for your job?
7. What metrics are you responsible for/how is your job measured?
8. What does a typical workday look like?
9. What knowledge and tools do you use in your job?
10. What are your challenges at work?
11. How do you learn new information about your job?
12. How do you prefer to interact with vendors?
13. How did you arrive at your current position?
14. What is your salary?
15. Do you feel like you’re compensated fairly?
16. Do you like your boss?
17. Do you like your coworkers?
18. Do you like the work you’re assigned to?
19. What would you change about your job, if you could?
20. What does your career path look like?
21. Are you considering a career change?
22. What is your dream job?
23. Do you have plans to pursue your dream job?
24. What work-related associations do you participate in?
25. When do you plan to retire?

Personality

1. How would you describe your personality?
2. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
3. Are you optimistic or pessimistic?
4. Are you more right-brained or left-brained?
5. Are you quiet or boisterous?
6. Are you practical or prone to flights of fancy?
7. Do you prefer to follow the rules or challenge boundaries?
8. Do you like to take risks or play it safe?
9. Are you an innovator or someone who tends to go with the flow?
10. Are you flexible or rigid in your thought patterns?
11. Are you spontaneous, or do you prefer pre-determined plans?
12. Are you motivated by your achievements or by what others think of your efforts?
13. How affected are you emotionally by other people’s judgments?
14. What would it take for you to deem your life a success?
15. What would make you think your life was a failure?

Web/Purchase Behavior

1. What social media sites do you use?
2. How do you use the internet to search for products or vendors?
3. Could you describe a recent purchase?
4. How do you prefer to make online payments?
5. Are you concerned about online privacy?
6. How adept are you at using technology?
7. Do you tend to embrace new technologies or prefer to stick with systems you know?
8. Are you a fluent internet user?
9. What operating system do you use?
10. What internet browser do you use?
11. What mobile devices do you use?
12. What is your preferred search engine?
13. What is your preferred method of communication?
14. What sites do you usually shop on?
15. Do you use your cell phone to make purchases?
16. Where do you go to learn about a product or service?
17. How important is it for you to get a good deal?
18. What indulgent or luxurious purchases do you make?

Finances

1. What is your net worth?
2. Do you have debt?
3. If so, what type?
4. Do you make purchase decisions carefully, or are you loose with your money?
5. How do you feel about your current spending habits?
6. What factors drive you to make a purchase?
7. Are you the main breadwinner in your household?
8. Are you the financial/purchase decision-maker?

Goals, Challenges and Pain Points

1. What are your goals in life?
2. What are your career goals?
3. What do you hope to gain from using our product?
4. What accomplishments are you proudest of?
5. What are the top three things on your bucket list?
6. What is the most frustrating part of your day?
7. What regular activities do you find stressful?
8. What makes you nervous?
9. What do you worry about?
10. What makes you feel scared?
11. What is the fastest way for someone to make you angry?
12. What is the least favorite part of your job?
13. What is the worst job you can imagine?
14. What is the worst customer service experience you’ve ever had?
15. What purchase did you most regret?

Product Insight/Objections to the Sale

1. What objections do you have for our product?
2. What factors might make you choose a competitor’s product over ours?
3. How can we help you to solve your unique challenges?
4. How does our product help you become your ideal self?
5. How do you prefer to communicate?
6. How can we meet your needs through onboarding?
7. What questions would you ask yourself before buying a product?
8. What is your number one concern when deciding whether or not to make a purchase?
9. How do you prefer to make a purchase (online, over the phone, or in person)?
10. When making a purchase online, what is your preferred payment method?

Questions To Ask Your Sales and Marketing Teams

1. What technical and demographic information do you have about our website, and visitors?
2. How are you currently marketing to our target customers?
3. What marketing campaigns have been the most successful?
4. What marketing campaigns have been the least successful?
5. Which blog posts have received the most traffic/social shares/comments/etc.?
6. What are the most frequently asked questions on the blog or from customers?
7. Which pages on our website receive the most impressions?
8. What types of customers do you typically meet?
9. Why do different types of customers typically make a purchase?
10. What reasons do customers cite for selecting us over our competitors?
11. What are the most common objections you hear?

Buyer Persona Examples

Now, let’s take a look at some concrete buyer persona examples.

Shared by Indie Game Girl

Shared by Mallory Haack

Shared by Buyer Persona Institute

Shared by Buffer

Shared by Buffer

Shared by Single Grain

That’s it! In this detailed guide, we have walked you through the meaning of buyer persona, its importance, and how to create a buyer persona for your business.

We also shared some buyer persona templates, a comprehensive list of questions to ask about your target customer, and some examples of buyer personas.

Now it’s your turn. Follow the steps above to create your buyer persona and clearly understand the individuals you serve.

Buyer Persona FAQ

1. What are the 4 types of buyer personas?

The 4 types of buyer personas are:

1. The Economic Buyer: Focuses on cost-effectiveness and ROI.
2. The Technical Buyer: Seeks detailed, technical information about products or services.
3. The User Buyer: Emphasizes usability and how the product or service fits into their daily routine.
4. The Coach (Influencer): Not a direct buyer but influences others in decision-making.

2. What best describes a buyer persona?

A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of an ideal customer based on market research and real data about existing customers.

3. What do you write in a buyer persona?

Content in a buyer persona is:

• Demographic information (age, occupation, location)
• Behavior patterns and lifestyle choices
• Pain points and challenges
• Goals and aspirations
• Preferred channels of communication

4. What are the key components of a buyer persona?

Key components of a buyer persona are:

• Background: Job, career path, family
• Demographics: Age, gender, income level
• Identifiers: Communication preferences, demeanor
• Goals: Primary and secondary goals
• Challenges: Main obstacles they face
• How We Help: How your product/service solves their challenges
• Real Quotes: From interviews or surveys
• Common Objections: Reasons they might not buy
• Marketing Message: How to describe your solution to them.

5. What is negative persona?

Negative personas or negative buyer personas represent those who you dont want to target as a customer

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• The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Content Marketing
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Good marketing content has become a lot more engaging lately. Audiences don’t just want to look at content. They want to experience it. Mediafly’s recent study on content engagement found that interactive content gets 52.6% more engagement, meaning that gamification in marketing can have big results.

Games and marketing may sound strange, but they’re actually a match made in heaven. Visitors have fun interacting with their favorite brands. Companies increase customer engagement. Everybody wins.

Ready to learn more? Read on to learn about gamification marketing and how it can be used to convert.

• What Is Gamification in Marketing?
• Key Components of Gamification Marketing
• The Benefits of Gamification Marketing
• Why Gamification Marketing Is Effective?
• Gamification Marketing Examples
• Gamification Marketing With OptinMonster

What Is Gamification Marketing?

Gamification marketing is a strategy that uses game-like elements, such as points, badges, and rewards, to engage and motivate customers. Marketers use gamification to drive actions like purchases, sign-ups, or content sharing. This approach makes marketing campaigns more fun by tapping into people’s love for competition and achievement, ultimately increasing customer loyalty and engagement.

At its core, gamification marketing takes the elements that make games appealing and addictive. It applies those elements to non-game contexts like purchasing products, engaging with a brand on social media platforms, or participating in promotional activities.

By doing so, marketers can transform otherwise ordinary interactions into compelling, enjoyable user experiences that encourage the target audience to engage more deeply and frequently with a brand.

Even if you’ve never heard of it before, you’ve probably experienced gamification at some point.

Remember when McDonald’s and Hasbro came together to create a fast-food Monopoly game?

That’s gamification. Those concepts can be actual games, trophies, or even points. The idea is that marketing content that mirrors games is better at engaging visitors.

Key Components of Gamification Marketing

Key components of gamification in marketing include:

1. Points: These serve as a quantifiable measure of progress or achievement. Points can be used to track purchases, social media interactions, or any other form of engagement with a brand, rewarding users for their activities.
2. Levels: Levels indicate a user’s progression and are often tied to increasing rewards or status. As consumers accumulate points or complete specific tasks, they can “level up,” unlocking new benefits or exclusive offers.
3. Badges: Badges are visual symbols of accomplishments or milestones. They can be used to recognize and reward a wide range of actions, from simple tasks like signing up for a newsletter to more complex achievements such as completing a series of purchases or challenges.
4. Leaderboards: Leaderboards rank users based on their achievements or points, fostering a sense of competition and community. They can motivate users to increase their engagement in pursuit of recognition or rewards.
5. Challenges and Quizzes: These are specific actions or trivias that users are encouraged to complete or answer. Challenges and quests can add a narrative element to the engagement, making the interaction more intriguing and enjoyable.
6. Rewards: Rewards are incentives that motivate continued engagement. They can be tangible, like discounts or free products, or intangible, such as exclusive content or status recognition.

By integrating these game elements, gamification in marketing creates a more dynamic and interactive relationship between consumers and brands.

It not only incentivizes specific behaviors but also enhances the overall customer experience, making interactions with the brand more memorable and enjoyable.

Does gamification work, though? Let’s look at its benefits to find out.

The Benefits of Gamification in Marketing

Gamified content makes your marketing sales funnel better.

It’s engaging, so people remember it. This, in turn, creates greater brand awareness.

Customers start to think more about your brand, which gets them curious. They subscribe to newsletters, buy one or more of your products. All of a sudden, you converted a visitor into a customer and it’s all because of gamified marketing.

How effective is gamification strategy at helping brands meet their goals? Very effective, according to the gamification marketing results we’ve seen:

• After using points and badges to gamify their website, Verizon Wireless boosted browsing time by 30% among half their users.
• Gamification helped Volkswagen China’s crowdsourcing project go viral. As a result, they garnered over 33 million hits and nearly 120,000 ideas submitted.
• Ford Motors increased sales by more than $8 million and boosted Facebook likes by 600% with gamified content.

These statistics prove gamification and marketing go together like peanut butter and jelly. Or Vegemite and toast, if you’re Australian?

Now, back to our initial question. What are the benefits of gamification in marketing?

• It increases customer engagement. That reduces the likelihood that visitors will scroll past your content. We call that “banner blindness” and it’s a real problem.
• Conversion rates skyrocket as visitors become motivated to complete tasks for reward. That reward could be a cool badge or trophy, points, or a special feature.
• Brand awareness and brand loyalty increase as visitors interact more with your content.
• Games are a fun experience.

Want to exceed your sales and marketing goals? Gamify it. It’s actually one of the most effective ways to growth hack your eCommerce business.

Why Gamification Marketing Is Effective?

What makes gamification so appealing to the average person?

For starters, most examples of gamification in business are interactive. And who doesn’t love interactive content?

Think about all the times you’ve come across gamified content. If you’re like most people, you clicked it just to see what would happen.

It’s hard not to. Games make everything better. After all, how irresistible is the minigame in Google Chrome that pops up every time a website times out?

According to this report by Demand Gen, 93% of marketers love gamification. In contrast, only 70% believe static, or non-interactive, content engages visitors. But that’s not all, here are a few other key takeaways from the report:

• 81% of marketers believe interactive content is more attention-grabbing than its static counterpart.
• 88% of B2B marketers plan on converting 10 to 30% of their material to interactive content.
• Roughly 70% of marketers believe interactive content is successful at converting visitors.

In short, people enjoy interactive experiences and they enjoy playing games. Gamified marketing combines the two. It gives visitors a unique experience that doesn’t exist in traditional marketing.

Even something as simple as badges can motivate people to do more. Check out the picture below to see how Dropbox used cute badges to get their marketing team to reach target goals.

And guess what. It works! People want to feel a sense of accomplishment. When they complete each task, it feels like they’ve achieved something great.

Additionally, gamified marketing makes customers feel like they’re in control. They get to choose how they interact with your content. This adds a whole new layer of fun and excitement that isn’t often available elsewhere.

Sold on gamified marketing? Great! Let’s look at some examples of how you can bring it into your own marketing campaigns.

Gamification Marketing Examples

Gamification has been successfully implemented in various marketing strategies across different industries, turning routine interactions into engaging experiences. Here are some notable examples:

1. Starbucks Rewards

Starbucks Rewards is a prime example of gamification in the retail sector. By using a mobile app, customers earn stars for every purchase, which can be redeemed for free drinks, food items, or merchandise. The program features levels (Green and Gold), with customers advancing to the Gold level after earning a certain number of stars. This level-up mechanism, combined with limited-time challenges and the ability to earn bonus stars, keeps customers engaged and encourages frequent purchases.

2. Nike+ Run Club

Nike+ Run Club app gamifies the experience of running. Users can track their runs, set goals, and participate in challenges with runners worldwide. The app offers badges for achievements like running certain distances or completing a number of runs in a month. This gamification strategy not only motivates individuals to stay active but also fosters a sense of community and brand loyalty among users.

3. Duolingo

Duolingo, a language learning platform, uses gamification to make education fun and addictive. Learners earn points (XP) for completing lessons, advance through levels, and receive virtual coins that can be used to unlock bonus skills or buy streak freezes. The app also features a leaderboard where users can compete against friends or other learners worldwide, adding a competitive edge to the learning process.

4. M&M’s Eye-Spy Pretzel

M&M’s launched a successful gamified marketing campaign with the “Eye-Spy Pretzel” game. In this campaign, users were challenged to find a pretzel hidden among a sea of M&M’s candies in an image posted online. This simple yet engaging game not only went viral but also effectively promoted the new pretzel-flavored M&M’s, demonstrating how gamification can enhance brand awareness and engagement through social media.

5. Sephora Beauty Insider

Sephora’s Beauty Insider program incorporates gamification elements to enhance customer loyalty. Members earn points for every purchase, which can be redeemed for rewards like exclusive products, samples, and experiences. The program features tiers (Insider, VIB, and Rouge), with each level offering more exclusive benefits and rewards. Seasonal savings, birthday gifts, and access to special events are part of the gamified experience, encouraging customers to increase their spending to reach higher tiers.

6. Domino’s Pizza Hero

Domino’s Pizza introduced the “Pizza Hero” app, a game that allows users to design their virtual pizza by kneading dough, spreading sauce, and adding toppings. Players’ creations could be ordered from Domino’s in real life. The game also featured challenges and leaderboards, turning pizza ordering into a fun and interactive experience. This innovative approach not only engaged customers but also drove sales.

These examples illustrate the versatility of gamification in marketing, showing how it can be applied across different industries to engage customers, enhance brand loyalty, and drive specific consumer behaviors.

Gamification Marketing With OptinMonster

Gamification isn’t some secret that only top companies know about. You don’t have to be a game developer for Nintendo to use it. It’s actually very easy to weave into your current marketing strategy.

Below are our favorite gamification examples in sales and marketing anyone can use.

1. The “Spin-to-Win” Wheel

The spin-to-win discount wheel turns lead generation into a fun game that visitors love. That’s because it gives them a chance to earn rewards by giving contact information.

Moreover, the spin-to-win optin stands out. It’s fun and unique, so visitors are less likely to ignore your popups. And that’s great for reaching your conversion goals.

What’s more, you have complete control over the wheel’s setup. You choose what prizes you want to give and how many wheel slices to include. You can add anything from discounts to special offers and free shipping.

Related ContentCreate a “Spin to Win” Optin to Easily Boost Engagement

This converts visitors into leads and encourages them to finish their purchasing journey. Because, if they’ve earned 25% off a product, they might as well go ahead and buy it.

Use OptinMonster to integrate our ready-made wheel template into your marketing campaign. Feel free to use it as is, or customize your wheel any way you see fit. Then, watch your conversion rates skyrocket with a few clicks of a button.

By the way, we’re not joking when we say, “a few clicks of a button.”

Look at how easy it is to customize rewards on your discount wheel with OptinMonster.

2. The Completeness Meter

The completeness meter is another great gamified element that’s straightforward and effective. Google, Dropbox, and LinkedIn have all used completeness meters in their marketing campaign. The example shown above is LinkedIn’s meter, in the form of a progress bar.

The goal of this meter is to get the reader to complete all steps on a particular journey. In the case of LinkedIn, that journey is fleshing out your profile. When you add a picture, work history, your location, education, and so on, you complete the meter. And when you complete it, you get a trophy.

You can use a completeness meter for almost any action that involves two or more steps. Here are some examples:

• Getting visitors to complete questionnaires and service quotes.
• Sending customers down every step of the purchasing journey.
• Having visitors complete an optin for your mailing list or event.

The possibilities are endless.

Are you an eCommerce site on WordPress? Creating and implementing a progress bar only takes a couple of minutes with the help of WPForms. Gamifying progress has never been easier.

3. Digital Badges

Badges are one of the most popular types of gamification. They’re seen everywhere, from Ebay’s star rating system to Facebook’s trophies for top fans.

Badges are great for building brand loyalty. That’s because they recognize the work your customers put into using your product. It’s like saying “Thank you for your support. Here’s a cool trophy.”

Customers look at earning badges as an accomplishment. They’re fun to collect, so customers interact with your product even more to unlock new badges. For this reason, digital badges have been successfully used as motivation tools for:

• Employees in the workplace.
• Students taking online learning courses.
• Customers in eCommerce loyalty programs.

The Khan Academy created a wide range of digital badges for students. They can earn a new badge after completing a task or earning a set number of points.

Naturally, it worked like a charm. Students were motivated to do more than complete assignments. They actually wanted to collect badges to show to their peers.

Badges are very popular on education-related platforms. That’s something to consider if you’re promoting academic courses or training programs. Of course, you can use badges outside of education as well. They’re great for acknowledging:

• Supporters who share your content on social media.
• Brand ambassadors who onboard friends and family.
• Loyal customers who spend a lot of money on your services.

In other words, any task that goes above and beyond what’s expected is something you can reward with a badge.

Best of all, creating badges isn’t as hard as you think. The WordPress plugin BadgeOS lets you build an achievement program with badges in minutes. No need to burn the midnight oil coming up with a comprehensive set of badges like the Khan Academy’s.

Sign up for your 100% risk-free OptinMonster account today!

Ready to Level up Your Marketing Efforts?

If you want your brand to last the test of time, you have to keep up with customer expectations.

Many customers value enjoyable experiences, which is as important as the product itself. It’s up to you to deliver those experiences in your gamified campaign. Fortunately, you can do that with gamified content that makes your optins fun and engaging.

Want to know how?

Here’s the real ProTip.

You can give your marketing strategy a mega-power boost with OptinMonster’s smart lead generation tools. OptinMonster has everything you need to create gamified content that promotes growth and engages visitors.

Imagine being known as the brand with awesome optins. With OptinMonster, you can.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also want to check out the following resource: How to Create a Discount Wheel Popup (the Easy Way).

That will have everything you need to create your gamified popup in minutes.

Ready to get started? Sign up for your 100% risk-free OptinMonster account today!

Also check out:

• 8 Digital Marketing Best Practices
• 3 Easy Steps to Awesome User-Generated Content
• 8 Website Metrics to Track to Boost Conversions and Explode Your Growth

Whether you’re looking to grow your email list or boost sales, the right type of popup can be pivotal in reaching your goals.

If you’re new to popups and want a quick overview, check out our beginner’s guide to website popups. It covers everything you need to know to get started.

In this article, I’ll explore 11 types of popups that deliver real results. I’ll also cover how each popup format works and provide actionable tips for using them on your site. Along the way, you’ll see 15+ website popup examples, so you can get inspiration for your own strategy.

• What Are the Types of Popups?
• Types of Popups by Function
• Types of Popups by Goal

What Are the Types of Popups?

The types of popups can be categorized based on how they work or based on what they aim to achieve. Here’s how I’m breaking them down in this post:

• Types of Popups by Function: These popups are defined by their design and how they appear on your site, such as lightbox popups, slide-ins, or fullscreen overlays. They focus on the user’s experience and interaction with the popup itself.
• Types of Popups by Goal: These popups are categorized by the specific marketing objectives they help you achieve, like growing your email list, recovering abandoned carts, or promoting limited-time offers.

Understanding these categories will help you choose the perfect popup type for your website. Let’s start with popups by function.

Types of Popups by Function

In this section, I’ll explore the 5 most popular types of popups categorized by how they function on your site. These are tried-and-true formats that can work across industries and website types.

1. Lightbox Popups
2. Slide-In Popups
3. Fullscreen Popups
4. Gamified Popups
5. Exit Popups

1. Lightbox Popups

Lightbox popups are centered overlays that dim the background, drawing the visitor’s full attention to your message. These popups are excellent for capturing leads or promoting an offer.

Lightbox Popup Example

OptinMonster customer Nick Gray used this popup to build his email list and promote his book. This lightbox popup converted a fantastic 10.59% of visitors! Overall, OptinMonster helped Gray increase his monthly email subscribers by 600%. Read the full Nick Gray case study.

How to Use Lightbox Popups Effectively

• Keep It Simple: Highlight one message, such as a discount or a lead magnet, and include a clear CTA.
• Target Smartly: Use OptinMonster’s advanced targeting rules to show relevant offers to visitors. For example, Page-Level Targeting lets you show popups based on which webpage your visitor is viewing.
• A/B Test for Success: Experiment with different headlines, colors, and CTAs using OptinMonster’s built-in split testing. Find out what resonates with your audience and optimize every aspect of your popup.

2. Slide-In Scroll Box Popups

Slide-in Scroll Box popups enter from the side or bottom corner of the page, offering a subtler alternative to lightbox popups. They’re ideal for maintaining engagement without fully interrupting the visitor.

Slide-In Popup Example

Here’s an example of a slide-in popup we’ve used here on OptinMonster’s website. This campaign encourages blog readers to sign up for our weekly live webinar. As you can see, the popup remains on the side of the page and doesn’t prevent the visitor from reading the blog content.

How to Use Slide-In Popups Effectively

• Time It Right: Trigger the popup after the user scrolls a certain percentage of the page with OptinMonster’s Scroll Trigger feature.
• Add Context: Use these popups to suggest related blog posts or promote signups for a webinar based on the user’s behavior.
• Personalize Content: Combine slide-in popups with OptinMonster’s Page-Level Targeting to make them hyper-relevant to the visitor’s interests.

3. Fullscreen Popups

Fullscreen mat popups take over the entire screen, making them impossible to ignore. They’re a powerful option for promoting major campaigns or high-value offers.

Fullscreen Popup Example

Here’s an example of a fullscreen welcome message that I created using one of OptinMonster’s 700+ premade templates. I started with the fullscreen version of our Tech Discount template and customized it in our easy drag-and-drop builder. OptinMonster’s robust display rules let you target campains like this one specifically to first-time visitors. This fullscreen popup welcomes new visitors and catches their attention with an enticing offer.

How to Use Fullscreen Popups Effectively

• Focus on High-Value Offers: Reserve fullscreen popups for important messages like seasonal discounts, limited-time sales, or free resource downloads.
• Include a Clear Exit Option: Avoid frustrating users by making the close button highly visible.
• Optimize for Mobile: Use OptinMonster’s mobile-responsive and mobile-optimized templates to ensure fullscreen popups display beautifully on all devices.

4. Gamified Popups

Gamified popups, like spin-to-win wheels, add an interactive element to engage users and increase conversions. These popups combine fun with functionality.

Gamified Popup Example

This OptinMonster template asks visitors to enter an email address to spin a coupon wheel. OptinMonster offers dozens of gamified templates, and you can also add a coupon wheel to any campaign in our drap-and-drop builder.

How to Use Gamified Popups Effectively

• Offer Meaningful Rewards: Use prizes like discounts or free trials to entice users to spin the wheel.
• Leverage OptinMonster’s Gamified Templates: Quickly design an engaging campaign without needing a designer.
• Customize your prize odds: OptinMonster lets you decide the odds for landing on each prize.

5. Exit-Intent® Popups

The types of popups above are based on what they look like. This popup type is based on when and how it appears. Exit popups display when visitors are about to leave your website. They give you one final opportunity to engage the user before they go.

OptinMonster’s powerful Exit-Intent® technology uses mouse movements and mobile scroll to detect when visitors are trying to leave.

Exit Popup Example

This exit popup is from Shockbyte, a game server provider. This simple campaign converted 13.73% of abandoning visitors into email subscribers! Shockbyte used this and other OptinMonster popups to over double their sales. Read the full Shockbyte case study.

How to Use Exit Popups Effectively

• Offer Discounts: Encourage new visitors to make their first purchases with a coupon code.
• Promote Lead Magnets: Use exit popups to offer downloadable resources, and capture email addresses before users navigate away.
• Target cart and checkout pages: Reduce cart abandonment with exit popups promoting special offers. Convince shoppers to complete their purchases!

Types of Popups by Goal

Different popups can help you achieve specific marketing objectives. Below, I’ll explore key popup types categorized by their goals, and I’ll share actionable tips for using them effectively.

6. Lead Generation Popups
7. Cart Abandonment Popups
8. Sales Conversion Popups
9. Bounce Rate Reduction Popups
10. Customer Feedback Popups
11. Content-Gating Popups

6. Lead Generation Popups

Lead generation popups are designed to collect visitor information, such as email addresses. They often include a lead magnet, which is an offer something valuable like a free resource or exclusive content in exchange for an email address. They can also simply promote the value of the brand’s email newsletter.

Here are 2 examples of successful lead generation popups:

Lead Generation Popup Example 1: American Bird Conservancy‘s Pledge Popup

The American Bird Conservancy (ABC) used OptinMonster to improve their lead generation by 1,000%. The targeted Yes/No popup was a big part of that growth.

ABC has a section on their website dedicated to educating people about the importance of keeping their pet cats indoors. This popup only showed up for visitors who had been reading those pages. Visitors who clicked the “I Want to Protect Cats & Birds!” CTA button were redirected to a landing page. There, they could sign a pledge to keep their cats indoors.

To take the pledge, each user enters their name, physical address, email address, and phone number. By collecting this information, ABC creates a strong new lead. And they have all the data they need to add this lead to the proper segmented lists. Read the full American Bird Conservancy case study.

Lead Generation Popup Example 2: OptinMonster’s Lead Magnet Popup

Here’s one of OptinMonster’s own popups where we offer an in-depth PDF guide in exchange for an email optin. In fact, this popup is part of a strategy we use throughout our site, specifically our blog:

1. We create long-form cheatsheets, checklists, and ebooks related to important topics related to our product.
2. We offer these lead magnets in popups on our blog posts related to that topic.

Users reading any of our articles about email marketing have already shown that they want to learn more about the topic. By offering them a related lead magnet, we move those visitors further through our sales funnel.

Tips for Lead Generation Popups

• Offer Value: Provide an incentive, like a checklist or an ebook, that aligns with your audience’s interests.
• Target Specifically: Use OptinMonster’s Page-Level Targeting to match popups with the content visitors are engaging with.
• Make it Easy: Use a simple form that doesn’t overwhelm users with too many fields.

7. Cart Abandonment Popups

Did you know that over 70% of all online shopping carts are abandoned? Popups are one of the best ways to win back some of those shoppers. Cart abandonment popups appear when users attempt to leave a site after adding items to their cart. They aim to recover lost sales by addressing user hesitation. Usually, cart abandonment popups use Exit-Intent® technology to catch shoppers before they leave your site.

Cart Abandonment Popup Example 1: HelloFresh‘s “Plan in Your Cart” Popup

The meal delivery service HelloFresh uses exit popups to stop cart abandonment. This popup is triggered when these 2 actions happen:

1. A user has customized their own meal plan
2. That user attempts to leave the HelloFresh website without making a purchase

HelloFresh knows that exit popups are one of the best ways to recover abandoned carts. OptinMonster integrates with platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce, so you can precisely target your eCommerce popups.

Cart Abandonment Popup Example 2: OptinMonster’s “Complete Your Checkout” Popup

OptinMonster specializes in helping businesses create effective popups, so we definitely put that expertise to good use on our own website. Let’s look at how this cart abandonment popup works:

A website visitor has browsed our pricing page and selected a plan they’re interested in. If they start to leave the page without finishing their purchase, they’ll see this popup, offering a 20% discount.

Exit-Intent® is included in OptinMonster’s Pro and Growth Plans, so sign up today!

Tips for Cart Abandonment Popups

• Highlight Benefits: Reinforce what makes your product or service valuable.
• Offer Incentives: Use discounts or free shipping to reduce purchase friction.
• Integrate with your eCommerce platform: OptinMonster integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce for precise targeting.

8. Sales Conversion Popups

Cart abandonment popups are extremely important, but that’s not the only scenario when you can use a popup to encourage website visitors to buy right now. Sales conversion popups are designed to drive purchases by offering discounts, highlighting urgency, or nudging users to go ahead and make a purchase today.

Sales Conversions Popup Example 1: ShotKit’s Coupon Code Popup

Many popups require users to enter an email address in order to receive a coupon code. However, if your primary goal is to drive immediate sales, you can offer the code right in the popup, without any optin requirement. You can create an OptinMonstre popup like this one from Shotkit. It not only provide the coupon code, but it also includes a button to apply the code. Read the full Shotkit case study.

Sales Conversion Popup Example 2: Countdown Timers from OptinMonster

Here’s an example of an OptinMonster template for a sales conversion popup. It includes a Countdown Timer to create urgency and encourage visitors to act now. Over 150 OptinMonster templates include countdown timers. Plus, you can use our drag-and-drop builder to easily add a countdown timer to any campaign:

Countdown timers can be a game-changer for your conversion rates. For example, Cracku used them to increase their conversions by 300%! Read the full Cracku case study.

Tips for Sales Conversion Popups

• Create Urgency: Use countdown timers or limited-time discounts to prompt immediate action.
• Use Exit-Intent®: Trigger popups when users are about to leave, ensuring you don’t interrupt their browsing.
• Personalize Offers: Tailor discounts or messages based on where users are in the sales funnel.

9. Bounce Rate Reduction Popups

This type of popup focuses on keeping visitors on your site for longer. These popups help you reduce your bounce rate, or the percentage of visitors who leave your site before engaging with any links or offers. They often include links to related content or products and are targeted based on what the visitor has shown interest in.

Bounce Rate Popup Example: Olyplant‘s Popup for Google Users

Olyplant is a Greek company that sells organic plants. They wanted to reduce their bounce rate for visitors who found their strawberry tutorial via Google search. This eye-catching popup from them reads:

Do you love strawberries?

Discover all the strawberry varieties that produce and cultivate your own now …

Yes, I want to try it!

No, I do not eat strawberries.

This popup linked to their archive of posts related to strawberries.

Olyplant used 3 OptinMonster Display Rules to determine who would see this popup and when:

• Page-Level Targeting: This popup only displayed on their tutorial on planting strawberries
• Referrer Detection: Only visitors who found the page through Google search saw this message
• Scroll Distance: The popup displayed when a visitor had scrolled through 50% of the page

Olyplant chose these targeting and triggering settings with 1 goal in mind: to keep their organic traffic on the site for longer.

Often, when a visitor finds one of your web pages via Google search, they scan that page only and leave your site without taking any action. Olyplant turned that around with this popup. A whopping 17% of readers clicked the YES button on this campaign, and they viewed an average of 5.08 pages per session. That gave Olyplant more opportunities to convert those visitors into customers.

Read the Olyplant case study.

Tips for Bounce Rate Reduction Popups

• Engage with Questions: Use attention-grabbing prompts like “Do you love [topic]?” to pique curiosity.
• Use Scroll or Timed Triggers: Display popups when users have shown a high level of engagement.
• Promote Related Content: Link to other pages, articles, or products to keep users engaged with your site.

10. Customer Feedback Popups

Customer feedback popups help your business gather insights from visitors and shoppers. You can then use that feedback to improve user experience, uncover issues, or understand why users abandon certain actions, such as completing checkout. To learn more about why this is so important, check out our guide: How to Collect Customer Feedback on Your Site (7 Tips).

Customer Feedback Popup Example 1: Kennedy Blue‘s Improvement Survey

Kennedy Blue is an online retailer of bridesmaid dresses. They used this OptinMonster exit popup to ask their website visitors to complete a feedback survey. The popup converted 7% of abandoning shoppers on their shopping cart page. With this survey, Kennedy Blue got vital feedback from these users, who could explain why they changed their minds about purchasing.

Learn how Kennedy Blue increased their sales by 50% with OptinMonster

Customer Feedback Popup Example 2: Feedback Template from OptinMonster

The Kennedy Blue popup includes a link to a survey webpage. However, you can also embed survey fields directly in your OptinMonster campaigns. For example, the template above asks visitors to type up a quick survey response. You can include a wide variety of field types, including checkboxes, radio buttons, and dropdown menus.

Tips for Customer Feedback Popups

• Keep it Brief: Limit feedback requests to a few easy-to-answer questions.
• Trigger Thoughtfully: Display feedback popups after users browse for a set amount of time or abandon a cart.
• Make it Worthwhile: Offer small rewards, like coupons, for completing surveys.

11. Content-Gating Popups

Content-gating popups require visitors to perform a specific action before they can access specific content. Usually, visitors have to enter an email address or create an account in order to view the material. This strategy is effective for generating leads and building a dedicated audience. Learn more about this process in our guide to gated content.

Content-Gating Popup Example: Storyly’s Gated Demo Video

Storyly uses this content-gating popup to lock access to their quick demo video. Visitors must enter their email address to watch the video, and they have the option of requesting a call with a sales rep. This popup has a phenomenal 14.57% conversion rate. Overall, Storyly has used OptinMonster to grow their email list by 45%. Read the full Storyly case study.

Create the Best Popups for YOUR Website!

At the end of the day, popups are one of the most powerful tools in your marketing arsenal. And as we’ve seen, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Each type of popup has its own uses, so experiment to see which ones work best for your audience.

We encourage you to mix and match the goals, targets, and triggers we covered here. You should also use A/B testing to help you perfectly hone your popup campaigns.

With OptinMonster, we give you the freedom to choose what works best for your business at a price you can afford.

Want to learn even more about website popups? Here are a few resources to check out:

• How to Create a Lightbox Popup to Grow Your List
• Email Popups That Convert: Creative Ideas to Grow Your Email List Fast
• Popups That Work: How to Increase Sales and Recover Abandoned Carts
• Mobile Popups Demystified: Best Practices for a Better User Experience

Want to get started? Sign up for OptinMonster today, risk-free with our 14-day money-back guarantee!

Scarcity marketing works because it increases the perceived value of a product. When something feels rare or exclusive, we tend to want it more. This can lead to higher sales and a competitive edge for businesses that use it effectively.

In this article, I’ll share 34 scarcity examples to help you boost conversions and increase revenue. These are real-life examples of businesses that have scarcity marketing strategies, so you can get ideas for your own marketing efforts.

• What Is Scarcity Marketing?
• 34 Scarcity Marketing Examples

What Is Scarcity Marketing?

Scarcity marketing is a strategy that leverages the fear of missing out (FOMO) by creating a sense of urgency through limited availability or time-sensitive offers. It’s a powerful technique for increasing perceived value and driving immediate action.

Here’s how it works:

• Limited Supply: This could involve limited quantities of a product, exclusive collections, or limited-time offers.
• Time Pressure: Countdown timers, flash sales, and “only a few left” notifications create a sense of urgency and encourage people to buy before it’s too late.
• Exclusivity: Making a product or service feel exclusive can make it more desirable. This could involve VIP access, limited edition releases, or high-end products.

By using these tactics, scarcity marketing aims to:

• Increase Demand: When something feels scarce, people are more likely to want it, leading to higher sales.
• Boost Perceived Value: Limited availability suggests a product is more valuable or desirable, making people more willing to pay a premium.
• Drive Action: The fear of missing out encourages people to make a purchase decision quickly before the opportunity disappears.

Scarcity marketing can be a powerful tool, but it’s important to use it ethically. If done wrong, it can come across as manipulative or inauthentic.

Let’s take a look at 34 examples of scarcity marketing.

Scarcity Marketing Examples

We have curated these scarcity examples from real-life brands that have used the scarcity principle in their online campaigns. The examples offer several ideas on how to apply the scarcity principle in your marketing.

1. Cracku: Urgency Through Countdown Timers
2. Wildist: 50% Discount for 2 Days
3. Tinder: Fear of Missing Out
4. Booking.com: Book Before It’s Too Late
5. Chemical Guys: Beat the Clock Sale
6. Bud Light: Limited Edition Pack
7. JACK1T: Only 2 Pieces in Stock
8. Clubhouse: Invite-Only Sign-Ups
9. Amazon Prime: Discount While Supplies Last
10. Bed Bath & Beyond: Top Deals Are Scarce
11. BookMyShow: Seats Filing Fast
12. Netflix: Only On Netflix
13. Tesla Apparrel: Notify When Available
14. MasterClass: BOGO Meets Limited-Time Offer
15. Coke: Share a Coke
16. Airbnb: Rare Find
17. Float: Request Access
18. Moto Z: Limited Time Offer
19. HappySales: Join the Waitlist
20. Nokia: Black Friday With a Twist
21. Amazon: Today’s Lightning Deals
22. Ninety9: Happy Hour Deals
23. Best Buy: Flash Sale
24. iHerb: 13 Sold in 24 Hours
25. Fleet Feet: Clearance Sale
26. Thread Up: End-of-Year Sale
27. Pulp & Press: Abandoned Cart Email
28. Asos: Black Friday Deal
29. Catalina Crunch: Early Access SMS Marketing
30. Jeffree Star: A Different Take on Scarcity
31. G Fuel: Giveaways Worth $10,000
32. Eightvape: Christmas Holiday Offer
33. Udemy: Sale Ends Today
34. Growth Marketing: Last Chance to Register

1. Cracku: Urgency Through Countdown Timers

Countdown timers are the best scarcity examples in marketing. Cracku, an online student coaching portal, used OptinMonster to create countdown timers on its website.

They combined it with a limited-time offer and increased conversions by 300%.

2. Wildist: 50% Discount for 2 Days

Wildist offers people to sign up for its workshops at half price, but only for 2 days.

Notice the testimonials from past customers on the top-right of the page. Social proof earns you trust and improves website conversions by 34%.

Pro-Tip: Check out this list of social proof notification apps you can use to add credibility to your site! We recommend TrustPulse. It’s the best social proof notification tool out there.

3. Tinder: Fear of Missing Out

Tinder uses a push notification for its mobile app users to improve product adoption. They notify inactive users that their profiles won’t be visible to possible matches if they don’t start using the app.

The clever use of scarcity triggers fear of missing out (FOMO) in buyers. Research suggests that about 69% of millennials experience FOMO, and 60% make impulsive purchases because of it.

In other words, FOMO works wonders in convincing people to take action.

Pro-tip: Want to create push notifications like Tinder’s? Take a look at PushEngage. It’s the world’s best push notification software that’s easy to install and set up.

4. Booking.com: Book Before It’s Too Late

Scarcity examples are more common in marketplaces with fluctuating supply and demand of goods and services. For instance, the travel and hospitality industry.

Booking.com is a master at scarcity marketing. Take a look at how they imply that this deal on a hotel won’t be available for very long.

5. Chemical Guys: Beat the Clock Sale

Car detailing company Chemical Guys creates urgency for website visitors with multiple limited-time offers.

The sooner buyers book a service, the more discounts they get.

6. Bud Light: Limited Edition Pack

Bud Light collaborated with the Philadelphia Eagles to launch a special edition commemorative beer pack to celebrate the team’s Super Bowl victory.

The beverage company produced 20,418 packs to honor the victory date: 02/04/2018. Special edition marketing also allows brands to sell products at higher prices. Fans don’t mind buying limited quantities of special merchandise at a premium.

7. JACK1T: Only 2 Pieces in Stock

JACK1T lets you know when they are running low on a particular item. This is a good scarcity example that highlights how creating urgency in marketing can improve conversions.

8. Clubhouse: Invite-Only Sign-Ups

Remember when Clubhouse was a rage? One of the reasons it became so popular in such a short time was because it created an illusion of exclusivity.

Only people who had an invite from existing Clubhouse members could join the social audio platform. This drove a huge demand for Clubhouse sign-ups.

Clubhouse had another level of scarcity baked into its platform. Initially, it was available only in iOS. A year later after its launch, it was launched on the Android platform.

Although the craze for the platform has died down, it remains a shining example of how to use a sense of scarcity and exclusivity to increase sign-ups.

9. Amazon Prime: Discount While Supplies Last

Amazon Prime Now has a weekly ad with a time-sensitive discount.

For more examples like these, read our post on how to use discount codes to increase conversions.

10. Bed Bath & Beyond: Top Deals Are Scarce

Bed Bath & Beyond uses a unique promo offer for each product category in its website’s Top Deals section. All deals have footer text to create urgency in buyers:

• Limited time
• Valid thru 2/2
• While supplies last

This is to let the buyers know they’ll get the most value for their money if they buy sooner.

11. BookMyShow: Seats Filing Fast

India’s largest online movie and events booking platform BookMyShow uses a popup to convert movie lovers to buy its most expensive tickets.

Let’s see how it works.

The most expensive seats have better reclining, extra leg room, and the best view of the screen. The booking page suggests that people might lose out on the premium experience if they don’t act fast.

They also use ember color text for the fast-selling seats. This is an example of demand-induced scarcity. What color you choose for CTA buttons can impact conversions.

12. Netflix: Only On Netflix

Netflix knows that movie lovers will go to any extent to watch their favorite movies and shows. It buys the copyright of high-demand content like Kill Boksoon and Money Heist.

It even has an entire genre called Only On Netflix for non-subscribers to browse. Netflix drives new subscriptions by making high-demand content available only on its platform.

13. Tesla Apparrel: Notify When Available

Tesla has an eCommerce shop that sells vehicle accessories, battery chargers, and apparel. The website has a functionality for buyers to receive an email notification for out-of-stock items.

This is a genius scarcity marketing example on many levels.

• First, it implies that out-of-stock products are scarce resources. People are more likely to opt in for notifications if they think it’s going to fly off the shelves.
• Second, it’s also a lead generation technique. Buyers who optin for a notification will also start getting marketing emails from Tesla for other products in the future.

Pro-tip: Want to target and convert website visitors based on their past interactions? Use OptinMonster’s Onsite Retargeting®. It lets you optimize campaigns for returning visitors and boost your eCommerce sales.

14. MasterClass: BOGO Meets Limited-Time Offer

Buy one get one (BOGO) is a great way to convert customers and increase your average order value.

In this scarcity example, MasterClass offers 2 memberships for the cost of 1. It combines the discount with a holiday offer that’s ending soon.

Product bundling like this gets buyers to convert faster because they get a 2x return on investment (ROI) on their purchase.

15. Coke: Share a Coke

The world-famous beverage company Coca-Cola’s Share a Coke campaign was a hit when it came out. The campaign allowed customers to buy Coke bottles with the names of their friends and family members.

The campaign sold 1.25 million drinks in the U.S. and improved sales by 11% in a year.

Coke ran the campaign at the expense of replacing its brand name from the bottles. It’s a classic example of scarcity advertising coupled with emotional intelligence.

Depending on where you live, you can still order personalized Coke bottles from their website. Notice not 1 but 2 website notification bars on the website.

The company sure knows how to create multiple sale opportunities on a website!

16. Airbnb: Rare Find

Airbnb makes its customers feel lucky to find properties that aren’t sold out. It’s the company’s way to highlight resource scarcity for their premium property listings.

17. Float: Request Access

Float asks new users to request access to the app instead of handing out free signups. This means their platform isn’t easy for everyone to sign up for.

The message is clear: you might not be allowed if you don’t fit the bill. The scarcity of access makes it immediately appealing.

18. Moto Z: Limited Time Offer

Moto Z offers its customers a scarce opportunity to buy its new smartphone for only $200.

Limited-time offers convert like crazy.

An online clothing company ran an experiment offering one of its products with and without a limited-time next-day shipping offer. The one with the relative scarcity offer increased sales by 226%.

19. HappySales: Join the Waitlist

HappySales is a business-to-business (B2B) sales technology software that’s yet to launch. Its website allows users to join the private beta. When you click the CTA button, it takes you to a sign-up form.

But instead of asking users to sign up for free, Happysales encourages joining privately. This implies that they don’t entertain everyone. It’s an exclusive circle of users.

20. Nokia: Black Friday With a Twist

Nokia sent this marketing email to its customers a few years back. Instead of offering instant discounts or pre-orders, Nokia made it easy for customers to create a personalized wishlist.

This is among the best Black Friday-related scarcity examples.

21. Amazon: Today’s Lightning Deals

Amazon’s “Lightning Deals” are offered daily for only a few hours.

22. Ninety9: Happy Hour Deals

Protea Hotel in Kampala uses happy hour discounts to drive traffic to its retro bar. You can get amazing discounts on a limited variety of drinks, but only between 5-7 pm.

23. Best Buy: Flash Sale

Best Buy’s flash sale offers multiple scarcity examples rolled into one.

The sale is live only for 48 hours. The website notification bar lets users know the exact time and date when the sale will start and end. This heightens the sense of scarcity.

Best Buy also reminds buyers of the limited availability of products. And that they won’t accept rainchecks.

24. iHerb: 13 Sold in 24 Hours

iHerb’s website has multiple cues to convert visitor traffic. It uses a notification bar to offer a 20% discount, While also reminding buyers that the offer ends on a specific date.

Further down, iHerb lets people see the number of products other buyers have bought in the last 24 hours. If you don’t act on time, the product might run out of stock.

The limited availability of resources is one of the causes of scarcity.

Pro-tip: Are your customers dropping off of your website due to out-of-stock products? Read our guide on how to win more sales with out-of-stock pages.

25. Fleet Feet: Clearance Sale

A lot of online retailers use clearance sales to sell surplus products at reduced prices. Online apparel stores especially have clearance sales because they are closing down or need to clear old stocks to make room for new product inventory.

In any case, a clearance sale implies that the discounted offering is going to run for a short time. Here, Fleet Feet has an entire product category called Clearance with discounted products.

26. Thread Up: End-of-Year Sale

End-of-year sales are similar to clearance sale campaigns. Thread Up, a second-hand apparel store, combines its year-end sale with multiple other promotions.

The copy on the website offers a discount code and free shipping. It also reminds customers about the sale ending date and time to trigger buyers’ scarcity mindset.

27. Pulp & Press: Abandoned Cart Email

Pulp & Press sends buyers a limited-time discount on their orders to reduce cart abandonment. This is a great way to create artificial scarcity and convert lost opportunities into sales.

28. Asos: Black Friday Deal

Asos offers a Black Friday discount code. It follows its promotion by reminding people to stay safe and be ahead of the surge.

This is among the best scarcity examples that explicitly communicate the limited resources and time.

29. Catalina Crunch: Early Access SMS Marketing

Catalina Crunch offers users early access to its Black Friday deals. When visitors click on the signup button, the website asks them to enter their phone number.

These kinds of optin campaigns are trade-offs between what buyers want and what sellers can offer.

30. Jeffree Star: A Different Take on Scarcity

Jeffree Star has a different take on creating scarcity.

Instead of creating scarcity with limited-time offers or discounts, they do it with delivery times.

Jeffree Star uses a website alert banner to let customers know that orders after 12/19 will be delivered after Christmas. This means the earlier people place their orders, the earlier they will receive them.

Nice way to evoke scarcity!

31. G Fuel: Giveaways Worth $10,000

G Fuel runs a giveaway contest on its website for visitors to enter a chance to win 1 grand prize. Or, they can enter to win 10 runner-up incentives.

Either way, G Fuel’s scarcity example is not based on time. It’s built on the probability of winning by participating in the sweepstakes and answering a simple question.

Pro-tip: Do you want an easy way to run giveaways in WordPress? Get RafflePress. RafflePress is the best plugin that lets you run successful giveaways in WooCommerce.

32. Eightvape: Christmas Holiday Offer

Eightvape displays a banner on its website hero section, offering customers tempting Christmas offers for a limited period.

The website also uses a Yes/No campaign to convert visitors into leads. Yes/No campaigns offer people a no-brainer choice: to choose an easy option or skip it for an opportunity cost.

33. Udemy: Sale Ends Today

Udemy has a one-day flash sale for visitors to enroll in one of its online courses. The website also offers a discount code and has a notification bar with a countdown timer.

34. Growth Marketing: Last Chance to Register

Growth Marketing’s email uses an image of a clock to suggest the need to act fast and create urgency. The CTA adds to the sense of scarcity further.

These CTAs work well both on your site and in your email marketing copy. Read our guide to creating the perfect call to action for more tips to improve conversions.

Time Is Running Out: Use These Scarcity Marketing Examples Now

See what we did there? Scarcity can be a great incentive for buyers to act sooner. Take inspiration from the examples in this post to apply in marketing your business.

If you want more tips to help you sell more fast, here are some helpful resources:

• What Is Upselling? 15 Upselling Tips & Examples to Boost Revenue
• How to Increase Sales With Social Media: 9 Expert Tips
• Average Order Value: Guide to AOV + 8 Proven Strategies

If you’re new to marketing, you may also want to check out our comprehensive lead generation guide. Lead generation is the starting point for most things in marketing.

If you’re already running lead generation campaigns on your website, get started with OptinMonster. OptinMonster is the #1 lead generation tool that helps you build marketing campaigns to capture leads through popups, floating bars, sidebar optins, and more.

Showing when your content was last updated can build trust with readers and help you climb the search engine rankings. 

Not only does Google prioritize recently updated webpages, but your website visitors also want to know that they’re reading up-to-date information.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to display and change the last modified date of your posts in WordPress. I’ll cover multiple options for how to display your date, as well as several methods.

• Why You Should Display the Last Updated Date on WordPress Posts
• Difference Between Publish Date and Last Updated Date in WordPress
• How to Change the Publish Date on WordPress Posts
• How to Display Date as “Last Updated on” Instead of “Published on”
  • With Your WordPress Theme’s Appearance Settings
  • With a Site-Specific Plugin
  • With WP Last Modified Info Plugin
• How to Display Both the Original Published Date & the Last Updated Date
  • With Your WordPress Theme’s Appearance Settings
  • With a Site-Specific Plugin
  • With WP Last Modified Info Plugin
• BONUS: How to Control the Last Updated Date With AIOSEO
• FAQs

Why You Should Display Last Updated Date on WordPress Posts

As part of the content team at OptinMonster, I’ve been paying close attention to the importance of regularly updating posts and displaying the “last updated” date. 

In fact, we just launched a new website, and we changed the date display from looking like this:

To looking like this:

As you can see, we’ve always displayed a published date on our blog posts. Now, we’ve shifted the language to “last updated” to demonstrate that we are regularly monitoring our content and keeping it up-to-date.

Displaying the last updated date on your WordPress posts is an important factor in enhancing your website’s credibility, SEO performance, and user engagement. Here’s why it’s so important:

SEO Benefits

Up-to-date content is absolutely vital to your SEO efforts. Here are some of the SEO benefits of showing a last updated date on all your posts.

• A displayed recent date signals to search engines that your content is current, positively impacting search rankings.
• Fresh content is more likely to be indexed and ranked higher by Google.
• Regular updates increase the chances of your content being discovered by users.

User Trust

When it comes to winning over readers, a recent last updated date accomplishes the following:

• Builds credibility by showing visitors that you’re staying on top of updating your content.
• Reassures users that they are getting the latest and most accurate information.
• Encourages visitors to stay longer on your site, instead of leaving when they see the content is undated or out-of-date.

Content Relevance

Regular updates to your WordPress posts help you:

• Keep your content up-to-date with changing trends, statistics, and best practices.
• Maintain your authority in your niche by providing accurate, relevant information.
• Increase the likelihood of users returning to your site and recommending it to others.

Reduced Bounce Rates

A high bounce rate is the enemy of any content marketer, and displaying a recent update date at the top of your posts can help improve your bounce rate. Here’s why:

• Visitors are less likely to leave quickly if they see a recent update date.
• When you show that you’re regularly updating your posts, it encourages users to explore more of your content, improving engagement metrics.
• When users spend more time on your site, it sends positive signals to search engines about your site’s value and relevance.

Difference Between Published & Last Updated Dates in WordPress

Before I dive into my tutorials, let’s be clear on the difference between the published date and last updated date in WordPress.

The published date refers to the original date when the post or page was first made live and available to the public. This is the date when the content was initially created and shared with your audience. On the other hand, the last updated date reflects the most recent time that you changed and saved that post or page.

WordPress automatically tracks the published date and last updated date in the metadata for your posts and pages.

How to Change the Publish Date on WordPress Posts

With all of the potential benefits I listed above, it’s important to change the date on your WordPress posts each time you make a significant update or change.

First, let’s say you’re not interested in changing your settings or adding any coding or plugins. You just want your published date on your posts to reflect your most recent update. I’ll show you how to accomplish that in both Gutenberg and Classic editors.

Important note: Changing the published date on a post will also change the post’s placement in your blog feed. For instance, if you update a 3-year-old post to today’s date, it’ll display at the top of your feed as your most recent post.

How to Change Post Date in WordPress Block Editor (Gutenberg)

Whether you’re using Gutenberg or the Classic editor, you can change your post date in just a few clicks.

1. Open your WordPress dashboard and select Posts in the left navigation panel. Then, click on the blog post that you want to update.

2. Once you’ve made the changes to your post, you can change the date. You should see a settings panel on the right side of the screen. If you don’t, click on the dark gray button at the upper right, directly next to the blue Update button. Make sure that the Post tab is selected, and click on the date listed under Summary.

3. You’ll see a small popup window that lets you choose a new Publish date and time. Once you’ve set the new date and time, click the Update button. Clicking update will push all of the changes you’ve made live, including the new date. This change will affect the timestamp metadata of the post, which is crucial for SEO as it updates the snippet seen in Google search results.

How to Change Post Date in WordPress Classic Editor

If you’re still using the Classic editor, the process is still nearly identical:

1. In the WordPress dashboard, select Posts in the left navigation menu and choose the post you want to update.
2. Update your post content with new, relevant information.
3. In the panel on the right, you’ll see a Publish section. Click the Edit button beside or underneath the date.
4. Change the date and time, and click the blue Update button.

How to Display Date as “Last Updated on” Instead of “Published on”

By default, many WordPress themes will display a standalone date or introduce the date with “Published on.” If you regularly update your posts and change the publish date, readers will see that your content is recent.

However, the phrase “Last Updated” indicates to readers that you’re monitoring and regularly updating your content. Let’s go over a couple of ways to change how your website displays your date.

Method 1: Use Your WordPress Theme’s Appearance Settings to Display Last Updated Date

Your WordPress theme may let you change how your published date is displayed. Not all of them offer a “Last Updated on” option, and the exact steps will vary for the themes that do. But here are some general steps to find this setting for your WordPress theme:

1. Click Appearance in the left navigation menu in your WordPress Dashboard
2. Click Customize.
3. Look for theme settings related to post settings or date display.
4. Change the settings to display “Last Updated On.”
5. Save and publish the changes.

Method 2: Create a Site-Specific Plugin to Display “Last Updated on” instead of “Published on”

If your theme does not provide built-in options to display the “Last Updated On” date, you can create a site-specific plugin. Creating a site-specific plugin lets you add custom functionality to your WordPress site without modifying your theme files. This method ensures your custom code remains intact even if you change or update your theme. Here’s how to create a site-specific plugin to display the “Last Updated On” date instead of the “Published On” date.

If you already know how to create a site-specific plugin, here’s the PHP code you need to add:

function wpb_last_updated_date( $content ) {
    $u_time = get_the_time('U'); // Original publish time (Unix timestamp).
    $u_modified_time = get_the_modified_time('U'); // Last modified time (Unix timestamp).

    // Check if the post was updated at least 24 hours after being published.
    if ( $u_modified_time >= $u_time + 86400 ) {
        $updated_date = get_the_modified_time('F jS, Y'); // Format: Month Day, Year.
        $updated_time = get_the_modified_time('h:i a');   // Format: Hour:Minute AM/PM.
        
        // Append the "last updated" message to the content.
        $custom_content = '<p class="last-updated">Last updated on ' . $updated_date . ' at ' . $updated_time . '</p>';
        $custom_content .= $content; // Append the original content.
        return $custom_content;
    }

    return $content; // If not updated, return the original content.
}

// Add the filter to modify post content.
add_filter( 'the_content', 'wpb_last_updated_date' );

If you’re not sure how to use a site-specific plugin, follow this great step-by-step guide. I promise it’s easier than it sounds!

Method 3: Show Last Updated Date With WP Last Modified Info Plugin

You can also use a premade plugin to show the last modified date. I recommend WP Last Modified Info, which is free to use and highly rated.

Here’s how to set it up.

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

WP Last Modified Info is available from the WordPress plugin repository. Go to Plugins » Add New Plugin.

Search for “WP Last Modified Info” and click on Install Now.

The button will change to say Activate after installation. Click on Activate.

Step 2: Configure the Last Modified Date

WP Last Modified Info will live under Settings in your left navigation panel. From the WordPress dashboard, go to Settings » WP Last Modified Info.

Under “Post Settings, turn on the Show Info on Frontent toggle to start displaying the last modified date.

Customize the display settings as you wish.

• Display Method: You can place the last modified date before or after the content, replace the published date, or insert manually with a shortcode
• Date Format: You can choose Traditional Format (shows the date) or Human Readable Format (shows how long ago)

Depending on whether you choose the Traditional or Human Readable format, different settings will appear for you to configure.

You’ll also want to customize the HTML template accordingly. This will help make sure that the text makes sense.

For example, the HTML template for traditional format might look something like:

<p class="post-modified-info">
    Last Updated <strong>on</strong> %post_modified% by 
    <a href="%author_url%" target="_blank" class="last-modified-author">%author_name%</a>
</p>

On the other hand, the HTML template for human readable format could look like this:

<p class="post-modified-info">
    Last updated %post_modified% <strong>ago</strong> by 
    <a href="%author_url%" target="_blank" class="last-modified-author">%author_name%</a>
</p>

Make sure to click Save Settings when you’re done.

Now you will see the last modified date on all of your posts!

How to Display Both the Original Published Date & the Last Updated Date

So far, I’ve shown you how to change the date on your WordPress posts and how to make that date say “Last Updated on.” However, you may want to display both the date your post was originally published and the date of its most recent update. Doing so has several benefits:

• Demonstrates topical authority: Let’s say your blog post shows that you originally published it 5 years ago and that your most recent update what 3 months ago. By displaying this info, you show that your site has a long history of researching and writing about the post topic.
• Shows commitment to accurate content: Similarly, this tactic also signals to readers that you’re commited to keep all information on your site up-to-date, even if it was originally published years ago.
• Provides transparency: Displaying both dates is the most transparent way to show the history of your content.

Next, I’ll share multiple methods for displaying both the “Originally Published on” and “Last Updated on” dates on your WordPress posts.

Method 1: Use Your WordPress Theme’s Appearance Settings to Display Both Dates

Once again, you should first check your Appearance settings for your WordPress theme to see if your theme already offers this customization.

1. Navigate to Appearance > Customize: From your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance and click on Customize.
2. Look for options to display Both dates: Search for settings related to post meta information. These settings are often found under sections like “Layout,” “Blog,” “Single Post,” or similar categories depending on your theme.
3. Adjust settings: If your theme supports displaying both the original published date and the last updated date, you will find options to enable these settings. Select the appropriate options to display both dates.
4. Save your changes: Once you have made the changes, click the Save & Publish button to apply the settings.

Method 2: Create a Site-Specific Plugin to Display Both “Last Updated On” & “Originally Published On”

I explained earlier how a site-specific plugin lets you change how your published date will display, and your settings will remain stable even if you update or change your theme. Use the following code to display both the “Originally Published on” date and the “Last Updated on” date on your WordPress posts:

function show_published_and_modified_dates($content) {
 $published_date = get_the_date('F j, Y');
 $modified_date = get_the_modified_date('F j, Y');
 $content .= '<p class="published-date">Originally published on ' . $published_date . '</p>';
 if ($published_date !== $modified_date) {
 $content .= '<p class="modified-date">Last updated on ' . $modified_date . '</p>';
 }
 return $content;
}
add_filter('the_content', 'show_published_and_modified_dates');

Once again, if you need detailed instructions on creating a site-specific plugin, check out this guide from WPBeginner.

Method 3: Use WP Last Modified Info Plugin to Show Both “Last Updated On” & “Originally Published On” Dates

Last, I’ll show you how to use the WP Last Modified Info plugin to display both of these dates on your WordPress posts.

1. Install and Activate the Plugin: Follow the same instructions I shared in the previous section on using this plugin.
2. Configure the Plugin Settings:
   • Go to Plugin Settings:
     • Navigate to Settings > WP Last Modified Info from the WordPress dashboard.
   • Enable Display Options:
     • In the settings page, you will find several tabs. Ensure you are on the Posts tab.
     • Toggle the “Enable for Posts/Pages on Frontend” switch to activate the display for posts and pages.
   • Customize the Display Method: Go through the page and select how and where you want your dates displayed.
3. Configure the HTML Template: In the “HTML Template” section, you can customize how the dates are displayed. Use the following template to show both dates. %post_published% will be replaced with the original published date. %post_modified% will be replaced with the last modified date.

<p class="post-modified-info">
    Originally published on %post_published% | Last updated on %post_modified%
</p>

After configuring the settings and customizing the HTML template, scroll down and click the Save Changes button to apply your settings.

BONUS: How to Control the Last Modified Date With AIOSEO

If you use any of the methods outlined above, your posts will automatically show the last modified date.

But sometimes you may not want to show every single update, such as small proofreading corrections. Or perhaps you add a new category to your site and need to recategorize older posts. You wouldn’t necessarily need to show that all of those posts were “updated” just because the category changed.

Fortunately, it’s also easy to “freeze” the last modified date when making small updates or minor tweaks.

When you use the best SEO plugin AIOSEO to manage your site’s search rankings, you get an added bonus! You can easily keep the post modified date the same.

Read our full AIOSEO review and learn how to get started optimizing your content for search.

FAQs

What does “last updated” mean on a website?
“Last updated” on a website refers to the most recent date and time when the content of a webpage was significantly altered or corrected. This timestamp indicates to users and search engines that the content is being maintained and reflects the latest information, enhancing the site’s credibility and SEO value.

How can I tell when a website was last updated?
To find out when a website was last updated, you can often look for a “last updated” date usually displayed near the top or bottom of the content. If it’s not visible, the page’s HTML source code might contain a timestamp in the metadata under “last-modified” which browsers can interpret. This date provides insights into the recency of the content’s relevance and accuracy.

How can I see an older version of a webpage, from before that page was last updated?
To view an older version of a webpage, you can use services like the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. This service archives copies of webpages over time, allowing you to access previous versions of a site by entering its URL and selecting a date. It’s a useful tool for comparing historical webpage versions or retrieving information that has since been updated or removed.

Is there a way to automate the display of the last updated date on WordPress?
Yes, you can automate the display of the last updated date on your WordPress site by using plugins like WP Last Modified Info. This plugin can automatically append the last updated date to your posts and pages, ensuring that readers always see the most recent update timestamp. It allows customization on how and where the date appears, such as before the content or within the post metadata.

Where should I display the last updated date on my WordPress posts?
For the best user experience, your last updated date should be quickly visible to website visitors. Ideally, the updated date should be displayed in the header of the post, close to the title or the publication date. This placement immediately reassures readers that the content they’re about to read is current.

Should You Put the Last Updated Dates on Blog Posts?

Yes, you should always show your last updated dates on your blog posts, and you should regularly update your posts’ content. With this article, you now know several different ways you can accomplish this goal, depending on how you want your date displayed.

Regular content updates are vital for your site’s SEO. Want to learn more tips for improving you search engine rankings? Here are a few resources:

• Beginner’s SEO Guide: Learn the Basics & Most Important Tips
• Cracking the Code: Unveiling 10 Powerful SEO Ranking Factors
• On-Page SEO Checklist: How to Fully Optimize Your Posts
• What Is Off-Page SEO? 15 Proven Off-Page SEO Tips to Boost Rankings

Once you’ve nailed your SEO efforts, you need to convert those organic visitors into subscribers and customers.

That’s where OptinMonster comes in! OptinMonster is the #1 lead-generation software available. You can use our popups, floating bars, and other onsite campaigns to show the right messages to the right visitors at just the right time. Then, you can get more email subscribers, promote your best content, and drive more sales.

TL;DR of the 10 Tips to Get More Reviews

1. Make it Easy to Leave a Review: Simplify the review process by listing your business on relevant review sites (e.g., Google, Yelp) and adding clear calls-to-action (CTAs) on your website to encourage customers to leave feedback.
2. Display Reviews on Your Website: Showcase existing customer reviews on your site to provide social proof, enhance SEO with fresh content, and encourage others to share their experiences.
3. Send Purchase Follow-Up Emails: After a purchase, send timely follow-up emails requesting a review while the customer’s experience is still fresh, maximizing response rates.
4. Use Incentives to Increase Customer Reviews: Offer incentives like discounts, coupons, or entry into contests to motivate customers to write reviews, fostering repeat business.
5. Use Product Review Tools to Manage Reviews: Implement review management tools (e.g., Yotpo, Kudobuzz) to collect, manage, and display reviews efficiently across different platforms.
6. Make Reviews Count: Demonstrate to customers how their reviews benefit them, such as through personalized recommendations or improved services, making them feel valued.
7. Include a Call-to-Action on Physical Materials: Add QR codes or review prompts on physical items like receipts, packaging, or inserts in orders to encourage customers to leave reviews.
8. Post to Social Media: Share positive reviews on your social media channels to highlight customer satisfaction, engage your audience, and encourage others to share their feedback.
9. Pay Attention to Negative Reviews: Address negative reviews promptly and professionally, apologizing and offering solutions to resolve issues, which can turn dissatisfied customers into loyal ones.
10. Ask for Reviews Directly: Simply ask customers for reviews in person, via email, or on social media, focusing on the timing when they are most satisfied to increase the likelihood of positive feedback.

Do you want to learn how to get more reviews?

Whether you run a local business or have customers around the world, the power of a review cannot be overstated. Reviews have the unique ability to shape perceptions and influence decisions.

Given how much shoppers rely on reviews, you’d think they would put more value on writing their own, but on average, they don’t. 92% of consumers read online reviews, but only 6% write them.

In this guide, I will share tips on how to get more reviews and not just that but also how to increase the quality of your reviews, transforming your online presence.

Let’s get started.

Related ContentSocial Proof Statistics: Powerful Facts That Will Help You Boost Your Brand

Understanding the Value of Reviews

Let’s go over a couple of benefits of obtaining business reviews:

The SEO and Visibility Boost

Reviews do more than just reassure potential customers; they’re a cornerstone of your online visibility. Your review quantity and quality are SEO ranking factors for search engines like Google.

More reviews, especially positive ones, signal to search engines that your business is trustworthy and relevant, potentially boosting your visibility in search results.

Building Trust and Credibility

Imagine you’re choosing between two local cafes you’ve never visited. One has numerous positive reviews detailing the cozy ambiance and exquisite coffee, while the other has few or no reviews. Which would you choose?

If you’re like most consumers, you’d opt for the former. Reviews are a form of social proof, offering reassurance to potential customers that they’re making the right choice.

How To Get More Reviews

1. Make it Easy to Leave a Review
2. Display Your Reviews on Your Website
3. Send Purchase Follow Up Emails
4. Use Incentives to Increase Customer Reviews
5. Use Product Review Tools to Manage Reviews
6. Make Reviews Count
7. Include a Call-to-Action on Physical Materials in Each Order
8. Post to Social Media
9. Pay Attention to Negative Reviews
10. Ask for Reviews Directly

1. Make it Easy to Leave a Review

As a business owner, you should make sure your business is listed on all relevant review sites. Different platforms cater to different audiences and industries, so it’s crucial to identify where your customers are most active.

Google My Business, Google Business Profile, Yelp, and TripAdvisor are key. Make sure your profiles are complete and appealing, with up-to-date information and high-quality images that invite engagement.

Your website should also encourage reviews. Add clear CTAs such as “Leave Us a Review” on your homepage and post-purchase pages.

The easier you make it for customers to leave a review on your products, the more likely you are to actually get reviews. People aren’t going to go 4 levels deep on your site and then search for their product in a database in order to leave a review.

Take a cue from Beardbrand and make your reviews easy to find and easy to leave. Every product page has a section for reviews:

You can do this with an app like Yotpo Social Reviews. See a couple more review management tools in #5.

Alternately, if you’re using WordPress, you can make a user review form with WPForms. This option may be more cost-effective, plus you can use the plugin to build contact and other forms on your website.

2. Display Your Reviews on Your Website

As you can see from the Beardbrand image above, they include their reviews on their website too. This serves a few purposes.

• Lots of social proof. Other shoppers can see that people are enjoying this product.
• More original content is great for SEO and rankings.
• Shoppers can share reviews, ask questions, and mark other reviews and helpful or unhelpful.

If you’re asking for reviews, share them on your site. What else were you going to do with them, anyway?

Embedding a plugin like TrustPulse to showcase existing reviews can be a game-changer, as it not only displays social proof but also makes leaving a review seem like joining an esteemed group of satisfied customers.

If the reviews are particularly glowing or entertaining, share them on social media platforms or highlight them in some way. And, definitely give a shout out to the customer.

Don’t forget, there are probably some awesome testimonials about your company on social media already.

You can easily pull reviews from Twitter and display them on your site with a plugin like Smash Balloon.

Smash Balloon’s Custom Twitter Feeds Pro lets you seamlessly integrate a Twitter feed into your website. The best part is that it gives you the ability to create a feed of tweets that mention your account or use your branded hashtag.

This is the perfect way to show off the love your customers have for your business and encourage your website visitors to tweet about you too.

Similarly, you can also embed Google reviews on your websites and have review sites have your product or service reviewed.

3. Send Purchase Follow Up Emails

Post-purchase email requests for reviews have an 8% response rate, making them the best way to get reviews.

To get the best response, try to send your review request email within a week of the purchase to take advantage of those good feelings that shopping releases. ? Also, according to research done by Yotpo, you’re likely to get your best response on Saturday, so keep that in mind.

New to email marketing? Here’s our step-by-step guide to running an email campaign.

4. Use Incentives to Increase Customer Reviews

Coupons, discounts, and other rewards are great ways to encourage your customers to leave reviews. Incentives also have the added bonus of encouraging repeat sales.

Loyalty programs are a great way to track and distribute your incentives. If you have a loyalty program, you can incorporate points for reviews and share reviews on social media.

Contest entries are another great incentive you can offer in exchange for a review.

And remember that social mentions can be pretty cool rewards too. Just don’t forget to tag the customer.

A quick aside: incentives are a great tool to increase customer feedback and a fine eCommerce marketing strategy overall, but make sure that you’re not just rewarding the positive reviews. Nobody wants negative reviews, but we’ll talk about how to deal with them in a minute.

5. Use Product Review Tools to Manage Reviews

Several product review tools are available to help you manage your reviews. You can find one that works for you, whichever eCommerce platform you use.

Let’s talk about a few of them.

Kudobuzz

Kudobuzz helps you collect reviews from customers in a few different ways:

1. Sending out post-purchase email requests
2. Collating posts and reviews from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, and Yelp
3. Creating broadcast links that you can send to request reviews

The content is then displayed on the Kudobuzz dashboard, and you can decide what you want to use and where.

Yotpo

Yotpo is a review management solution that shines in its analytics and reporting. You can use the reporting to make data-driven decisions to improve marketing strategy, generate reviews, and get quality traffic.

Product Reviews by Shopify

Product Reviews by Shopify is perfect for those of us who don’t have coding knowledge but still want a great-looking product reviews feature on our eCommerce sites.

Customers can engage with you and with each other within the product reviews, making it possible for you to respond to reviews. Your customers can even ask each other questions about the fit and feel of the product, which can result in increased social proof.

6. Make Reviews Count

We’ve already talked about incentives; people like getting something for giving something. One of the things that people get from Amazon for their reviews is recommendations. Amazon uses your reviews to show you other products you may like later.

Basically, you’re reviewing things to help the future find more things to buy.

7. Include a Call-to-Action on Physical Materials in Each Order

If you include paper invoices or other marketing materials in your shipments, you can create and include a call-to-action with a QR code. Then, use WPForms to create a mobile review form to capture reviews. When the customer uses the QR code from their phone, they’re taken to the form and can submit a review.

Not sure how to get them to scan the QR code? Learn how to create the perfect call to action here.

8. Post to Social Media

Sharing positive reviews on social media has sparked conversations and encouraged others to leave their feedback. It’s a way of showing appreciation for happy customers and subtly inviting others to share their experiences.

Engaging with your audience through polls or questions about their customer experiences can also prompt reviews.

9. Pay Attention to Negative Reviews

You may think the best thing to do with negative reviews is ignore them, but it definitely isn’t. Here’s a good process to follow for negative reviews:

1. Apologize.
2. Tell the upset customer how to contact you.
3. Explain how you’ll make it right.

If you get everything solved and everyone’s happy, ask the customer to write a new review. If you’ve handled everything professionally and compassionately, you may have gained a lifelong customer from a formerly bad review.

10. Ask for Reviews Directly

One of the most effective strategies is simply asking customers for reviews. Whether in person, via email, or social media, making a direct request can significantly increase your review volume.

The key is timing; ask when the customer’s positive experience is fresh in their mind. For instance, after hosting a successful event, send follow-up emails thanking attendees and gently asking for feedback on Google.

You can even utilize your email signature to obtain a review or have CTAs placed on your website, redirecting to your Google business profile.

Automation tools have been a lifesaver in managing review requests. Platforms like Trustpilot or Yotpo automate the process of sending review requests after a purchase. This not only saves time but also ensures that no customer is overlooked.

That’s it! Now, you have 10 great ways to get more product reviews on your website and increase social proof.

Actively seeking and managing reviews is an ongoing process that can dramatically impact your business. It’s about more than just increasing numbers; it’s about building relationships, trust, and an online reputation for excellence.

By implementing the tips outlined in this guide, you can create a robust review ecosystem that fuels business growth and customer loyalty.

Remember, every review is a chance to learn, improve, and celebrate your successes. So, start today, and watch as your collection of reviews transforms your business.

How To Get More Reviews – FAQs

1. How to Get More Google Reviews?

1. Ask Customers Directly: After a transaction or service, directly ask your satisfied customers to leave a review. Make it easy by sending them a link directly to your review page.
2. Email Follow-ups: Incorporate requests for reviews in your follow-up emails. This can be effective especially after a customer has confirmed satisfaction with your product or service.
3. Utilize Your Website: Add a call-to-action on your website that directs customers to your Google review page.
4. Incentives: While Google discourages offering incentives for reviews, ensuring excellent service and experience can naturally encourage customers to leave positive feedback.
5. Respond to Existing Reviews: Show that you value feedback by responding to current reviews, which can encourage others to leave their own.

2. How to Get More Reviews on Amazon?

1. Automated Email Campaigns: Use Amazon’s “Request a Review” button or automated email services to ask customers for feedback about 5-30 days post-purchase, which is the optimal time when the experience is still fresh in their minds.
2. Amazon Vine Program: If eligible, enroll in Amazon’s Vine program, where trusted reviewers are provided with your product for honest reviews.
3. Provide Excellent Customer Service: Quick responses to customer inquiries and resolving issues can lead to higher rates of positive reviews.
4. High-Quality Product Listings: Ensure your product descriptions, images, and information are clear and high-quality, reducing negative reviews due to misunderstandings.

3. How to Get More Yelp Reviews?

1. Yelp Signs and Stickers: Display Yelp branding in your place of business to remind customers that they can rate their experience on Yelp.
2. Personalized Requests: After a service, personally encourage customers to share their experience on Yelp without offering incentives, as this is against Yelp’s policies.
3. Social Media Integration: Share your Yelp page on your social media platforms to increase visibility.
4. Respond to Reviews: Just like with Google, responding to reviews on Yelp can also encourage others to leave feedback, showing that you value customer input.
5. Optimize Your Yelp Business Page: Make sure your business information is accurate, and consider posting updates or using features like Yelp Check-In Offers to engage with customers.

Also check out:

• Social Proof Software Tools
• Beginner’s Guide to Conversion Rate Optimization
• Increase Your Conversion Rate

TL;DR of Cross-Promotion Strategies:

1. Co-Host Webinars or Podcasts: Team up with complementary businesses to present joint webinars or podcast series, sharing expertise and engaging both audiences.
2. Collaborate on Ebooks: Write an ebook together on a topic relevant to both brands, providing valuable content and leveraging each other’s reach.
3. Offer Partner Discounts: Create special discounts or promo codes for each other’s products or services, encouraging customers to explore what your partner offers.
4. Leverage Social Media Collaborations: Use social media to promote each other’s brands—share content, host joint giveaways or contests, and engage with a wider audience.
5. Create Bundle Deals: Combine your products or services with those of your partner into attractive bundle offers, providing greater value to customers.
6. Start a Referral Program: Implement a referral system where you and your partner refer customers to each other, rewarding those who bring in new business.
7. Expand Presence on Other Platforms: Collaborate to establish a presence on additional platforms—guest blog on each other’s sites, contribute to forums, or create content on platforms like Medium.
8. Email Marketing Partnerships: Feature each other’s products or services in your email newsletters or send co-branded emails to your subscriber lists to cross-promote offerings.

Cross-promotion definition:

Cross-promotion is a marketing strategy where two or more brands collaborate to promote each other’s products or services. This strategy aims to reach a broader audience and leverage the strengths and customer bases of the partnering brands.

Have you ever noticed how some brands magically appear alongside others, creating a buzz that’s hard to miss? That’s the art of cross-promotion – a strategy as old as marketing itself, yet constantly evolving.

Cross-promotion marketing happens around us all the time. You can see it everywhere. It’s that McDonald’s Happy Meal promoting the latest blockbuster hit. It’s that box of cereal sponsoring an Olympic athlete.

As you can see, there are a lot of businesses that cross-promote. Monster, Skittles, Toyota, and NASCAR are all cross-promoting themselves simultaneously.

But if cross-promotion isn’t anything new, why are we talking about it?

Glad you asked! Traditionally, large-scale cross-promotion was something that big business did. Aside from the occasional event sponsorship, local businesses usually focus on advertising. Collaborating with other brands was an afterthought.

But the industry has changed. Running a successful eCommerce store is easier than ever.

Anyone can build a virtual store with a platform like Shopify or WooCommerce. All you need is a good idea and a good product. And with marketing tools and social media management tools, connecting with similar companies is much easier.

This means that anyone can lay the groundwork for a successful cross-promotion campaign by

• Establishing a well-known brand.
• Building relationships with other businesses.

But first, you have to start. That’s where we come in. Because we’re about to give you the inside scoop of cross-promotion, free of charge. So, don’t go anywhere until you read these cross-promotion ideas. That way, you’re prepared to launch the perfect marketing campaign.

• What is Cross-Promotion?
• Benefits of Cross-Promotion
• Getting Started With Cross Promotion
• How to Cross-Promote

What is Cross-Promotion?

At its core, cross-promotion is about partnership and mutual benefit. It’s when two or more businesses promote each other’s products or services to their respective target audiences. Think of it as a marketing tag team where each partner brings their strengths to the table.

Unlike traditional advertising, cross-promotion is inherently collaborative. It’s not just about brand awareness; it’s about creating value for both the businesses involved and their customers.

This collaborative nature often leads to more authentic and engaging marketing efforts.

Remember the Spotify and Uber partnership? When you could control the music in your Uber ride through Spotify? That’s cross-promotion at its finest – seamless, innovative, and enhancing the user experience for both sets of customers.

Benefits of Cross-Promotion

The following are the reasons why cross-promotion is important for your business:

1. Cost-Effectiveness

One of the biggest draws of cross-promotion is how cost-effective it is. This fall MonsterInsights did a webinar with OptinMonster. The result? Increased foot traffic for both of us, with minimal marketing spend.

2. Reaching New Audiences

Cross-promotion opens doors to new audiences. OptinMonster collaborates with partner brands to co-create a series of posts, and our combined audiences doubled our usual reach, bringing fresh eyes to both our content.

3. Building Partnerships and Networks

It’s not just about the immediate marketing win; it’s also about building lasting relationships. These partnerships can evolve into a supportive network, crucial for long-term business growth.

4. Enhanced Credibility

When a well-respected brand vouches for you, it lends credibility to your business. The endorsement is worth more than any ad could pay.

Getting Started With Cross Promotion

You should follow the key steps below to effectively integrate cross-promotion into your business strategy and reap its benefits.

1. Conduct Your Own Research

Know a brand that really complements your product?

Are they a competitor? If not, see if they’re interested in working together. There are many influencers, non-profits, and businesses out there. And many would jump at an opportunity to collaborate with another brand.

If you’re not someone that networks, reaching out to brands probably sounds tough. The good news is that the days of cold-calling are gone. You can use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to connect with businesses in your industry.

In fact, you don’t even have to stick to your industry. As long as you see an opportunity for you and another brand to work together, go for it. Just steer clear of competitors.

If you need some help conducting research, we’ve got a great article on competitor research tools you’ll find interesting. Don’t let the name fool you. Many of those tools can be used to research collaborators as well. One platform you may find especially helpful is SEO PowerSuite.

You can use their LinkAssistant tool to research and build connections with companies. It’s really helpful, so go check it out.

2. Build Relationships With Other Brands

By now, you probably understand the importance of researching potential partners. So, it’s time to actually start making those connections.

Don’t go messaging everyone under the sun just yet. You want to keep these cross-promotion tips in mind as you scout prospects:

• Don’t venture too far away from your brand. First, make sure that prospective companies share similar customers to your own. Otherwise, your cross-promotion efforts will likely fall short.
• Be cautious when building relationships. Don’t jump into a partnership with just anyone. First, do a bit of research on the company and see how they fit into your brand image. Do they share the same core values? Are they well-liked? These are important things to consider before associating with another company.
• Start with a plan. Every successful marketing campaign needs a plan. Your cross-promotion efforts aren’t any different. Before diving into your partnership, decide how long this cross-promotion campaign will last. Determine what products will be marketed, and how.

Need some help building cross-promotional marketing connections? Don’t worry, there’s an app for that. It’s called Madneto

Madneto markets itself as the first-ever cross-promotional tool for businesses. While we can’t verify that, one thing’s for certain. It’s great for finding business partners and managing cross-promotion campaigns. Plus, it offers a free 3-month trial. So, give it a try and see how you find it.

How to Cross-Promote

1. Co-Host a Webinar or Podcast Series

2. Write an Ebook Together

3. Offer Discounts for Partners

4. Take Your Cross-Promotion Strategy to Social Media

5. Create Bundle Deals

6. Start a Referral Program

7. Build a Presence on Other Platforms

8. Email Marketing Partnerships

Once you’ve got the relationship building out of the way, it’s time to put in the work. This is where things can get a little tricky. Just having your name mentioned by another company isn’t enough. Customers need to believe your collaboration is more than just a marketing opportunity. Otherwise, you’re not getting the cross-promotion benefits you hoped for.

In short, your collaboration needs to be meaningful. It’s more than a shout out. It’s an opportunity to team up with another brand and create something bigger and better.

Here are eight cross-promotion strategies:

1. Co-Host a Webinar or Podcast Series

Share expertise in a joint webinar or workshop, providing value to both customer bases. For example, an interior designer and furniture store could partner up to discuss home remodeling.

2. Write an Ebook Together

Ebooks are actually a really great way to share more information in your area of expertise. Who doesn’t love an informative ebook, after all? Just ask LiveChat.

After creating an ebook with a marketing company, The Chat Shop, they experienced an uptick in customer engagement.

3. Offer Discounts for Partners

Discounts and promo codes are great for driving sales. Everyone loves a deal!

So, why not use discounts to promote your partners (and give them a chance to promote you)? Create a lead generation campaign that advertises your partner’s discounts and deals upon conversion. And have them run the same campaign for you. That way, everyone’s products get promoted.

Best of all, you and your partner companies can create these campaigns in a few short minutes. All you need is OptinMonster. That’s because OptinMonster’s drag and drop feature makes it easy to make beautifully crafted optins.

You can use it to:

• Grow your mailing list.
• Target cart abandoners.
• Create coupons.

For your cross-promotion strategy, you’d be creating coupons for your partners. And you’d give those coupons to visitors that complete your optin. You grow your mailing list, your partner receives buzz around their product. Everyone wins.

You can even go the extra mile and make your discounts reciprocal. That means that you and your partners honor each other’s coupons. Your coupon works with participating companies and vice versa.

4. Take Your Cross-Promotion Strategy to Social Media

One of the easiest cross-promotion tips we can give you is to use social media to the fullest. Don’t create a social media presence on one site. Establish yourself on all popular social media platforms.

But the trick to cross-promoting on social media is to be different on each platform. For example, you could

• Use your Twitter account for engaging with customers.
• Post articles and in-depth content on Facebook.
• Share downloadable material on Pinterest.
• Partner with a complementary business to host a giveaway or contest on social media. Each partner can contribute to the prize pool, attracting a wider audience.
• Swap guest posts or share each other’s content on social media platforms to reach new audiences.

The idea is to create a niche on each platform so that people have a reason to visit all your accounts.

Oh, and don’t forget to share images of your partners’ brands as well. Share their content. Write meaningful reviews of their products.  Give them a shout out from time to time.

This is a great way to share your network with your business partners. And if they return the favor, which they should, then you should see an influx of social media traffic as well.

5. Create Bundle Deals

This cross-promotion tip only works if you and your partner are in a similar industry.

A good way to drive sales and create awareness around you and your partner’s brands is through bundle deals. Here’s a picture of a bundle from Amazon taken from The Dot Store.

The main product is the headphones, but the other 2 items actually enhance the headphones. That’s why they’re all sold together. You can apply this concept to your cross-promotion campaign by creating bundles using your partners’ products. For example, if you’re an online florist and your business partner owns a bakery, the two of you could sell gift baskets to customers. You provide the flowers, they provide the treats that go in the basket.

You could even offer discounts to improve sales. When the customer buys your item, they can buy your partners’ items at a discount.

6. Start a Referral Program

According to Neilsen research, 92% of people trust product recommendations from people in their peer group.

In other words, referrals coming from friends, family members, and co-workers are incredibly effective. In fact, they’re arguably one of the best ways to promote your company.

This makes sense when you think about it. Customers want authentic reviews coming from unbiased, third-party people. This is similar to the reason influencer marketing became popular—we value authenticity above everything else.

And with a rewards program, you can take advantage of this and overhaul your cross-promotion strategy. Start tracking the people who share your product with their friends and family, and reward those who sign up new members.

With OptinMonster, you can create discount coupons and give them to people who bring in referrals.

You can also use OptinMonster’s Referrer Detection feature to automate your referral program. That’ll help you target visitors that come through your site on a specific traffic source, like a landing page linked to your referral program.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how you run your referral program. Just make sure you’re rewarding loyal customers. Turning customers into brand advocates is one of the best cross-marketing strategies around.

7. Build a Presence on Other Platforms

If you want to maximize your cross-promotion benefits, you need to step out of your comfort zone. And by that, we mean exploring new platforms.

One obvious way to do this is to strengthen your social media presence, which we covered earlier. But that’s not the only way you can market your brand. Here are some other cross-promotion ideas to establish yourself on other platforms:

• Offer to write guest posts for sites like Huffington Post and Inc.com.
• Create content and engage in discussions on blogging platforms like Medium and Tumblr.
• Promote your brand on messaging services.

This will help you adopt a multichannel marketing approach. That’s when you use multiple platforms to engage with followers and customers.

Use OptinMonster as your go-to lead generating solution. You’ll have no problem going multichannel.

That’s because OptinMonster lets you connect your optins to Facebook Messenger. This lets you engage with customers on a new marketing channel that’s just starting to show its full potential. And we’re being serious when we say potential. On average, marketing through Facebook Messenger gives you 60-70% open rates within your first hour.

Check out our Chatbot feature. You could easily have it up and running by the time it takes to brew a pot of coffee.

8. Email Marketing Partnerships

Promote each other’s products, services, or events in your email newsletters. Send out emails specifically designed to highlight the partnership and its benefits to customers.

Remember, the key to successful cross-promotion is finding a partner whose business complements yours and whose audience aligns with your target market. The collaboration should feel natural and beneficial to both parties, as well as to the customers.

Exploit the Power of Cross-Promotion With OptinMonster

To truly capitalize on the potential of cross-promotion, having the right tools at your disposal is essential. This is where OptinMonster comes into play.

OptinMonster is a leading conversion optimization toolkit that can supercharge your cross-promotional efforts. Whether you’re looking to grow your email list, improve website conversions, or create targeted campaigns, OptinMonster provides a suite of tools to help you easily achieve these goals.

With its user-friendly interface, you can create stunning opt-in forms, floating bars, and full-screen welcome mats that capture your audience’s attention. These tools are handy when promoting joint ventures, special offers, or co-created content with your cross-promotion partners.

OptinMonster’s advanced targeting features allow you to display these campaigns to specific audience segments, ensuring the right people see the right message at the right time.

Moreover, OptinMonster’s analytics capabilities enable you to track the success of your cross-promotional campaigns, giving you valuable insights into what’s working and what can be improved. This data-driven approach ensures that your cross-promotion strategies are creative, collaborative, and grounded in real results.

So, as you embark on your next cross-promotional adventure, consider how OptinMonster can help you turn your collaborative visions into tangible successes.

Create High Converting Optin Campaigns Today!

Good lead magnets are one of the most effective strategies for businesses to attract potential customers and convert them into loyal clients.

But what exactly is a lead magnet, and how can you create one that resonates with your target audience?

Let’s dive in!

• What Is a Lead Magnet?
• Lead Magnet Ideas You Can Try Today
• How To Create a Lead Magnet
• 63 Irresistible Lead Magnet Examples
• 7 Key Takeaways To Create Irresistible Lead Magnets
• How To Distribute Your Lead Magnet

What Is a Lead Magnet?

A lead magnet is a marketing term for a free resource or incentive offered to potential customers in exchange for their contact information, typically an email address. Commonly used to generate leads and grow email lists, lead magnets can include ebooks, webinars, white papers, e-newsletters, or free consultations.

The primary goal of a lead magnet is to entice visitors to engage with your brand, thereby increasing the chances of converting them into paying customers.

Consider it a win-win situation: your audience gets something valuable, and you can nurture and communicate with them.

This makes lead magnets one of the most important parts of your content marketing strategy.

Here’s an example of an OptinMonster campaign offering a lead magnet:

Right away, users can see they can get 12 proven strategies for converting abandoning visitors. All they need to do is enter their email address.

Lead Magnet Ideas You Can Try Today

In this section, we’ll learn about several different types of lead magnet content you can create. You can deliver these lead magnets in a variety of formats: PDF download, video, Notion template or other digital file, or even as a gated content page on your website.

1. Checklist

Let’s start with our favorite lead magnet example: the checklist.

Checklists convert the best out of all the lead magnets because they’re so easily consumed. They condense the user’s knowledge into one actionable list.

They’re also super quick to create. For example, you can summarize your popular blog posts as a checklist and turn them into a content upgrade. Then combine that content upgrade with a 2-step optin form, and you’ll see a big conversion boost.

Here are two examples of checklists we’ve created for users like you:

Ultimate Optin Form Checklist: This checklist contains a list of all 63 elements that you need to create the ultimate optin form.

On-Page SEO Checklist: How to Fully Optimize Your Posts: You can print this out and consult it whenever you want to optimize a page for SEO.

2. eBook

For it to work, what you need is a solid benefit. Why should someone take the time to read your eBook?

Derek Halpern’s free eBook Get 5,000 Subscribers features an irresistible benefit to their target market.

Still, if someone can achieve the same result from a simple checklist, then, by all means, give them a checklist instead. It’s not worth spending weeks writing an entire eBook when you can get better conversions from a PDF that took you 20 minutes to create.

You may also want to check out this post on how to make an ebook popup to get even more leads from your ebook.

3. Webinar

Like video and audio lead magnets, webinars also have high perceived value. They’re even more irresistible because they have another component: urgency.

Since live webinars only occur at specific times and may have a limited run, they play on the “fear of missing out.”

Heck, webinars work so well for lead generation that Neil Patel turned their entire homepage into a webinar registration page!

If you use WordPress and are looking for an LMS plugin for WordPress to launch a webinar easily or an online course, check out our top picks!

4. Template

A template can provide an outline, or some starting point, so all the user has to do is fill in the blanks.

The Magic Email Template is a great lead magnet template example– it’s something entrepreneurs and small business owners can copy and paste, customize a few words, and then send off to connect with influencers and VIPs in your industry instantly.

To take your lead magnet game one step further, create a collection of lead magnet templates, like Digital Marketer’s Ultimate Facebook Ad Template Library.

5. Product Demos

If you’ve ever shopped for an app or a software tool, you’ve probably seen many of these lead magnet examples without realizing it.

Most software companies will have a big call to action to sign up for a free trial or demo on their homepage. Why? Because that’s how they get your email address.

But you don’t have to be a software company to benefit from a free trial lead magnet.

SnackNation offers a free sample box of their product. They ask for your work email address (no credit card required). Now that’s an irresistible offer!

6. Case Studies

Prospects at the bottom of the funnel love to read case studies. This lead magnet idea could give them the last push they need to buy your product.

Back when Upwork was still oDesk, they had a lead magnet called “Make It Work: Smart Advice From Real-Life Clients Who Found Success Using Online Work.” This was a compilation of case studies from people who used their service, packaged in PDF format.

7. Exclusive Discount Codes

It would be best to offer an early bird discount to sweeten the deal of getting on your waitlist. This is a great way to reward your most enthusiastic prospects at the bottom of your funnel.

8. Email Course

Email courses are easy to assemble because they don’t require creating anything fancy or downloadable. It’s a simple email autoresponder series that teaches users to accomplish something specific.

The best part about email courses is that they can be used to turn prospects into customers.

Rick Mulready uses their email course called 4 Facebook Ad Mistakes That Are Losing You Money to convert leads into customers for their FB Ads for Newbies course.

9. Podcasts

Podcasts have surged in popularity and can be an excellent lead magnet, especially for audiences who prefer auditory content.

By offering exclusive podcast episodes or a unique series as a lead magnet, businesses can attract subscribers keen on absorbing content on the go.

Whether it’s an interview with an industry expert, deep dives into specific topics, or behind-the-scenes content, a podcast can provide valuable insights and knowledge. Plus, with the added benefit of voice and tone, it can help in building a deeper connection with the audience.

Like other content forms, it’s crucial to ensure the podcast offers genuine value, is well-produced, and resonates with the target demographic.

How To Create a Lead Magnet

Step 1. Define the Buyer

Step 2. Identify the Problem You’re Solving

Step 3. Position Your Lead Magnet

Step 4. Create Your Lead Magnet

Creating a lead magnet that resonates with your audience requires a strategic approach. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Step 1. Define the Buyer

Thinking strategically about your lead magnet before pulling up your graphic design software or building a signup form would be best.

First, you need to decide what kind of buyer persona you hope to pull in with this lead magnet.

Ask yourself:

• What product or service are you hoping to sell?
• Who wants this offer?
• Why do they need it?
• What pain points are they experiencing?

It would help if you also considered the customer’s level of awareness. They may be:

• Unaware: They need to learn or describe what their problem is.
• Problem Aware: They know there’s a problem but need to know if there’s a solution.
• Solution Aware: They know of ways to solve their problem but need the specific tools or processes to do it.
• Product Aware: They know your company, product, or service exists but need to be made aware of everything you can do for them or aren’t convinced it will work for them.
• Most Aware: They know all about your offer and how it can help them but are yet to buy.

New leads typically come in unaware, problem-aware, or solution-aware. The next step will be defining the problem your lead magnet will solve for them and how much awareness it will build.

Step 2. Identify the Problem You’re Solving

As I mentioned earlier, effective lead magnets will solve specific problems. These may be incomplete solutions, but they will give the subscriber a quick win to build trust in your brand.

It may be easier to start by thinking about the problem your paid product solves. Then, work backward to define a problem your lead magnet can solve.

For example, a company may be selling an SEO plugin for WordPress. That paid product solves the problem of creating SEO-friendly content more easily. Before a customer is ready for that product, they need to know how well their site is performing on search in the first place.

Their lead magnet could be a quick SEO audit checklist, which would solve the problem of understanding their current SEO performance.

Your goal is to build awareness with your lead magnet and throughout your sales and marketing funnel. Most steps in the funnel will make just 1-2 awareness levels at a time.

Taking someone from unaware to most aware with a single download can be a stretch, but it would be relatively easy to take them from problem-aware to solution-aware.

Going back to our SEO plugin example, prospects may be completely unaware they have any SEO issues that need to be solved before using the lead magnet.

After completing the audit checklist, they become aware of the SEO problems on their site. They are then ready to receive more marketing material about the plugin.

Step 3. Position Your Lead Magnet

The last bit of strategic planning you should do is to position your lead magnet appropriately in your sales process. In other words, think through what should happen before and after new subscribers download the lead magnet.

First, consider how they’ll find your lead magnet. Will you send Facebook ad traffic to it? Will it be on a landing page or blog post that comes up in search results? Will you link to the lead magnet from other sites or your own email signature?

Check out our list of places to add signup forms for higher conversions to get some ideas.

Next, figure out where their contact information goes.

You might send those email addresses to an email service provider (ESP) like Constant Contact or a customer relationship management (CRM) software like HubSpot. There’s no point in offering a lead magnet if you leave those email addresses in the Internet void!

Finally, think about what happens after the new subscriber gets their lead magnet. Do you follow up with a welcome email sequence or SMS message? Do you reach out personally by email to schedule a 1:1 consultation? Do they start receiving your weekly email newsletter right away?

It can help your lead magnet to give a hint about what will happen next. You can include this in the lead magnet itself, on the signup form, in the email delivering the lead magnet, or all of the above.

Step 4. Create Your Lead Magnet

Now, it’s time actually to create your lead magnet.

First, pick a format. This can affect the type of content you write. For example, an interactive quiz differs significantly from a PDF report.

Also, consider your target audience when creating your lead magnet. Would they have time to watch a 10-minute video or prefer a PDF download they can look through at their leisure?

Next, write the content. Start by reviewing the benefits of the lead magnet. What will your checklist help them do? What will they know after reading your report? How will your template make their lives easier?

Then, lay out your process or insights step by step. Finish with a call to action (CTA) describing the next step they can take to work with you or purchase your products.

Once you have your content ready, pick a title. With the title, you can be as clever as you want as long as it clearly explains the lead magnet’s value proposition. One simple formula to use is [Solution] for [Buyer]:

• 12-Step Website Audit for Creative Business Owners
• Meal Planning Template for Busy Parents
• Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing: A Report for Agency Owners
• Beginner’s Guide to Website Design for Authors

Let’s also read about a lead magnet platform called Beacon.

Beacon.by

Beacon.by is a comprehensive platform designed to help users create and manage lead magnets. It offers a range of features that simplify the process of creating, capturing, and managing lead magnets.

Key features of Beacon.by include:

• Lead Magnet Creator: Allows users to create professional-looking lead magnets using a drag-and-drop builder. Users can start from scratch or use one of the many templates available, tailored to various industries.
• Lead Capture Forms: This tool helps users design engaging forms to gather customer information, enhancing the website’s lead generation capabilities.
• Resource Library Builder: Users can compile and manage a collection of valuable resources such as documents, videos, and links, making it easier for their audience to access and interact with content.

Beacon also provides a “Lead Magnet Academy” that offers lessons on creating effective lead magnets, promoting them, and nurturing leads once they have engaged with your content.

Pricing options cater to different needs, from a free plan suitable for new businesses and hobbyists, to more advanced plans that offer additional features like custom domains and increased lead management capabilities.

For more information and a deeper dive into what Beacon.by can offer, you can visit their official site: Beacon.by.

Now, you can design your lead magnet! A complete design or technical tutorial is too much to include in this article, but here are some helpful links you can use to get started:

• What Is Lead Quality? And How to Measure It (+8 Bonus Tips!)
• How to Create a Lead Magnet In Canva
• How to Create a Quiz Lead Magnet
• How to Create an Email Course Lead Magnet

63 Irresistible Lead Magnet Examples

Ready to create your lead magnet? Let’s dive into the 63 highly effective lead magnet examples to increase your subscribers.

1. Cheatsheet

Cheatsheets are essentially the same as checklists, but they give users a list of guidelines or processes they can repeatedly follow to achieve a specific benefit.

They’re irresistible to people because they remove the need to think.

Here’s an example of a cheat sheet created for bloggers: 52 Headline Hacks: A Cheat Sheet for Writing Blog Posts That Go Viral.

Bloggers want their blog posts to go viral, so this is a benefit-driven lead magnet for them.

It also removes the need to think: no more racking your brain about how to get your blog posts to go viral when you have this cheat sheet!

2. Template

A template can provide an outline, or some starting point, so all the user has to do is fill in the blanks.

The Magic Email Template is a great lead magnet template example– it’s something entrepreneurs and small business owners can copy and paste, customize a few words, and then send off to connect with influencers and VIPs in your industry instantly.

To take your lead magnet game one step further, create a collection of lead magnet templates, like Digital Marketer’s Ultimate Facebook Ad Template Library.

3. Swipe File

Swipe files are arguably even more irresistible than templates because all you have to do is copy them in their entirety.

For example, The Ultimate Social Media Swipe File includes 72 headlines for social media posts that you can simply, well, swipe!

4. Examples

Examples work well as lead magnets because people are searching for examples all the time in all different industries.

For instance, Bidsketch (a proposal software) uses a Sample Client Proposal as a lead magnet.

You could turn one of your popular posts into a lead-generating machine by optimizing it for “[your keyword] + examples” and then adding an example lead magnet as a content upgrade.

5. Script

Scripts are great lead magnet examples if your buyer persona needs something to help them speak or write.

For instance, if they need help prepping for a job interview, you could offer a script for pitching themselves to a potential employer.

Another great lead magnet example is this popular lead magnet created by Marcus Krieg: 3 Persuasive Video Scripts You Can Steal.

6. Toolkit

A trendy type of lead magnet idea is the toolkit. Why? Because everyone wants to know what tools the pros use!

Syed’s Toolkit for Growing Your Online Business is no exception. It’s a huge hit!

The best part about toolkits is that you can usually become an affiliate for those products. Not only does the toolkit provide a handy resource to your visitors, but it can also generate additional revenue for your business.

7. Web App

A web app is a free tool that lives on your site and requires a login. Of course, users have to sign up by email to get the login.

For example, Bryan Harris created a web app called ListGoal, which is free to use. However, Bryan gets your permission to email you when you sign up for it.

8. Resource List

Lists of free resources are valuable because they’re huge time savers. Whenever you pull all of the best stuff together, you save your users a lot of research time.

My Giant Guest Blogging Index has been a massive hit for that reason. All the research has been done for someone looking to write guest posts.

9. Calendar

Calendars can also be helpful in a variety of industries.

For example, if you’re in the fitness industry, like Blogilates, you could offer a workout calendar. That way, your users don’t have to think about what exercises to do daily because you’ve already mapped it out for them.

10. Plan/Planner

Similar to a calendar is a daily, weekly, or monthly plan you’ve mapped out for someone.

For example, 5 Free Meal Plans is a great lead magnet for a busy mom who is struggling to find the time to figure out what’s for dinner every night.

Your lead magnet could be a blank planner the user fills in with their plan. These blank planners are also useful because they make organizing easier for people.

Mayi Carles sells these attractive planners, but they could just as easily give away a digital sample as a lead magnet to whet your appetite for more.

11. Worksheet/Workbook

A worksheet (or workbook) is similar to a planner, except that it usually helps people to complete a specific exercise or figure something out.

A perfect medium for this is an editable workbook that someone can download and fill out on their computer. Teachable has a great, in-depth tutorial on using Adobe InDesign to create a workbook lead magnet.

12. Printable

A printable is especially great if you’re in a creative field and your users want something attractive that they can print out.

Or, your user needs to print something out to be handy when they need it, such as a shopping list or a grocery list, like this one from Rustic Redhead.

13. Inspiration File

Does your user need inspiration? People always search the internet for inspiration, so why not give it to them as a neatly packaged lead magnet?

This Logo Design Inspiration eBook, for example, is perfect for designers seeking inspiration for their next logo.

14. Prompts

While inspiration files generally offer visual inspiration, prompts help to inspire by giving you ideas to think about.

60 Journal Prompts is a self-help lead magnet that helps users with “self-love, self-discovery + a spot of self-coaching.”

15. Calculator

If your users need to deal with numbers, why not create a calculator and gate it as a lead magnet?

VWO has some great calculators on their site which could also be a great lead magnet idea. For example, this A/B Split Test Significance Calculator is handy for any marketer looking to see whether they have enough traffic to collect important data.

16. Generator

People often search for generators to create something quickly without thinking. If a generator is useful for your audience, consider gating it.

HubSpot has a useful blog topic generator on its site. They aren’t using it as a lead magnet, but they certainly could if they wanted to.

17. Spreadsheet

Spreadsheets can be used to create all kinds of valuable resources. They’re a programming tool right at your fingertips!

DebtHelper uses a free budget spreadsheet to collect email subscribers. They even include a bonus video guide on how to use the spreadsheet.

18. Recipes

Many recipes are freely available on the internet, so you might consider this a bad lead magnet idea. However, you’d be surprised how many people will optin for your curated recipes.

EatingWell knows this, and that’s why they use an exit-intent popup to offer their best healthy recipes and nutrition tips delivered straight to your inbox.

19. Gated Content

Gated content is simply a blog post or part of a blog post that is hidden behind your lightbox popup. This is one of the easiest lead magnets to create because it uses your existing content!

One thing you can do is to gate the second half of a long blog post. You can do this easily with OptinMonster by using one of our inline optin lead magnet templates + our Content Lock feature.

If you go with gated content, you may also want to learn how to create a paywall. That will reserve premium content for paying subscribers and generate more passive income for your site.

20. Tutorial

A tutorial is any content that teaches how to do one specific thing. It could be a video or a PDF download with a numbered list of steps.

David Siteman Garland’s 7 Proven Steps to Creating, Promoting & Profiting from Online Courses seems to work well for him– he’s been using it for quite some time now, although it was probably quick to create.

21. Guide

A guide is similar to an eBook because iit’s a lengthier lead magnet to create. However, guides can work well when you use them as the nurturing part of your sales funnel to educate prospects on why they should buy from you.

Here’s an example of a guide from HubSpot: The Definitive Blueprint for Lead Management.

This works because it educates their users on why they need a lead management product like HubSpot.

That said, I’d encourage you to create some un-gated guides on your site. At OptinMonster, we like to call these “mega guides.”

We’ve used mega guides on OptinMonster and our other web properties with great success because they generate a ton of organic search traffic. Check out our Definitive Guide to Email Marketing as an example; it’s freely available with no email optin required.

22. Whitepaper

Whitepaper or reports are perfect lead magnets for B2B businesses, but they can also work in any industry that relies on data, statistics, or research.

You can either research and collect the data yourself or pull together data from various sources into one comprehensive report.

Here are a couple of whitepaper lead magnet examples:

2016 Gartner Magic Quadrant for CRM Lead Management: the great thing about this report is that it has been “updated for 2016”, so at the time of this writing, it’s fresh and new.

The YouTube Traffic Report: this report pulls together the statistics on YouTube traffic, so it didn’t require any in-house data collection to create.

23. Infographic

Infographics are the content you’d likely use to drive website visitors since they do so well on social media. However, they also work well as educational lead magnets.

Think about it: many people need to visualize a concept before fully understanding it. Instead of giving users a bunch of boring text to sift through, why not illustrate your point with an infographic? This extra detail will make your lead magnet stand out so much more.

Here’s an example of an infographic explaining successful and unsuccessful people’s habits.

Does this infographic make the concept more memorable and easy to digest than a plain text PDF?

24. Educational Video

Create a video to take your lead magnet further than an infographic!

Videos not only include a visual component, but they have an audio component as well. Plus, you can put real people in front of the camera (or come on camera yourself) to boost your brand.

But the best part is videos have a higher perceived value, making them more irresistible.

QuickSprout has a video course on Double Your Traffic in 30 Days. In their sidebar optin form, they’ve included a DVD mockup to drive home the high value of their lead magnet.

25. Educational Audio

Downloadable audio might make the perfect lead magnet example depending on your target audience.

For example, if your ideal customer rarely has time for reading or watching videos, they might prefer to have something to listen to in the car on their commute to and from work.

Remember: you can always repurpose a video by stripping out the audio and turning it into a lead magnet!

Here’s an example from Marie Forleo: a motivational, free audio training to learn “how to get anything you want.” I especially love the rose gold iPhone mockup with earbuds, which perfectly depicts how one of Marie’s users would listen to their audio (e.g., they may download it to their phone and take it to the gym).

26. Webinar

Like video and audio lead magnets, webinars also have high perceived value. They’re even more irresistible because they have another component: urgency.

Since live webinars only occur at specific times and may have only a limited run, they play on the “fear of missing out.”

Heck, webinars work so well for lead generation that Neil Patel turned their entire homepage into a webinar registration page!

If you use WordPress and are looking for an LMS plugin for WordPress to launch a webinar easily or an online course, check out our top picks!

27. Event Tickets

Like a webinar, you can offer free tickets to a live event in exchange for an email address.

The best way to do this is by using social media ads to push targeted traffic to your optin form. Your target audience would be people who are interested in your offer and live near your in-person event.

I highly recommend using Facebook ads for this because Facebook has the most powerful targeting features out of any other social media advertising channel. Make sure you follow these 7 steps to optimize your Facebook ads for conversions.

28. Free Book + Shipping

If you have a bunch of physical books you’ve written lying around, consider giving them away as a lead magnet. All you have to do is collect a small fee to cover your shipping costs.

Want to know why this offer works so well? Well, physical books generally have higher perceived value than eBooks do. When you offer a physical book for free, it’s an irresistible deal.

However, because the user has to pull out their credit card to pay for the shipping, this lead magnet idea pre-qualifies the best leads.

In other words, you’ve not only acquired a new lead, but you’ve also effectively acquired a new customer—and existing customers are so much easier to convert to a higher offer than people who’ve never bought anything from you.

Here’s an example of a free book plus shipping from Russell Brunson.

29. Sample Chapter

If you want to avoid going the free book route, you could pull out one chapter and offer it as a free sample.

Make sure the sample is digital and instantly downloadable so your users can get instant gratification.

30. Sample Video/Clip

If your product takes the form of a video or video, pull out a sample video or a sample clip and exchange that for an email address.

In the case of an information product called The Copy Cure, you can access their Copywriting Class Free Sample by entering your email address.

31. Sample Audio Clip

A sample audio clip works well as a lead magnet, too (even if your product is a video).

Erin Stutland’s product includes workout videos, and their lead magnet offer is a free audio workout.

32. Free Coaching Session

If you’re a coach or offer a service, you could provide a free coaching session in exchange for an email address.

The great thing about coaching sessions is that they get your prospects on the phone with you, and those people usually expect to hear your pitch at the end. This can be an effective way of acquiring high-end clients.

Chris Lema charges per minute for their coaching sessions, but he could offer them for free for a limited time if he wanted to push more signups.

33. PDF Version

This is one of those lead magnets that is so underutilized yet straightforward to create.

All you have to do is find your most popular blog posts, save a PDF version of the blog post, and then offer it as a content upgrade.

You’d be surprised how many people will optin to receive the same thing they just read in PDF form! The value-add here is that they get to own your blog post.

For example, our 12 Proven Ways to Convert Abandoning Visitors into Subscribers download could just as easily have been a blog post that we turned into a lead magnet.

34. Transcript

While we’re on the subject of repurposing content, why not repurpose a video by offering a transcript?

Although many people prefer video for learning, many others prefer reading. Making sure you have both learners covered is a great way to provide more value with the content you’ve already created.

35. Audio Version

Similarly, you could offer an audio version of a written piece of content.

UX designer Paul Boag regularly records an audio version of their blog posts. However, he could just as easily gate the audio version behind an optin form and generate more leads!

36. Summary/”Cliff Notes” Version

Do you have a long, in-depth guide that your users love? Package a summarized version of that into a lead magnet.

You can also share what you’re learning from other influencers in your industry by offering your “cliff notes” version of their presentation or book.

37. State of the Industry

This is another great lead magnet idea for B2B businesses. It’s the same as a report, except that it focuses on new industry trends.

Just keep in mind that you’ll need to come out with new or updated versions of your state of the industry report regularly (usually annual).

38. Predictions

To become a leader in your industry, make some predictions about your industry and publish them as a downloadable lead magnet.

People love to hear predictions about what to expect so they can jump on upcoming trends.

For example, if you’re in the fashion industry, you could come up with a list of fashion predictions for the following year. Or, if you’re a marketer, you could predict what the state of email marketing will look like next year.

39. Mind Map

Mind maps explain a complex subject in a digestible way. And because they are essentially an outline and don’t require too much detail, these lead magnet examples are really quick to put together.

When creating mind maps, we like using a free MindMeister tool. Their drag-and-drop builder makes mind maps super easy to create, and they always look clean and professional.

Delivering one of these lead magnets with OptinMonster is simple. You must paste the mind map URL into your optin form’s success theme.

40. Recording/Replay

Are you presenting any live webinars? You can repurpose those webinars by saving the recording and using that as a lead magnet.

Kissmetrics offers a library of recorded webinars you can choose from in exchange for your email address.

41. Audio Book

Have an eBook that your audience loves? Repurpose it by recording an audiobook and gating it behind an email optin form.

Remember how I said that un-gated mega guides are powerful assets you can create to drive traffic to your site?

Well, here’s an idea for you:

1. Turn your eBook into a traffic-generating mega guide by transferring it to one big long page on your site.
2. Generate leads by adding a call to action (CTA) to download your audiobook version.
3. Win and win!

42. SlideShare

Did you know that you can turn one of your SlideShare presentations into a lead magnet?

SlideShare has a built-in lead generation tool that allows you to convert your SlideShare audience into email subscribers. All you have to do is follow our step-by-step tutorial here (see #7).

43. Roundup

If you’ve ever written a roundup blog post, you’ll know that these are popular and easy to put together. Plus, you can create a lead magnet from it.

A roundup post is a list of tips or techniques from other experts in your industry. To write one, you need to interview people and pull all quotes into one big post.

For example, we wrote a popular roundup post asking eight seasoned SEO experts for their best advice. Now, we could have interviewed a lot more than eight people. It’s easier than you think to get influencers to respond to a request like this because you’re offering them exposure, which is what they want! So, we could have interviewed even more experts and then offered the complete roundup as a “freebie” download.

Or, we could have summarized all the expert responses into actionable takeaways and packaged that as a lead magnet.

Either way, it would make for a great content upgrade to an already high-performing post.

44. Newsletter

Sometimes your email newsletter is so irresistible that it’s the lead magnet.

A great example is a business called The Hustle. The Hustle sends you a funny, entertaining email each morning with all the day’s top tech and business news.

The best part about this lead magnet example is that the subscriber already expects the emails.

Although we need to find out how low their unsubscribe rates are, we would assume that The Hustle is doing pretty well in that department.

45. Vault/Library

Do you have lots of different educational lead magnets? Give your users the option to access them all at once by putting them together into a “vault” or a virtual library on your site.

All you need is one big page on your site with the links to download each of your lead magnets and put that page behind an optin form. It’s a simple way to give more value to your users with the lead magnets you’ve already created.

46. Quiz

A quiz is the most entertaining lead magnet idea on this list, and that’s why it converts so well!

A quiz has the user answer a series of questions and then spits a result. But to get the result, you’ll have to enter your email address.

Rachel Ray had a quiz on what type of clutterer you’re.

Hostel Bookers created a quiz about what type of traveler you’re.

Forbes had a quiz that helped prospective college students find the perfect college.

To create a quiz like this, you can use a tool like Qzzr. Qzzr also allows you to drive social traffic to your quiz and generate leads.

47. Survey

A survey is mainly for your benefit/market research. However, a survey can be used as a lead magnet with a compelling call to action.

For example, you could ask users browsing your site for a while to give you feedback on their experience and help you improve your website. You’d be surprised how many people enjoy taking the time to provide you with their feedback!

Make sure you use a tool like OptinMonster to present the survey only to users who have visited at least four pages on your site. It would be weird (and annoying) to ask a brand new visitor to rate their “experience” on the first pageview.

48. Giveaway

One of the most effective lead magnet idea is the giveaway. Who doesn’t love the opportunity to win free stuff?

If you want your giveaway to be effective, however, make sure it does two things:

1. Qualify your leads by offering a relevant prize (something that only your ideal customer would want– not something like an iPad or a laptop that anyone and their brother would want)
2. Incentivize participants to share (you can do this by offering additional entries for each social share)

49. Manifesto

A manifesto is a simple declaration of your values. Its a great lead magnet idea because your ideal audience will naturally be drawn to it.

Jeff Goins wrote The Writer’s Manifesto: Stop Writing to Be Read & Adored, resonating with their audience and becoming an effective lead magnet.

50. Comic Strip

Ever thought of using a comic strip as a lead magnet?

When CopyMonk released its first comic strip, it went viral in the copywriting community.

And when something is that popular, it’s easy to see how people would sign up to get more.

51. Quotes

People love quotes from influential people or quotes that inspire.

Mastin Kipp created an entire business by delivering inspirational quotes via their “daily love” email newsletter.

Their business has evolved a lot since then, but they still offers daily inspiration/tips as their lead magnet.

52. Desktop Wallpaper

Are you an artist, designer, or photographer? If you’re in a visual/creative field of business, consider giving away some of your work as a desktop wallpaper download.

The best thing about desktop wallpaper is that it constantly reminds you of your brand. This can be a great way to make sure a lead thinks of you when thinking about who to hire for their next photoshoot or design project.

53. Mobile App/Game

A free mobile app or game offers the perfect excuse to ask for an email address.

Ask users to create an account with you to use your app. Then, you can send them emails to help increase their engagement and encourage them to buy your premium product.

54. Challenge

One of my favorite lead magnet examples is this 30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge from Simple Green Smoothies.

There are several reasons why this lead magnet idea is so genius and you should consider doing a challenge as a lead magnet too.

• Anyone who takes them up on this offer will be a highly qualified lead. They raise their hands and say, “I want green smoothies!”.
• Challenges with a start and an end date have urgency. This makes the offer that much more compelling.
• Challenges build brand awareness by fostering a sense of community– everyone is doing the challenge together at the same time.
• Challenges make it much easier to elicit desired behavior through peer pressure. Most people wouldn’t have the discipline to drink one green smoothie a day for 30 days, but they’re much more likely to jump on the bandwagon when challenged to do so.

55. Membership Site

Are you thinking about creating your membership site? Consider offering free registration.

My Copyblogger Membership is an excellent example of using a membership site as a lead magnet.

I especially love their use of social proof and their fear of missing out. This community contains “over 334,000 smart online marketers”, and all those people “have a head start” on you. Better sign up now, so you can stay caught up!

Plugins can make it super easy if you’re a WordPress user interested in setting up your membership site. Check out our top picks for WordPress membership site plugins!

56. Facebook Group

I’ve personally used Facebook groups as lead magnets with great success. It just goes to show that people do value communities.

For example, we used to offer a private Facebook group + a free fitness challenge for pregnant women who wanted to stay healthy and fit throughout their pregnancy.

I tested a few offers instead, such as a checklist of exercises every pregnant woman should avoid. However, the Facebook group/challenge offer outperformed the other lead magnets, resulting in 43-cent leads on average!

57. Slack Group

Depending on your target market and where they hang out online, there may be other options than a Facebook group. However, you could offer a Slack group instead.

If you’ve never heard of it before, Slack is an app that allows you to send instant messages to groups of people. This can be a fun and powerful way to build a community around your brand.

58. Coupon

A coupon works well at the bottom of your funnel because most people who make online purchases like to shop around for deals. Your brand should be there to give those people what they’re looking for (in exchange for their email addresses, of course).

59. Waiting List

Do you have an upcoming product launch? You can use a waitlist to collect the emails of prospects at the bottom of your funnel.

For example, an online course called “B-School” is only available once per year. If you want to buy it right now, you can’t! Instead of a “buy” button on the product page, you’ll find a “tell me more” button next to an email optin form.

This way, they can collect the email addresses of bottom-of-funnel prospects throughout the year and build anticipation for the program.

60. Free Shipping

Free shipping is one of those things that everyone wants when it comes to shopping online. If someone is close to making a purchase, free shipping might be the offer that seals the deal.

61. Free Consultation

Many lawyers offer free consultations as lead magnets. This could also be a great bottom-of-funnel offer for you if you offer a service.

The best thing about a free consult is that it gives you a natural excuse to ask for the email address, phone number, and other relevant information. If you need to close someone over the phone, this is a natural opportunity.

62. Free Quote

Instead of a free consultation, you could offer a free quote. Here’s how Liberty Mutual does it.

First, you’ll be asked to enter your zip code and click on the “Get a Quote” button.

Then, you’ll be directed to another page where you’ll be asked to enter the rest of your information.

With most lead magnets examples, you would only be able to ask for a little information upfront. However, because a free quote is at the bottom of your funnel, these prospects are more willing to give out their detailed information.

63. Catalog

Finally, if you have a product catalog, remember to offer it as a lead magnet at the bottom of your funnel! Just remember to ask for their email address on the order form.

7 Key Takeaways To Create Irresistible Lead Magnets

There are seven things that your lead magnet should do if you want it to be irresistible.

The best lead magnets:

1. Solves a real problem – if your lead magnet doesn’t solve a real problem that your customer avatar has, or if it doesn’t give them something they want, it won’t work at all.
2. Promises one quick win – your lead magnet should promise (and deliver) one quick win for your avatar. In other words, it should help them to achieve something quickly.
3. Super specific – don’t create a lead magnet about something general. The clearer you’re about the benefit of your lead magnet, the better it will convert potential customers (and if you can personalize this lead magnet to a specific landing page, that’s even better!).
4. Quick to digest – PDF checklists tend to convert well because they’re so quick and easy to digest. eBooks or lengthy reports may make your prospects feel overwhelmed.
5. High value – your lead magnet should have both, high perceived value and high actual value.
6. Instantly accessible – your lead magnet will work best if it can be delivered immediately. People love instant gratification.
7. Demonstrates your expertise or UVP – when someone consumes your lead magnet, it should show your expertise or unique value proposition. This helps turn leads into customers down the road.

If you can nail these qualities, conversions will dramatically rise across your website.

How To Distribute Your Lead Magnet

Creating the right lead magnet template for your audience is only half the battle. The other half is getting it to the right people, in the right places, and at the right time in their customer journey.

That’s where a tool like OptinMonster comes in:

OptinMonster is the world’s #1 lead generation toolkit. It allows anyone to quickly and easily create “optin campaigns” to distribute their lead magnets in a highly targeted way.

“Optin campaigns” are things you’re already familiar with, like popups, floating bars, gamified wheels, and much more.

With these campaigns, you can narrow in on your target audience, improve their customer journey, and increase your conversion rates simultaneously.

Here’s how it works:

Everything starts with selecting one of OptinMonster’s 50+ pre-made lead magnet templates:

These designs are ready to use out of the box and will save you time, money, and headaches in the campaign creation process.

From there, you’ll likely want to make a few modifications to showcase your lead magnet.

OptinMonster has an inline text editor that allows you to customize your unique message, so you can better resonate with your target audience:

And if you want to add new features, you don’t need coding or tech skills.

Everything can be done with a drag and a drop:

This lets you add new features like:

• Images
• Video
• HTML
• Chatbots
• Icons
• Buttons

And much more

And since all the features are made up of “blocks,” everything falls neatly into place every time.

But once the campaign is ready and your lead magnet looks good, you still need to target these messages to the right people.

You’d use one of OptinMonster’s many targeting rules. Some examples include:

• Exit-Intent® Technology: Recover abandoning users as they’re actively leaving your site for good.
• OnSite Follow Ups®: Avoid ‘popup fatigue’ by showing new messages to returning users.
• Geolocation: Target people based on their physical location.

Though many others exist, these are just a few examples of OptinMonster’s targeting rules. And these are the same ways that companies like Crossrope exploded their list by 900%.

Or how Shotkit adds 40+ NEW leads to their site every single day.

From there, you can leverage the full power of automation! By that, I mean OptinMonster integrates with 50+ 3rd-party tools like email service providers, Zapier, webhooks, and more.

That means you can create a lead generation system that works on autopilot.

Ready to get your lead magnet in front of your audience? Click below to start your 100% risk-free OptinMonster account today:

Create High Converting Optin Campaigns Today!

If you’re curious about how many of your subscribers download your lead magnets, here’s how to track downloads in Google Analytics and WordPress.

And that’s all for today! Now it’s your turn.

Go ahead and pick one of these high-converting lead magnet ideas, and then tweak it to create your own. This will drastically improve your digital marketing efforts.

I hope you enjoyed this article. If you did, you’d want to check out the following resources:

• How to Track a Lead Source in WordPress
• How to Ask a Customer Why They Cancelled (to Win Them Back)
• Create and Track Popup Events in Google Analytics
• Content Marketing Examples

These posts will give you more information on tracking the success of your lead magnet campaigns and retaining customers once they’ve converted.

Marketers have long used FOMO to influence consumer behavior and drive results. However, many still lack a clear understanding of FOMO marketing and how it can effectively boost eCommerce sales.

But there’s nothing to worry about because in this FOMO marketing guide, we will explain what FOMO means, what FOMO marketing is, and why it is so effective.

In the end, we will share FOMO marketing strategies and FOMO marketing examples so you can apply FOMO tactics in your marketing campaigns and enjoy the results yourself!

Here’s a table of contents for easy navigation:

1. What is FOMO?
2. What is FOMO Marketing?
3. Why Use FOMO Marketing?
4. FOMO Marketing Strategies
5. Best FOMO Marketing Examples

What is FOMO?

FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out, is a psychological phenomenon that drives individuals to seek information, experiences, and social connections to avoid feeling left behind or excluded. This fear can influence decisions, behaviors, and emotional well-being.

According to a study published in Computers in Human Behavior, FOMO is

“a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent.“

It is a psychological phenomenon characterized by the fear or anxiety of being left out of exciting or rewarding experiences. It stems from the innate desire to participate in social activities, events, or opportunities others enjoy.

Now let’s read about fear of missing out marketing.

What is FOMO Marketing?

FOMO marketing capitalizes on people’s fear of missing out to drive consumer engagement, urgency, and action. It typically includes messaging that triggers your target audience’s innate fear of missing out to make them more likely to convert.

By creating a sense of exclusivity, scarcity, and time-limited opportunities, FOMO marketing taps into the emotional response triggered by the potential loss of a valuable experience.

This marketing technique has proven highly effective because it captures attention, creates a sense of urgency, and compels consumers to take immediate action.

Why Use FOMO Marketing?

Let’s look at some FOMO statistics, as that’ll help you understand why FOMO marketing campaigns are so effective, especially with certain demographics.

A lot of data suggests that FOMO is most prevalent among millennials. Around 69% of millennials experience the phenomenon, and according to Strategy Online, 60% of millennials make impulsive purchases because of FOMO. In other words, they’ll buy something just because they feel they might miss out.

However, it’s not just millennials who suffer from FOMO. According to other data, more than half of people using social networks suffer from FOMO.

With more than 3 billion active social media users worldwide, according to We are Social, that’s a huge potential audience.

The bottom line: FOMO marketing is essential, no matter what age group or location you’re targeting.

FOMO Marketing Strategies

Let’s learn how to create FOMO in marketing by looking at the following FOMO marketing strategies.

A. Limited-Time Offers and Flash Sales

By offering time-limited discounts, promotions, or deals, businesses create a sense of urgency and encourage immediate purchase decisions.

• Countdown timers: Visually represent the urgency of the offer.
• Tiered discounts: Offer increasing discounts as the time limit approaches.
• Product bundles: Create additional value by bundling products for a limited time

Recommended Reading: 23 Stunning Sales Promotion Examples To Crush Your Sales

B. Exclusive Access and VIP Memberships

Providing exclusive access to special events, products, or content for loyal customers or members builds a sense of exclusivity and fosters customer loyalty.

• Loyalty programs: Reward repeat customers with exclusive perks and early access.
• Referral programs: Encourage customers to share products with friends for exclusive benefits.
• Tiered memberships: Offer varying levels of exclusivity based on membership tier.

Recommended Reading: What is a Membership Website? (7 Examples of Successful Membership Websites)

C. User-Generated Content and Social Proof

Showcasing real customer experiences and testimonials through user-generated content creates social proof and increases trust, thereby fueling FOMO.

• Live feeds: Display real-time purchases or interactions to demonstrate popularity.
• Influencer takeovers: Collaborate with influencers to showcase product usage and endorsements.
• Customer testimonials: Highlight positive experiences to build trust and credibility.

Recommended Reading: 30+ Proven Ways to Use Social Proof to Increase Your Conversions (Updated)

Recommended Reading: 18 Best Social Proof Software Tools to Boost Sales

D. Influencer Partnerships and Collaborations

Collaborating with influencers or industry experts to promote products or events can amplify FOMO by leveraging their authority and reach.

• Micro-influencer collaborations: Target niche audiences for more authentic engagement.
• Gifted products: Provide influencers with products to encourage organic promotion.
• Exclusive influencer codes: Offer unique discounts to drive sales and track performance.

Recommended Reading: Win Big at Influencer Marketing: An Ultimate Guide for Beginners

Best FOMO Marketing Examples

Now that we have gone through the FOMO meaning, FOMO marketing meaning, and strategies, it’s time to look at some FOMO marketing examples to see FOMO in action.

1. Show That People Are Buying

Some of the most effective FOMO marketing techniques trigger the feeling without even making a sales pitch.

These days, it’s not unusual to see live information on sales when you visit a website, as in this FOMO marketing example from SeedProd:

This shows a recent purchaser’s first name and location, so it’s clear it’s a real person. If visitors to your site know other people are buying, they’ll also want to buy.

SeedProd is using TrustPulse social proof notifications to create these popups.

Be sure to check out our guides on the best WooCommerce plugins and best Shopify apps for more useful tools like this.

Related ContentHow to Use a Recent Sales Popup to Boost Your Revenue

2. Display Best Selling or Top Rated Items

When website visitors are able to see what your best-selling or top-rated products are, it will give them a healthy dose of FOMO too. After all, when you see a cool product that other people are buying, you’ll want it for yourself.

So, be sure to display the best-selling or top-rated items prominently on your website. Here’s how the cosmetics company ColorPop does it:

You can easily display your best-selling or top-rated products in the same way with SeedProd.

SeedProd is the best drag-and-drop page builder for WordPress, and it comes with custom WooCommerce blocks. You can choose from a standard products grid, best-selling products, top-rated products, sale products, and more. Simply drag the product block and drop it onto your page.

You can even create a custom WooCommerce checkout page with a showcase of best-selling products. This is a great way to increase your average order value.

3. Highlight Missed Opportunities in Your Messaging

One site that’s great at using these FOMO tactics is Booking.com, which has multiple examples of FOMO on every page. In this tip, we’re focusing on ramping up FOMO by showing that visitors have actually missed out on a great deal.

Booking.com shows this with messaging showing when the property you’re looking at is sold out in big red letters:

As we move forward, you will see more FOMO marketing examples from Booking.com.

4. Show Stock Levels

Scarcity is a big component of FOMO marketing because if something’s about to run out, there’s a huge incentive to get it now. There are many ways to highlight scarcity.

For example, if you’re running an online store, you can show stock levels, as Amazon does:

Or, if you’re in the travel business, you could show the number of spaces left, as Booking.com does:

And you can ramp up the FOMO advertising with “while stocks last” messaging, that suggests that your product or service is about to run out or disappear:

For more inspiration, check out our article on scarcity examples.

5. Make Your Visitors Watch the Clock

When thinking about how to create FOMO, you can also look into urgency in marketing. It’s another tactic that triggers loss aversion, a fancy term for FOMO. If your visitors think they’ll miss out by running out of time, they’re more likely to reach for their virtual wallets and commit to a purchase.

You can do this by showing a countdown timer or even with messaging about when deals end, like in this FOMO marketing example on Amazon:

Or by offering different discount levels on different days, like the Chemical Guys:

Or by creating a countdown popup like this one:

Read How to Create Urgency in Marketing for more help implementing this tactic.

6. Stir Their Competitive Spirit

Not only do we not like missing out, but we hate the thought that others might get something great before we do. That’s why good FOMO marketing campaigns play on this feeling to inspire action. Here are a couple of examples.

Booking.com shows how many people are viewing a property. The underlying message is that if you don’t move fast, you’ll end up missing out:

Or you could show the number of people who’ve already taken a deal, as Amazon does:

If you’re in the software business, you could even show the number of users. Software companies often use FOMO with beta trials, where accepting limited numbers makes those few spaces seem very desirable.

7. Offer a One-Shot Deal With Exit-Intent®

OptinMonster’s Exit-Intent Technology® is a great way to deliver FOMO marketing campaigns. This powerful feature detects when people are about to leave your site and triggers a campaign just before they do.

It’s proven to work:

• Rich Page used exit-intent to boost conversions by 316%
• Ryan Robinson engineered a 500% increase in subscribers with exit-intent
• Podcast Insights combined exit-intent with our onsite retargeting feature to get a 1099% boost in conversions

To use exit-intent for FOMO marketing, follow our instructions for creating your first campaign, and create your discount offer. Enable exit-intent in the display rules section of the OptinMonster campaign builder:

Enable an additional display rule to specify which visitors should see the campaign. For example, you can show the campaign only to visitors on certain pages with page-level targeting.

8. Limit Free Shipping

Did you know that around 90% of shoppers list free shipping as their prime incentive for buying online? That’s one reason why FOMO marketing campaigns that limit free shipping can be really effective.

C’mon, we’ve all bought something extra on Amazon to get free delivery, haven’t we? If people feel they’ll miss out on free shipping by not making a purchase, they’ll likely make it, especially if the additional expenditure is relatively small.

Let your customers know how much more they have to spend to get free shipping, or simply place a banner at the top of your page, showing the threshold for obtaining that benefit. You can easily do this with one of OptinMonster’s floating bar campaigns.

Pro TipDid you know you can use the same floating bar campaigns to create custom alerts for your customers? Learn why you to create a website alert banner to keep your customers well-informed.

9. Be Explicit about FOMO

You don’t have to hide the fact that you’re using FOMO marketing. You can come right out and say it, as Rue La La does in this campaign:

Image Source

You don’t have to hide the fact that you’re using FOMO marketing. You can come right out and say it, as Rue La La does in this FOMO marketing example:

10. Let Your Content Expire

As a business, a lot of your content marketing strategy is about creating content that’ll stick around so you can use it to build authority, get inbound links, improve your search ranking, and win customers.

But there’s another way to pique visitors’ interest by using a FOMO marketing tactic: expiring content. Expiring content mixes urgency, scarcity, and exclusivity to ramp up that FOMO vibe.

Snapchat is the ultimate example of expiring content. One of the reasons Snapchat is so successful, and why teenagers can never leave their phones, is because if you don’t see the content while it’s there, you’ll lose your chance forever.

And here’s a thought: those early Snapchat users (the site launched in 2011) will soon be in their 20s, and they’ve grown up with this FOMO mindset.

Software companies use this same principle when they’re about to change their pricing plans, giving users an option to lock in the old price before it’s too late. Here’s an example from Iconica:

11. Use a Content Upgrade

While we’re on the subject of content, an opt-in content upgrade is a great FOMO marketing technique. That’s because gating content means there’s scarcity in our minds at least, and scarcity triggers FOMO.

You can use OptinMonster to gate content with our Content Lock feature to make visitors want your content upgrades.

OptinMonster customers have used content upgrades to boost conversions by 150% and increase customer retention by 72%.

To implement this, use your blog posts as content upgrades or try one of these ideas.

12. Trigger FOMO with Images

People respond to visuals, so when creating FOMO marketing campaigns, it’s essential to get the images right. An excellent FOMO marketing example comes from Express, which offers a rewards program.

As Stephan Brady points out, along with the “don’t miss out” messaging, the background image suggests that opting in will ensure you have a great time, which means you’re missing the party if you don’t opt-in.

To find the right images for your FOMO marketing campaigns, check out our guide to finding free images online.

13. Make Your Offer Exclusive

There’s nothing to trigger FOMO like exclusivity. As human beings, we love the thought of getting our hands on an opportunity very few people have. Don’t believe us? Check out any airport boarding gate and see how happy the people with priority access are.

Or think about how many people have signed up for Amazon Prime (more than 100 million!) to get deals other Amazon shoppers can’t get.

While those are great FOMO marketing examples, you can also use exclusivity by creating a limited-edition product or service. In the example below, Heinz combines this with time-based scarcity to make a compelling FOMO marketing offer:

14. Show Social Proof

Social proof is a highly effective marketing tactic, and not just for FOMO marketing campaigns. That’s because, besides the FOMO factor, social proof ties into our need to be part of a group.

If other people like us are sharing, engaging, or buying, we want to do it too, so we’ll feel a sense of belonging and won’t miss out.

The best way to leverage the power of social proof is by using TrustPulse. TrustPulse is a social proof software that can instantly increase site conversion rate by up to 15% by showing off real-time, verified customer activity right on your page in a little popup bubble:

TrustPulse also lets you show “On Fire” notifications that are great for leveraging FOMO on landing pages and checkouts:

Get Started for FREEYou can get started with TrustPulse for free!

You can also use social proof by showing the number of customer reviews a product has:

Or by showing huge numbers of people you’ve helped, as we do on our own site:

To use social proof as a FOMO marketing tactic, check out these social proof tips and examples.

15. Promote Experiences

Another way to use FOMO tactics is to let your users help. Using user-generated content (UGC) lets visitors and potential customers vicariously share in the experience of using your products and services, so they want to do it too. After all, real proof from real people is going to be much more compelling than any of your FOMO advertising campaigns.

Here’s an example of UGC from Wayfair, under the #wayfairathome social media hashtag:

And instead of leaving all of your UGC on social media, you can seamlessly integrate it into your website using a plugin like Smash Balloon.

With Smash Balloon’s Instagram Feed Pro, you can easily embed an Instagram hashtag feed anywhere on your site to showcase UGC.

It’s super simple to set up and you can completely customize your feed. You can choose from different layouts, design the feed to match your brand, hide or show likes and comments, highlight specific posts, and more.

Check out this guide on how to add an Instagram hashtag feed to WordPress for more details.

16. Offer Rewards for Early Decisions

Giving a freebie is a good way to attract customers. However, you can make it even more effective by limiting that freebie. Offline, you see this tactic when stores offer a gift or special discount to the first 100 customers, and that usually makes hundreds of people line up.

Online, you can follow the example of Huawei, and offer a gift for the first 100 purchasers:

Image Source

17. Boost FOMO Marketing with Email

Email marketing remains a great way to reach your customers. Our email marketing statistics roundup shows around 90% of people use it. So it’s an excellent tool for FOMO marketing campaigns.

You can effectively use email marketing with any other FOMO marketing examples we’ve listed. For example, you can send emails to:

• Let subscribers know about exclusive deals or rewards
• Tell them when items they’ve saved are about to run out
• Remind them about items in their shopping cart with cart abandonment messages

You can also combine FOMO email messaging with onsite retargeting to offer subscribers who follow a link a special deal via a popup marketing campaign.

Here’s how you can enable onsite behavioral retargeting with OptinMonster.

Recommended Reading: How to Grow Your Email List: 23 Proven and Simple Ways

That’s it! Now you can use these easy-to-implement FOMO marketing examples to get more FOMO sales from visitors and customers. Next, see how to boost sales on Shopify, and to increase average order value with upselling examples.

And follow us on YouTube,Facebook, and Twitter for more marketing tips and tricks and in-depth guides.

FOMO Marketing FAQs

1. What is FOMO in marketing?

FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out, in marketing refers to a strategy designed to evoke anxiety in consumers that others are enjoying experiences or possessing products that they are not, potentially leading to a feeling of missing out. This tactic encourages consumers to make quicker decisions to purchase, subscribe, or engage with a product or service to avoid the feeling of being left out.

2. How to create FOMO in marketing?

To create FOMO in marketing, you can:

1. Limited Time Offers: Promote products or services as time-sensitive to create urgency.
2. Exclusive Content or Products: Offer special editions or early access to products for a select group of customers.
3. Social Proof: Use testimonials, user reviews, and social media shares to show how others are benefiting from your offerings.
4. Countdown Timers: Include these in your promotions to remind customers of dwindling time to act.
5. Highlight Popularity: Show how popular an item is, indicating high demand and potential sell-out risk.

3. How to use FOMO in marketing?

To effectively use FOMO in marketing:

• Segment Your Audience: Tailor your messages to different segments to make them more personal and relevant.
• Leverage Social Media: Use platforms where your audience is active to share user-generated content, testimonials, and live events.
• Email Campaigns: Send targeted emails highlighting limited offers, exclusive deals, and last chances.
• Remarketing: Remind visitors who left your site without purchasing about what they’re potentially missing out on.

4. Is FOMO marketing ethical?

FOMO marketing, or Fear of Missing Out marketing walks a fine line ethically. When used responsibly, it can be a powerful and legitimate marketing strategy. However, it becomes unethical if it deliberately misleads consumers, creates unnecessary anxiety, or exploits vulnerable individuals. Marketers need to ensure their FOMO tactics are truthful and not manipulative, maintaining transparency and integrity in their campaigns.

What does FOMO stand for in business?

In business, FOMO stands for “Fear of Missing Out.” It refers to the strategy of leveraging consumers’ fears of missing out on benefits, experiences, or products that others have. This concept is used to drive decisions and actions like purchases, subscriptions, and participation in events.

5.  What is FOMO in retail?

In retail, FOMO is used to drive immediate sales by creating a sense of urgency and scarcity around products. Retailers may implement FOMO through flash sales, limited-edition products, or exclusive offers that are only available for a short period. This strategy helps to increase foot traffic in stores or clicks online by encouraging consumers to act quickly to avoid missing out.

6. What are FOMO ads?

FOMO ads are a marketing strategy that exploits the human fear of missing out by creating a sense of urgency and exclusivity to encourage immediate action from consumers.