A few months ago, we posted an article explaining why you should stop putting newsletter pop-ups on your homepage. In fact, this is advice we’ve been giving our clients for some time. Understanding UX best practice (and being Internet users ourselves) it seemed obvious to us that these pop-ups don’t present the best experience, and might in fact have the opposite effect.
Having said that, good user experience is all about research and underpinning your conclusions with evidence.
In the past, our recommendation to forego newsletter pop-ups in favour of a slightly more subtle, reciprocal approach has often been met with the question “do you have any data to back that up?” Especially by marketers.
Well, now we do.
We decided to conduct our own piece of usability research into how people perceive these pop-ups and make the results available to everyone right here. It doesn’t cover thousands of users or a complete global viewpoint, but is a decent piece of indicative research.
In short – our assumptions about popups have been proven largely correct, but we’re going to explore exactly how by reviewing the data and quoting our respondents directly. We’re going to start with findings, as this is the key takeaway for most people, but if you’re curious about how we planned and conducted the research, please read about the methodology below.
Users are inundated by popups
One of the first questions we asked was how often users encountered a newsletter subscription popup immediately or shortly after landing on a website. The majority (83.8%) stated they did either often or very often.
We’re going to outline exactly why these popups aren’t effective, but the regularity with which users see this technique raises the question – why should users care about your newsletter over others?
Furthermore, it goes to show why doing something just because other websites do it isn’t always the best approach.
Popups cause an intense, negative, emotional reaction
We asked users who encountered popups to describe, simply and in their own words, how it made them feel. The responses speak for themselves:
The standouts for us were ‘annoyed’, ‘frustrated’ and ‘irritated’ (along with other more colourful terms like ‘bullshit’). You’ll notice that we don’t censor the feedback we receive at all, as even colourful metaphors can serve to better illustrate how users truly feel.
POP-UPS GENERALLY MAKE PEOPLE FEEL ANNOYED, FRUSTRATED & IRRITATED.
Considering that a newsletter subscription popup may be the first thing users see when arriving on your site, do you really want the all-important first impression of your site to be a negative one?
Annoyed, frustrated, less likely to visit that website in the future.
Or worse, so annoyed that they might leave your site and never come back?
Annoyed, in most of the cases I close down the page and search for another [website]
Users aren’t that likely to subscribe anyway
Our next question explored how likely users would be to subscribe to a newsletter after seeing this type of pop-up.
A massive 95.3% said they were either unlikely or highly unlikely to do so, with highly unlikely being the most common response.
Reasons users aren’t likely to subscribe
The user doesn’t have enough information
One of the most common reasons indicated was that the prompt to subscribe appeared too soon. When these popups appear, most users haven’t had a chance to fully orient themselves – to understand the nature of the site and get a feel for the sort of content they might be signing up for.
If I’ve just came across a website, I won’t know yet whether I like the content and want to see more, so a pop up offers no value at that stage.
Some users were more emphatic about this than others:
they usually pop up before I've even had a chance to read the content I came to the site for. In fact they directly PREVENT me from reading the content I came to the site for. why in the name of LIVING FUCK would I sign up for content in my email inbox WHEN I HAVENT EVEN HAD THE CHANCE TO SEE IF THE CONTENT IS GOOD YET!?
Interruption
One of the key features of a popup that opens without the user choosing to invoke it is that it will interrupt whatever task they are focused on. Distraction can have a negative impact on the overall User Experience and even cause users to forget to resume their previous task, or cease an activity altogether.
Just let me see what I went to the site to see
To avoid email clutter
We’re bombarded by marketing emails all day long, and adding your newsletter to the noise isn’t going to magically make users notice them.
Users are becoming more aware of how their email will be used, and in turn more reluctant to part with this information without a clear indication of how it will impact them.
I don't need more spam email, and most websites are not places I shop from frequently enough to want a daily or weekly ad in my inbox about their products.
I am also never sure about how many emails I'll receive when I sign up
I like to keep my email inbox clean.
It’s transactional
As users are also increasingly aware of the value of their email address, an exchange which has always been transactional for marketers has become transactional for the user too. They are now generally less willing to part with their email address unless they’re getting something for it – something commensurate with the volume of email they’ll receive, the clutter in their inbox and the hassle of eventually unsubscribing.
Outside of getting a discount, I almost never sign up for subscriptions, and if I do it for a discount I unsubscribe immediately
It's presumptuous
Subscription popups assume a level of interest or commitment from the user that hasn’t been explicitly indicated – especially considering the earlier point that the user is unlikely to be able to gauge their interest at such an early stage in their journey.
It‘s too pushy and often the first thing I see when I open a website.
They're trying to force [themselves] on me
This can set up an unhealthy and/or unbalanced dynamic between the user and the website, which is best avoided during the early stages of orientation.
Desire for choice
A popup appearing automatically is an attempt to nudge the user into subscription. As we can see, few users actually do this and are more likely to close the popup, or even exit the site. This can create another issue though – once a popup is closed, it may be difficult to re-open or find this.
Above all else, users like to feel in control. Newsletters themselves can be very useful, but only if users can find the option to subscribe.
if I really wanted a newsletter, I would find the link myself, assuming it's available somewhere on the website
If I wanted to subscribe, I would go out of my way to find it
It seems it might be useful to include a link for newsletter subscription in your site, so that users who actively want to subscribe at their own pace can do so.
Some users don’t like newsletters full stop
We knew it.
I'm already bombarded by enough things in my inbox, and I've yet to find a newsletter that offers anything I'm actually interested in or in need of.
Others don’t want to encourage popups
It also seems that the sorts of users who have particularly strong reactions to popups might decide to ‘punish’ the website or operators by deliberately leaving the site or making a decision to not use the service specifically because of the popups.
I hate these pop-ups and don’t want to encourage them.
This goes to show how the damage a subscription popup can do goes beyond the simple moment of its appearance.
A few are even actively preventing popups
Technical solutions exist to prevent users even seeing pop-ups in the first place.
i use noscript in whitelist mode, meaning that on 99% of sites that might have some kind of bullshit invasive javascript, i simply don't have to deal with it. the remaining 1% of the time is when, for some reason, i need to temp-whitelist the domain in order for the site to function in the way i need it to. and seeing this kind of bullshit immediately makes me think "oh yeah, that's why i use noscript. holy shit. i suddenly don't care" and i revoke the domain's permissions and close the tab.
Why do some users subscribe?
It isn’t all doom and gloom, however. Some users clearly do subscribe to newsletters, so by paying attention to the reasons they give, we can adjust our approach and messaging accordingly to maximise subscriptions that people are happy with.
Can you convince them?
Marketers don’t need to fear – users can apparently be convinced to subscribe to your mailing lists, but only under the right circumstances. Users commonly mention factors like ‘valuable content’ and ‘trust’ in the website – the trick here is not assuming that your content is valuable or your users trust you. These are pretty high bars to clear, and suggest website owners should signpost subscriptions judiciously, based on a genuine understanding of whether users feel these things, rather than a vague hope that they do.
We’ve also grouped some responses together that suggest no matter what you do, popups are simply the wrong approach to get some people to subscribe.
Ultimately, if you want to get quality newsletter subscribers – those who actively chose to be on your mailing list and are therefore more receptive to the messages you’ll ultimately send them – you might want to consider a more subtle approach, and one users can seek out for themselves:
[I might subscribe] If I weren't getting spammed with pop-ups
The bright side
This isn’t to demean all popups – some can be useful tools. This research has focused specifically on subscription popups that appear within a short window of the user first landing on a website. However, even Ethan Zuckerman, the ‘inventor’ of pop-up advertising has even publicly apologised for “creating one of the most hated tools in the advertiser’s toolkit”.
There’s clearly room for improvement, so how can we do it better?
Don’t interrupt users
Allow site visitors time to orient themselves, understand what your site is about and explore your content before asking them for something.
Reciprocity is powerful
Psychologically speaking, people are more likely to give you something if you give them something first. If they’ve just read an article they find valuable, they’re far more likely to want more. It’s the perfect time to invite them to sign up for more of the same.
Give users a reason
Instead of a generic “subscribe for updates,” tell them what they’ll get. “We’ll send you more tips, tricks, and insights,” works when it’s specific and relevant to what they just read.
Be upfront about your cadence
Users are clearly concerned about the state of their inboxes and the amount of emails they receive. By telling them how often you’ll message, you set an expectation that might be within their tolerence.
It’s also critical to stick to this. Consistency builds trust. No one wants to be bombarded with daily emails unless they asked for it.
Have a clear on-site option to subscribe
The data has clearly shown us that if users do want to subscribe for whatever reason, they’ll actively search out a way to do it. You need to make sure they can find this, as there may not be an easy way to return to a popup that has already been dismissed.
Examples
We favour a subtle approach. We are living by our own values and findings, so if you’ve found this article useful or insightful and wish to very occasionally hear when we publish similar content in the future, you can find a subscribe option at the bottom of this page. No interruptions and no pressure 😊
Demographics
Total respondents (n): 43
n = number of respondents who answered a particular question
r = number of answers received across all respondents (where respondents can select more than one answer)
Age | Total |
|---|---|
18–24 | 8 (18.6%) |
25–34 | 21 (48.8%) |
35–44 | 8 (17.8%) |
45–54 | 2 (4.7%) |
55–64 | 2 (4.7%) |
65+ | 0 (0%) |
Prefer not to disclose | 2 (4.7%) |
Gender | Total |
|---|---|
Female | 23 (53.5%) |
Male | 17 (39.5%) |
Non-binary | 2 (4.7%) |
Prefer not to disclose | 1 (2.3%) |
Country of residence | Total |
|---|---|
United States | 15 (34.9%) |
United Kingdom | 14 (32.6%) |
Germany | 3 (7.0%) |
Poland | 3 (7.0%) |
EU (Undisclosed) | 1 (2.3%) |
Australia | 1 (2.3%) |
Canada | 1 (2.3%) |
Peru | 1 (2.3%) |
Italy | 1 (2.3%) |
Sri Lanka | 1 (2.3%) |
Switzerland | 1 (2.3%) |
Prefer not to disclose | 1 (2.3%) |
Methodology
We hypothesised that newsletter subscription popups present a poor user experience and actually undermine their core function – to drive subscriptions.
A google form was prepared that outlined the scenario using a visual example:
You’ve just come across a website, and as soon as it loads, you see a pop-up appear asking you to subscribe to their newsletters.
We were careful not to introduce any prejudicial language to the scenario or any leading questions to the survey.
Respondents were sourced via online social media, through personal networks and by calling in favours.
We consciously tried to exclude anyone in a UX, marketing or web design function, as these groups may have pre-established views based on their function and motives for using (or not using) popups.
