A/B testing is a marketing experiment wherein shops can split their audience to test variations of popup creatives, incentives, or messages to determine which popup experience performs best. By A/B testing your popups, you can:
- Optimize your popup conversions by finding the best combination of popup creatives, timing, images, message copy, and incentives for your brand all through A/B testing.
- Get a better understanding of which popup experience captures the attention of your site visitors so you can effectively create content that resonates and ultimately increases engagement.
- Validate which characteristics of the winning popup increase subscriber list growth, then implement those characteristics to effectively grow your subscriber list.
In this article, we'll discuss how to conduct an A/B test and recommend different ways you can test both your mobile and desktop popups. Before we begin, note that you will need to create and activate at least two variant popups before testing and the distributions for all variants must total 100%.
Create an A/B Test Popup
- Select Acquisition in the side menu of your Postscript dashboard.
- Select Create in the upper right corner, then select A/B Test.
- Choose either mobile or desktop to test your popups on. Then select Create Test.
- Name the A/B test. Choose a name that will allow you to easily identify and track this test in the future.
- Under Choose Popups, select the variants you'd like to test (note: you'll need to choose at least two variants that are already activated).
- If you'd like to select more than two popups, select the + Add Variant button below Variant 2.
- Set the distributions for each variant by entering a percentage into the Distribution field next to each select variant. Remember, the distribution of all variants must equal 100%.
- Optional: Under Pages, indicate specific pages of your site that you'd like the popups to be included or excluded on (note: All tests must be run on the same pages. Updating these included and excluded pages on this step will update the original popups as well).
- Under Ending the test, select Run until the test is stopped manually. You can end this test at any time.
- Once you've selected the popups you'd like to test and added the website pages you'd like to include and exclude the popups on, you can start your test by selecting Start Test in the upper right corner.
Perfect your popup
Have you ever wondered, “What’s the perfect popup formula to maximize conversions?” The answer may vary depending on your specific brand and audience—which is why we always recommend A/B testing different versions of your popup. Here are some ways to do that:
For Desktop Popups
Finding the perfect delay for your popup to appear is critical to its success! Delaying your popup between 5 and 10 seconds gives your visitors an opportunity to browse before they see the form.
Consider A/B testing two popups—one with a 5-second delay and one with a 10-second delay. See which resonates best with your customer base, and adjust your timing from there!
Once you find the perfect delay for your brand, take a look at which popup triggers work best.
- Time Delay. Shows the popup after a designated amount of time. This is a good way to introduce visitors to your brand. Using an offer in your popup can incentivize visitors to complete their purchase and/or sign up for your brand’s SMS program.
- Exit-Intent. Triggered when a desktop visitor motions to leave your site and is a great way to incentivize visitors to stay on the site and finish their shopping journey.
- Custom trigger. When selected, you can copy and embed the provided code into your website's source code to customize how, when, and where the popup is triggered.
Postscript offers three desktop display options. You may want to try each one in combination with both popup triggers to see what setup converts best.
- Partial Display takes up part of the screen and can feel less intrusive. On the other hand, it could result in visitors exiting out of the popup immediately if they can still see their browsed product and wish to continue browsing.
- Full Page takes up the entire screen. This popup can feel more intrusive, but can also result in higher conversions because it demands the visitor’s full attention.
- Banner popups display laterally at the top of the screen. Banners are especially popular when used in tandem with exit-intent popups on desktop.
The look and feel of your popup may impact its effectiveness, so try out different creative approaches.
For example, test your popups with an image vs. no image. Test cheeky copy and plain copy. The best way to determine the right strategy for your specific shop is to test, test, test!
For more advanced users, consider customizing various elements in your popup, including custom font, text size, and text color via CSS.
For Mobile Popups
Finding the perfect delay for your popup to appear is critical to its success! Delaying your popup between 5 and 10 seconds gives your visitors an opportunity to browse before they see the form.
Consider A/B testing two popups—one with a 5-second delay and one with a 10-second delay. See which resonates best with your customer base, and adjust your timing from there!
Once you find the perfect delay for your brand, take a look at which popup triggers work best.
- Time Delay. Shows the popup after a designated amount of time. This is a good way to introduce visitors to your brand. Using an offer in your popup can incentivize visitors to complete their purchase and/or sign up for your brand’s SMS program.
- Custom trigger. When selected, you can copy and embed the provided code into your website's source code to customize how, when, and where the popup is triggered.
Postscript offers two mobile display options. You may want to test each one in combination with timing to see what setup converts best.
- Partial Display takes up part of the screen and can feel less intrusive. On the other hand, it could result in visitors exiting out of the popup immediately if they can still see their browsed product and wish to continue browsing.
- Full Page takes up the entire screen. This popup can feel more intrusive, but can also result in higher conversions because it demands the visitor’s full attention.
In addition to testing display and timing, consider testing the design of your popup. The look and feel of your popup may impact its effectiveness, so try out different creative approaches.
For example, test your popups with an image vs. no image. Test cheeky copy and plain copy. The best way to determine the right strategy for your specific shop is to test, test, test!
For more advanced users, consider customizing various elements in your popup, including custom font, text size, and text color via CSS.
Before You Go
We’ll leave you with a few tips to help with building your popups:
- Leverage Onsite Opt-in to optimize conversion rates, keep subscribers onsite when they opt-in, and maintain a clear understanding of attribution.
- Always display an exit bubble. If the visitor exits out of your popup—then wishes to complete an order—an exit bubble allows visitors to share their information in exchange for an incentive at the time they decide to make a purchase.
- Use the least amount of copy as possible. Visitors should be able to understand your offer at a glance.
Additional Resources
- Interested in customizing your popup with CSS? Check out our CSS Glossary to better understand and locate the various HTML and CSS elements present in our popups.
- Just getting started with designing your desktop popup? Check out this tutorial for how to customize your popup font, text size, text color, and more.
- Want to do a deep dive of our desktop popup functionality? We've got you covered with this guide.
Get Support
Have questions? Please feel free to reach out to our wonderful Support team at support@postscript.io or via live chat. You can also submit a support request here!
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