Your pop-up is costing you $111,000 a month...

Hey, Michael from AdSumo Digital here.

Most brands celebrate a 4-5% pop-up conversion rate.

They think, "Hey, that's not bad. Industry average is 3%, so we're doing great!"

But you're actually leaving 80% of potential revenue on the table.

After auditing hundreds of e-commerce brands, I've seen pop-up conversion rates as high as 33.7%. Not through tricks or gimmicks, through strategic psychology and proper execution.

Let me show you what's possible.

The Pop-Up Misconception

Most brands think about pop-ups all wrong.

They see it as: "How do I get an email address?"

The real question is: "How do I start a relationship that leads to a purchase?"

Your pop-up isn't just list growth. It's the first touchpoint in your entire retention system. Get it wrong here, and everything downstream suffers.

The Four Factors That Make or Break Your Pop-Up

After analyzing what separates 5% pop-ups from 30%+ pop-ups, it comes down to four things:

1. The Offer
This is the intersection of profitability and conversion. Most brands either:

• Offer too little (5% off - who cares?)

• Offer too much (25% off - killing margins)

The sweet spot? It depends on your brand archetype.

High AOV brands: Fixed dollar amounts work better ($50 off $500+)
Low AOV brands: Percentage discounts or free gifts
Mid AOV brands: Mix between the two and test

2. The Sequence
This is where most brands fail. They ask for the email immediately.

Better approach: Micro-commitment first.

Ask a question: "What are you shopping for?"

• Tops

• Bottoms

• Accessories

Then ask for the email. Then SMS.

This simple change can increase conversion rates by 20%+ because:

• It's a pattern interrupt

• It creates engagement before the ask

• It gives you data to personalize the welcome flow

3. The Design
Your offer should dominate the visual hierarchy.

Most pop-ups look like this:

• Tiny discount code

• Giant brand story

• Buried CTA button

Winning pop-ups look like this:

• Massive "20% OFF" headline

• Clear, simple offer explanation

• Obvious email input field

• Prominent CTA button

4. The Timing
Don't jar visitors with an instant pop-up. Add a 3-5 second delay so they can orient themselves first.

The Offer Optimization Strategy

Here's something most brands don't think about:

Your pop-up offer should decrease over time as you optimize your flows.

Why? Because if your welcome series is converting at 15%, you don't need to give away 20% to get people on the list.

The goal: Find the minimum viable offer that still converts at a high rate.

Example progression:

• Month 1: 20% off (testing baseline)

• Month 3: 15% off (if flows are strong)

• Month 6: Free shipping + 10% off

• Month 12: Free gift with purchase (lowest margin hit)

Of course, this is only if the conversion rate of the welcome flow is maintaining.

Which requires a lot of testing and a lot of optimization and a lot of time in the account, which most brands just simply don't have. Which is why agencies like mine exist.

The Personalization Multiplier

Once someone clicks their interest on your pop-up, you have gold.

Most brands waste it.

They send the same generic welcome series to everyone.

Smart brands use it:

If someone clicked "Tops," their welcome flow shows:

• Email 1: Top bestsellers with discount

• Email 2: How to style our tops

• Email 3: Customer reviews on tops

• Email 4: Complete the outfit (bottoms that pair well)

This level of personalization can double your welcome series conversion rate.

While, of course, putting your offer in each one of these emails, mixing in content and offers and direct sales and heavy direct response, and then brand-styled content and potentially increased incentives later on in the flow are all things that should be tested.

The Tools That Actually Work

After testing dozens of pop-up tools, here's what I recommend:

For most brands: Alia

• Best conversion rates we've seen

• Zero-party data collection

• Seamless Klaviyo integration

• Worth every penny

For budget-conscious brands: Klaviyo native forms

• Free with your ESP

• Basic but functional

• Good starting point

Avoid: Everything else tbh

• Optimonk is mehhh, gets the job done

The Welcome Series Connection

Your pop-up is only as good as what happens next.

A 30% pop-up conversion rate means nothing if your welcome series converts at 2%.

This is why we always build pop-ups and welcome flows together:

Pop-up collects: Behavioral intent
Welcome flow delivers: Personalized journey based on that intent

The result: 3-5x higher conversion rates than generic approaches.

The Math That Matters

Let's say you get 100,000 monthly visitors:

Scenario A (Generic 5% pop-up):

• 5000 email signups

• 3% welcome series conversion

• 150 new customers

• $60 AOV

• $9000 in revenue

Scenario B (Optimized 15% pop-up with personalized flows):

• 15,000 email signups

• 10% welcome series conversion

• 1500 new customers

• $80 AOV (better offers/bundles)

• $120,000 in revenue

Same traffic. 13x the revenue.

$111,000 MORE IN SALES

Your Action Plan

1. Audit your current pop-up (conversion rate, offer, design)

2. Test micro-commitment questions (collect behavioral data)

3. Optimize your offer (find the sweet spot for your archetype)

4. Improve visual hierarchy (make the offer impossible to miss)

5. Connect to welcome flows (personalize based on pop-up data)

The Reality of The Situation

If your pop-up is converting under 7%, you have a problem.

Not a "nice to fix someday" problem. A "losing thousands per month" problem.

The good news? This is one of the easiest things to fix in your entire retention system.

Want to see how this connects to your entire welcome series strategy?

I break down the complete system - from pop-up to final conversion - in my latest YouTube video.

[Watch: Complete Email Marketing Welcome Flow Guide →]

You'll see exactly how to build pop-ups that feed high-converting welcome flows.

If you want a custom audit and a 90-day sprint to build your backend system (done for you, no strings attached), book a call here.

Talk soon,
Michael

Today’s Helpful Links

• $20M Worth of Email Marketing Advice in 12 Minutes

• Client Interview: From $0 to $265,000 in Email Generated Sales [Klaviyo Email Marketing]

• Complete Email Marketing Welcome Flow Guide - $20M+ in sales