How to create a newsletter popup for your Shopify store

Source: https://getsitecontrol.com/usecase/shopify-newsletter-popup/

Nina De la Cruz 6 min read

If you're relying on the checkout opt-in box to build your list, you're likely missing many potential subscribers.

A well-placed popup can capture their attention earlier.

Let’s take the most common scenario as an example. This is a Shopify newsletter popup offering a welcome discount to first-time visitors:

When someone fills out this form, it means two opportunities for you. First, you get a new subscriber whom you can reach directly via email. Second, you give away a discount code – and that increases your chances of making a sale.

From this tutorial, you'll learn to create a high-converting newsletter popup for free, using the GSС Email Marketing, Pop Ups app.

You’ll also learn how to display the popup at the right moment and how to send a welcome email to your new subscribers automatically.

The app makes it easy to create a newsletter popup and align it with your branding. Just select a template from the gallery, adjust the design and text, set up audience targeting, and activate it on your website.

Here is a step-by-step walkthrough of the process 👇

Assuming you’ve already installed GSC Email Marketing, Pop ups, log into the dashboard, go to ~~Widgets~~, and click ~~Create widget~~; then proceed to ~~Premade widgets~~.

Each template comes with a unique layout and a set of fields and buttons. Choose whatever looks most appealing, and keep in mind that you can tweak all the elements later.

Once you’ve added the template to your dashboard, select any piece of text right on the popup and edit it.

This way, you can adjust the title, description, and button text, change field text, and add microcopy at the bottom. Your aim is to make the offer clear and guide visitors to claim it effortlessly.

Step 3. Adjust image, font, and style

To replace the image on the popup, you have three options: import any image from your store, select a stock image from the built-in gallery, or upload a picture from your computer. Just click on the default image and proceed to change it; then choose your preferred option from the menu.

💡 To change the font, style, and color theme, open the ~~Theme~~ menu at the top and see your options.

If you’re offering a discount code in exchange for a signup, you can display it right after a visitor fills out the form. To do that, you’ll need to create a second page of the popup. Navigate to ~~Pages~~, open the dropdown menu, and select ~~+ Add page~~.

A confirmation page will appear, allowing you to thank new subscribers, show the discount code, and explain the next steps.

You can also send a discount code to your new subscribers via an automated email. We’ll show you how to do it in the following steps.

By default, your Shopify newsletter popup will appear immediately when a visitor arrives on your site. If it works for you, you can skip this step.

However, if you’re using the Pro plan, you can display the popup under specific conditions. For example:

to first-time visitors or returning visitors,
after a visitor spends some time on the page,
when a visitor starts heading to exit.

These conditions are available in the ~~Targeting~~ tab. Just add the desired display trigger and tweak the settings.

Once you’re finished, head to the top right corner to save the popup and close the editor.

Step 6. Create a form submission email

It’s a good practice to send a signup confirmation email to your new subscribers after they join the list. In GSC Email Marketing, Pop Ups, you can do it by creating a Form submission automation.

Click ~~+Set up automation~~ on the widget card, then select ~~Create new~~:

On the next screen, start building your form submission automation by selecting ~~Send email~~.

From there, you can create an email from scratch or use one of the premade email templates. For this scenario, consider using the ‘Follow-up’ category on the left-side menu.

The built-in email editor allows you to easily tweak the design and add engagement elements: images, coupons, buttons, product cards, countdown timers, and so on.

When your email is ready, save the automation and activate it.

Each time someone joins your list through the newsletter popup form, they’ll receive this confirmation email automatically.

Email marketing automations allow you to do much more than just sending signup confirmations. For example, you can tag subscribers based on their characteristics or preferences. You can also create a welcome sequence, instead of sending a single email.

If you’re looking for inspiration, check this collection of Shopify welcome email examples.

To get a high-level view of the popup performance, use the quick stats report right on the popup card. It shows how many website visitors have seen the popup, how many times they clicked through, and what its average click-through rate is.

Click these numbers and go to Statistics for deeper analysis. For example, you can see how the popup has been performing over time, and whether there is a correlation between the click-through rate (CTR) and other parameters, such as the referral channel or website page where the popup is viewed.

Finally, if you want to get a better understanding of who your subscribers are, click ~~Responses~~ on the popup card. You’ll be able to see the email contacts who’ve joined your list through the pop-up form, view their locations, browser parameters, and referral channels.

If you notice that your newsletter popup performs worse than anticipated, you can always edit it or even run an A/B test.

Newsletter popups may seem like a small detail, but they can have a big impact on your email list growth, store traffic, and revenue.

In addition to making it visually appealing, consider taking your visitors’ experience into account as well.

Ensure compliance with data privacy laws by making it clear that visitors are subscribing to receive emails. Use a mandatory checkbox and a brief disclaimer stating what kind of emails they should expect.

This not only ensures GDPR compliance but also reassures hesitant subscribers.

Ask about content preferences

Let subscribers choose the type of emails they want — discounts, new arrivals, or blog updates. If you have different product categories or collections for different genders, for example, ask them what products they’re interested in. This will help you send more personalized emails and product recommendations, improve engagement rates, and reduce unsubscribes.

Make it easy to opt out from the start

Consider adding a second button to allow visitors to easily decline the offer and close the popup. This small tweak improves user experience and, surprisingly, may even boost signup rates.

When set up right, popups work very well, especially for ecommerce brands whose struggles are often caused by the lack of user engagement.

Our research shows that an average signup rate for email popups on Shopify and other platforms is 3.77% for desktop and 6.57% for mobile devices.

A simple newsletter popup can help you accomplish multiple crucial tasks, email list building being just one of them. Add one to your store today and see how it works for you.

Nina De la Cruz is a content strategist at Getsitecontrol. She is passionate about helping small and medium ecommerce brands achieve sustainable growth through email marketing.

You’re reading Getsitecontrol usecase collection where we talk about the best practices for using website popups. This usecase is a part of Grow on Shopify section.