2323-01-02

Best Pop-Up Examples to Target Silent Users: See How We Got 240% More Feedback From Them

Representative microphone for silent users

Check out these engaging pop-up examples to help you reach more of your users.

A good SaaS team knows that every design choice stems from one place — user feedback.

And what’s worse than bad feedback? No feedback at all. 

Silent users are a bit of a mystery. You know the type: they quietly use your product — maybe for years — without revealing anything about their experience. But exclude them, and you’ll make ill-informed product decisions based on incomplete data.

One solution to this is the humble pop-up. Eye-catching and enticing, a good pop-up invites higher responses. To prove just that, we’ve rounded up some great pop-up examples that target silent users, plus some tips to inspire your own.

What is Passive vs Active Feedback?

Broadly speaking, there are two ways you can collect customer feedback. Sit back and let customers voluntarily give you their thoughts — that’s called passive feedback. Or ask for it directly — that’s active feedback

Table showing differences between active and passive feedback.

Passive feedback is initiated by the customer

At any point, a customer can decide to give you feedback. Most of the time, that’s via a ‘give feedback’ button that lives somewhere on your page. Because it’s not time-sensitive, there’s no urgency involved, and you’re not interrupting a user’s journey. 

Here’s an example from Hawaiian Airlines. Their ‘feedback’ button is hard to miss:

Hawaiian Airlines home page. Feedback button appears on left hand side of the screen in bold pink.

Passive feedback works best when you cultivate a customer-centric culture. Show your customers that you value their feedback, and they’ll trust you enough to offer up their honest suggestions or frustrations.

However, passive feedback doesn’t always give you an accurate reflection of your customers. Disgruntled customers are more likely to reach out to you to complain and drown out others — so you could end up with a skewed picture of what your customers think.

Feedback buttons let customers give you insights

To get silent users to open up, you’ve got to use a proactive approach.

Active feedback is prompted by the company

Active feedback is assertive. You decide when, where, and how to request feedback from a customer. Often that request is event-triggered. It interrupts the user’s journey at an opportune time to ask, in-moment, what they think about their experience. 

Here’s one of many pop-up examples made using Usersnap:

If done wrong, active feedback can come across as too pushy or jarring, distracting the user from their experience. But do it right and you’ll get faster, targeted responses from users who wouldn’t normally go out of their way to give you feedback.

Take this successful case study. After an active feedback campaign, this company received a whopping 7,046 feedback items from a majority of their visitors: 

Feedback data page showing results of an active feedback campaign. Feedback count in 7046, from 63% of accepted responses.

Bottom line: both types of feedback are crucial. But to really tap into the silent users, you’ve got to use active feedback tools. And to do that, pop-up windows are powerful. 

4 pop-up examples and why they work

Pop-ups have a bad rap. In fact, in 2014, the man who invented pop-up ads publicly apologized for creating the number-one-most-hated-thing on the internet. 

But used in the right way, they can be really effective at increasing your feedback response rate. Pop-ups work because they ‘SAVE’ users:

  • Surprise them 
  • Add Value to their experience
  • Engage them, keeping them active

Here are a couple of pop-up examples that get it right:

1. Reducing bounce rate pop-up examples

If you have a high bounce rate, it can be a mystery why visitors are jumping ship so quickly. It could be any of the usual suspects:

  • Bad content. If your content doesn’t address their search, they won’t stick around.
  • Bad UX. They might be overwhelmed and can’t figure out how they’re supposed to start.
  • Technical errors. It could be as simple as a page that won’t load, or errors on certain devices.

Solve this problem with a quick form. Here’s one of our favorite pop-up examples:

Exit intent pop-up example window. When a user closes the page, a pop-up asks why they are leaving and how they can improve.

As the user exits the page, a pop-up window asks why they’re leaving. The company can take that data back to the drawing board, redesign their site to solve the issue, and slash their bounce rate.

2. Collecting NPS and CSAT pop-up examples

NPS and CSAT scores help you track customer experience. By using an in-browser pop-up, you can collect this golden data in a simple way.  

Use NPS (Net Promoter Score) to check customer loyalty

An NPS score asks a user how likely they are to recommend the product to somebody else. Usually, they pick from a range of 1 to 10:

Pop-up example for collecting NPS score. When a user is scrolling, a pop-up asks them how likely they are to recommend the product using a scale from 1 to 10.

Like in the pop-up example above, an NPS request can trigger at any point in a user’s journey. Or it can be timed to launch after a set time on the page or after using your product, often around 90 days. NPS is a great way to measure and grow your relationship with a customer. 

Use CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score) to measure customer happiness

A CSAT survey asks a customer to rate their satisfaction with a new or existing feature. That could be after a payment is processed, or after a conversation with a member from the support team. Usually, they’ll pick a number between 1 and 5, or rate their experience using emojis. 

CSAT is crucial to use, especially after launching a new feature. And it’s important to pair this score with qualitative data from customer satisfaction surveys. It’s not enough to know if they’re happy, but why too. 

3. Preventing churn pop-up examples

A pop-up can be your last-ditch attempt to stop a customer from churning. Deploy a targeted pop-up window when a customer chooses to unsubscribe, and you can:

  • Find out why they’re leaving 
  • Reel them back in with a targeted incentive

Take the pop-up example below. When a user unsubscribes, they are asked for a reason:

Churn pop-up example: when the user unsubscribes, a pop-up asks for a reason why and then offers an incentive.

Pop-up examples like these can offer an incentive based on their selection. In this case, it offers them another month — totally free. When given this option, the user is more inclined to reconsider. 

Just make sure that the incentive is irresistible. At this point, they’ve made up their mind to leave, so you’ve got to dangle something enticing in front of them if you want a shot at pulling them back.

Even if you end up losing them, the data you collect is valuable. Use it to make your product better, and you’ll prevent churn in the future.

4. Validating features example

When you want to assess a feature — existing or new — nobody knows better than the people who use it every day. Ask customers to share their thoughts with you regularly using pop-up windows.

It can be as simple as this example. The message is non-intrusive and quick to fill out without interrupting the user’s flow:

A pop-up example appears when a user is configuring display. Pop-up asks how easy it was to configure and gives an emoji selection.

Pop-up examples like this can be a great way to find out how intuitive a new feature is, or flag any existing bugs. That knowledge can inform your future strategy, and help you figure out what to build next. 

Tips for great designs (with more pop-up examples):

Design a pop-up that somebody will actually want to respond to. Easier said than done! But there are some principles that you can stick to that will get more of your users to answer. 

1. Focus on the context

Context is everything. It’s key to package your message in a way that will make your user more receptive to it. You might have a great message, but get the context wrong and your message will fizzle out. 

Tell the user what you’re asking for and why. When that framing is clear, they’ll trust you, and be more open to your request. For example, if you’re using pop-up ads that open up a new browser tab, you’ll want to make sure that the pop-up is acutely related to the event the user just triggered.

One way to nail context is by thinking of your pop-up as a conversation starter. Clearly introduce your intent with a headline. If you can, personalize the message, and use transparent, precise language. 

Facebook does a great job of this:

Facebook message at top of feed stating: 'Ashley, we're asking a small group of people for their opinion.'

Conversational, clear, and transparent, it’s contextualized just right, and a user is more likely to give their opinion. 

2. Use a strong call to action

A compelling CTA can boost your CTR. It’s no secret: strong, actionable directives get higher conversion rates. So make the CTA prominent in your pop-up message. 

That could be as simple as ‘Help us improve our product’. Tell the user exactly what you’re going to do with their feedback, and they’ll be more compelled to share their thoughts. 

Feedback-widgets-screen-recordings

Looking for something more attractive? Incentives make effective CTAs too. Offer a chance to be entered into a $300 draw for example, or throw a discount their way. 

3. Ask shorter questions

Giving feedback shouldn’t feel like work. Make it easy, make it quick — and you’ll get far more responses. 

Sure, in an ideal world, you’d get every user to fill out a ten-page survey. But in a pop-up window, economy is key. Hone in on one or two pressing questions. Keep it easy-to-answer, and minimize open-ended questions, like in these pop-up examples:

Two pop-up messages. One asks: 'What's #1 outcome you wish to achieve?'. The second one asks: 'How's your experience so far?' and gives user the option to rate with emojis.

Feedback shouldn’t take more than a couple seconds to fill out, or your response rate will suffer. Even longer feedback forms can be optimized and streamlined to get higher response rates. 

Not sure what questions to ask? We’ve got your back with our top 7 customer feedback questions.

4. Get the timing right 

Timing matters. It’s not enough to think about what your pop-up says, but when it says it. Your pop-up should fire at just the right time, and be relevant to whatever the user is doing on the page.

What do the lowest-converting pages have in common? Rushed pop-ups. 

Pop-ups that launch immediately are annoying. People hate feeling pushed, and a rushed message bombards the user, disrupting their journey.

Give them space. Time a website pop-up to launch only once the user is familiar with your website. Analytics (like average time spent on a page) can help you find your sweet spot.

Pop-up examples like the one below launch when the time is right:

A pop-up appears confirming that the order has been made. It asks the user to rate their experience in stars.

The timing is spot-on. The pop-up appears only after the user completes their order. Their journey isn’t being interrupted, but their experience is fresh enough in their mind for them to give insightful feedback. 

Tailor your pop-ups with Usersnap website feedback tool. You can set triggers so your pop-up launches at the right place, at the right time, whether that’s after a single event, or time spent on the page. Getting the timing right is key to a high conversion rate. 

5. Bring value, value, value!

What does the user get out of this? Make it clear what they’ll get in return for taking the time to give you feedback.

Of course, incentives are powerful at gripping your user’s attention and feedback. That could be offering another piece of content the visitor can’t normally access for instance.

Or it could be as simple as this Netflix pop-up example. When a user rates a show or movie, the pop-up tells them the value of doing so: they’re optimizing their algorithm for a better experience. Even a simple reward like this incentivizes the user to keep on giving feedback:

Text reads: Thanks for rating, Lailee! More ratings mean better suggestions for you.

6. Add an emotional touch

Don’t underestimate the power of emotion. People turn off when they hear stilted corporate speak. But you can engage your user when you give your pop-up a personal touch.

That means great copy. Emotive adjectives and strong verbs drive your message. Or just add emojis! They engage users in a fun way, and get them to give their opinions more readily. In fact, any type of visual communication connects people on a personal level. 

Here’s just one example using emojis:

At the end of a blog post, text reads, 'Did you enjoy this post?' User selects an emoji in response.

Wrapping Up

Pop-ups work. They’re a game-changer, and can significantly boost your response rates — even from that elusive silent user.

Not sure how to start? Usersnap makes it easy for anyone to make customized pop-ups, with little coding required. Pick from a range of ready-to-use templates, and start tracking your customers’ experience in minutes.

Using labels to categorize customer feedback

Try it out with 15 days free (no credit card details needed). We’d love to see you become our latest success story

FAQs about Pop-Up Examples

1. Is it better to use entry or exit intent pop-ups?

That depends on the context. Entry and exit pop-ups serve different purposes. Exit pop-ups are great for limiting bounce rate by offering incentives to stay. Entry pop-ups can appear as pushy, especially if they launch too soon. They can be less intrusive if targeted to returning users who have more experience with your product.

2. How can pop-ups reduce churn rate?

Pop-ups are really insightful for understanding why people are churning. They can also be a last line of defense to keep people from leaving, by offering them targeted content that brings value to them specifically. It’s not foolproof, though. If they’re churning, you could have already lost them in the past, so this should be just one strategy of many to reduce churn rate.

3. How do you write a pop-up?

Make your pop-up clear and transparent. Explain in specific terms what you’re asking your user for. If you can, make your message personalized and targeted to the user. And above all, make sure your pop-up has a strong, actionable CTA.

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