Author Page: Mike W.

Last week we explained why displaying a full page popover immediately after a visitor arrives on your website is usually a terrible idea. But we acknowledge there are times when it is critical to get the user's attention right away. In such instances, we recommend using a partial popover of some flavor that does not inhibit the visitor from reading what they came for or chase them away from the site.
In a world where people doing insane things is more and more common, we are hard pressed to think of a more insane marketing strategy than to show a full page popover IMMEDIATELY after a user arrives at a website. It's like punching them in face. The number of websites that utilize this strategy is actually scary. In almost all cases, the mistake is compounded because there is no Persuasive Free Offer (PFO) attached to the popover. It's just some lame attempt to get you to join their email newsletter. Ugh!
We recently examined how news organizations such as CNN, the NY Times, and the Guardian utilize popovers to get people to pay for news content online. Each news organization could improve their popover by making simple changes. In this blog post, we layout a seven prong strategy any news organization could integrate into their Popover strategy to increase subscribers.
The changing media landscape spawned fledgling business models and underscores the need for news organizations to monetize their website traffic. So it's no surprise they often use popovers to convert readers into subscribers. In this blog post, we examine the popover techniques and Persuasive Free Offers (PFOs) utilized by CNN, the New York Times, and The Guardian.
We've all responded to online offers by handing over our precious email address only to end up with some dubious "benefit" that raises more questions than answers or creates more problems than solutions. We can do better. A frustrating "bate-and-switch" experience is not conducive to building trust or transacting future business. That's why the Persuasive Free Offer (PFO) in your popover must strike the right balance.
No matter how your visitors discovered your site, you have only a small amount of time to connect with them before they leave. Therefore, it's critical to make your Persuasive Free Offer (PFO) super obvious so they don't miss it. It's not possible (or legal) to grab the visitor by their collar and shake them. So what can we do instead to get their attention? In this post, we describe three ways to make your PFO super obvious.
In recent years, responsive design techniques enabled web developers to create websites that look good across the entire spectrum of devices from laptops to tablets to phones of all sizes. So, in that way, websites are "smarter" than they used to be. But what we predict in this case, looking ahead to 2017, is that more websites will tap into the emotional needs of visitors and build trust more quickly.
As 2016 comes to a close, it's time to look forward to the new year. What inbound marketing trends will emerge (or continue) in 2017? We identify the five most compelling trends on our radar that will affect our clients and guide our product development over the next 12 months.
Readers of this blog know that recent posts describe how Flash Polls are used. Most recently, we examined how Amazon, Facebook, and Google utilize Flash Polls to learn about their users' behavior. Today, we examine how one of our clients, the We Get Around Network, implemented a series of Flash Polls and what conclusions were reached.