From Static to Stunning: Is This New Trend the End of Boring Opt-in Forms?

I have a confession to make…

I’m a rare breed of human. The kind that actually likes it when a lightbox pops up on the screen.

Maybe I'm a geek or maybe it's a job-induced condition.

But I like to study opt-in forms.

More...

No, I said HUMAN breed!

I love to:

• Look at the design and form type.
• See what opt-in offer is advertised.
• Read the copy and notice if I’m compelled to opt-in (or not)

It’s amazing how much one can learn from observing and studying what others are doing.

Now, I do realize that not everybody gets excited looking at opt-in forms…

Don’t worry I got you covered!

Instead of abusing the “Print Screen” button to capture every interesting opt-in form you come across (or is that something only I do?), you can read this article and start optimizing and testing your own opt-in forms within minutes.

And it’s getting better: Among my printscreens… guess what I discovered - A new emerging trend!

Opt-in Forms that Captivate Your Attention

You can have the most compelling opt-in offer or the best headline copy in the world but if nobody is looking at your opt-in forms to begin with, nothing happens.

No subscribers.

You know what catches the eye on a webpage? Moving elements.

That’s why animations on an opt-in form are a highly effective way to get the attention of your visitors.

Here are some of the examples I came across :

Copyhackers: Animate the Desired Action

Copyhackers uses color animation on their two-step lightbox opt-in form. This immediately grabs the attention and makes clicking on the YES button more compelling.

GoodUI: Make the Opt-in Form Unignorable

GoodUI uses 2 types of animations on their footer opt-in form.

The red bar animation occurs on page load. It grabs your attention when arriving on the website and makes you look a first time at the opt-in form. The shaking opt-in form reminds you 20 seconds later there is an opt-in form at the bottom of the page.

Groove: Show Off Progress

At Groove they have a challenge to hit a $500K monthly revenue.

They compel you to opt-in promising they’ll share everything they learn on this journey. The animated progress bar on the opt-in form shows the progress they’re making. This opt-in form is shown on a Scroll Mat on their blog homepage.

Swiped: Make It Simple, Stupid

Another example is the opt-in form on Swiped.co. This opt-in is placed at the end of the content. When the form comes into viewport, an animation occurs that puts your cursor in the name field of the opt-in form.

Without having to move your mouse, you can start filling out the form immediately.

Coschedule: Show They’re Almost Done

The last example I want to share with you is a more subtle animation. On the Coschedule lightbox pop-up, the filling of the progress bar is constantly moving.

It’s screaming “You’re halfway there, don’t stop now”.

The majority of these examples come from websites with HUGE email lists.

Coshedule claim a whopping 42,183 subscribers acquired over a one-year period. Groove was able to double their subscribers to 50,000 over the span of 6 months. As for Copyhacker, they have daily sign-ups in the triple digits range.

These major players are using these methods with great success.

Maybe you should too?

From Novelty to Oversight in the Blink of an Eye

When the first lightboxes popped up the conversion rates were amazing. It was something new and people weren’t used to this interruption.

While they are still highly effective, we saw that adding an entry animation on the pop-up boosts the conversion rates.

Why?

Because this is something your visitors rarely see!

But they will get used to it… and then the novelty effect will drop. Once again, we will need to come up with a new way to grab the attention.

Animated opt-in form are the novelty right now. To use this to your advantage, you should implement and test this as soon as possible!

5 Ways to Add Animations to Your Opt-In Forms With Thrive Leads.

If you are a ThriveLeads customer, you already have several options to add animations on your opt-in forms. 

Let me show you how to implement my 5 favorites.

Add a Progress Bar to Your Opt-in Form

You can use a progress bar to visually represent your visitor advancing through the subscription process. Or show any other progressive increase such as Groove’s monthly revenue goal.

Show a Dynamic Subscriber Counter

Showing the number of subscribers is what’s called “social proof”. In general, people don’t like to be the first to try something. Seeing many people already subscribed to this newsletter, will help to convince new visitors to join.

To show the number of subscribers on your opt-in form, you can add an animated counter.

Animate Your Text With TypeFocus

With the TypeFocus feature you can animate the text of your opt-in form. This allows you to convey your message in a highly effective way.

Add a Countdown Timer on Your Opt-in Form

Sometimes, your opt-in form can be time sensitive. Either because you’re taking away the opt-in offer or because you’re advertising a timely event such as a live webinar.In both cases, adding a countdown timer to your opt-in form can boost your conversions and emphasize on the urgency of the offer.

Use Events to Add Mouseover Animations 

With the mouseover trigger, you can animate various elements such as the image of your ebook. This can be useful when you want your visitors to pay attention to your in-content or widget opt-in forms without having a constant animation on the page.

Now it’s your turn!

• ​Get ThriveLeads if your not a customer yet.
• Create a clone of your current opt-in form and add one of these animations. 
• Let me know in the comments below which one you’re testing and what the results are.

Also, let me know if this type of “Trend Report” article is useful to you and if you would like to see more of them.