It takes more than a well-conceived offer to get someone to opt into your email list or become a new customer. It takes the right offer at the right time. The ideal opt-in offer is designed and presented with deep knowledge of where people are at in their journey toward your business. It pops up at the moment when they’re most likely to engage and respond, based on where they’ve come from and where they’re going. The 10 smart marketers in this post have found that the best way to present that ideal offer is often with a LeadBox™. Their LeadBoxes® impressed me not just with their attractive design and compelling copy, but with the sense that every choice had been made to reflect what visitors needed at the very moment they were viewing them. Follow along as I analyze how these 10 excellent LeadBoxes® fit into the bigger picture of their pages and marketing campaigns. And to pep up your own opt-in forms and landing pages, make sure to download our recently released pack of 35+ free icons created by our designers:
While the icon pack zips to your inbox, let’s look at some exemplary LeadBoxes®.
1. CoSchedule: Exit LeadBox™
What Stands Out: Too many pop-up windows have 2 major problems. They appear before you’ve even had a chance to look at the page, so they seem like a barrier getting in the way of what you came for. And they offer something pretty underwhelming—usually just an invitation to subscribe or maybe a link to a sale page that’s already advertised all over the rest of the site. With this exit LeadBox™, CoSchedule does pop-ups the right way. It appears only as you move to leave the page, so it doesn’t get in the way of people who would’ve opted in no matter what. And it offers massive value: more than 10 marketing guides, appealingly illustrated to the left in the same colors that appear across CoSchedule’s blog. This LeadBox™ feels like a unified part of the rest of the site, not an interruption.
2. Oud for Guitarists: Email Course LeadBox™
What Stands Out: Oud for Guitarists advertises this email course as an introduction to Arabic music for total newcomers, and accordingly it keeps this LeadBox™ easy and straightforward. In fact, the experience of opting in is almost literally seamless—the black background of the LeadBox™ blends right in with the rest of the page. That choice makes the double images—the course title image and the photo of the oud beckoning visitors to take it by the neck—stand out without feeling too busy. This doesn’t look quite like any other LeadBox™ I’ve seen, and yet it’s very easy to understand and user-friendly.
3. The Little Gym of Huntsville: Free Class LeadBox™
What Stands Out: The Huntsville branch of national children’s-fitness franchise The Little Gym uses a LeadBox™ to easily offer a first free class while staying on brand—primarily via the logo-adorned image of a mother and child. The button that triggers the LeadBox™ appears throughout this page, but stays low-key and low-pressure with its copy: “I’ll try a free class.” The LeadBox™ itself has more form fields than we’re used to seeing, but due to the nature of the offer, it’s immediately apparent why all that information is necessary and how will be used. The fine print explains exactly what will happen when parents clicks the “Sign Us Up” button, and how they’ll be contacted. It’s a smooth, reassuring signup experience.
4. Sleepy Paws Pet Care: Contest Entry LeadBox™
What Stands Out: Sleepy Paws uses a custom Facebook tab to let fans sign up to win a box of canine goodies without leaving their Facebook page. It’s an offer that’s unusual and appealing enough to get opt-ins even amid the plentiful distractions of a social media feed. The LeadBox™ itself keeps things streamlined with a single-column layout and to-the-point copy. The only flourish: an irresistible photo of a pup poking its nose into the prize.
5. ChurchJobs.tv: Free Download LeadBox™
What Stands Out: This LeadBox™ appears on a page totally devoted to the lead magnet, the cleverly titled “9 Ways to Drive Off Great Candidates from Your Church's Job Opening.” The LeadBox™ stays just as focused as the landing page, with crystal-clear button text: “Email Me the Free PDF Download Now.” ChurchJobs.tv has done an especially nice job with the LeadBox™ image. The subtle shadow makes this feel more “real” than just an image on a screen. And while it echoes the landing page with its photo of an appalled job seeker, it also adds new value by previewing a little of the text (not to mention the PDF’s colorful design).
6. Salena Knight: Podcast Post LeadBox™
What Stands Out: Retail expert Salena Knight goes out of her way to deliver insights to her audience in whatever medium suits them (and her information) best. At first this post appears to simply be a podcast episode, but keep scrolling and you’ll also find an accompanying video, a text version, and a downloadable PDF. To offer the latter, Salena uses this lovely LeadBox™. Her headline—“Enter Your Details Below To Receive Your Free Retail Biz Strategy”—is written in the same warm, informal voice that comes through in the rest of her multimedia blog. A photo of Salena herself points visitors toward that headline and the button, which happens to be the same shade of coral as the trigger button in the post.
7. Own Your Fitness: Sidebar LeadBox™
What Stands Out: Many blogs seem to treat their subscription widgets as an afterthought—embed a couple of plain form fields on the page and call it a day. Fitness coaching company Own Your Fitness does things with more care. The sidebar banner packs in a lot of value and clarity by promising “weekly fitness and nutrition tips,” and the LeadBox™ maintains consistency by using that same banner as a header image. Other little touches show evidence of further thought—check out how the blue button and highlighted text match the accents in the banner.
8. We Know Urban: Home Tour LeadBox™
What Stands Out: When you’re browsing properties on We Know Urban’s site, you don’t have to track down office hours or play phone tag once you decide you want to see an apartment in person. You can just click the “Take a Tour” button and enter your contact information into a LeadBox™. The leasing agent takes it from there. The LeadBox™ is full of cheery colors but retains a mature, trustworthy feel. The logo image adds authority and lets visitors know they’re definitely in the right place. Even the text is set in a tall, narrow font that harmonizes with the letters in the logo.
9. Jefferson Santos: Tumblr Post LeadBox™
What Stands Out: We’ve seen LeadBoxes® on Twitter and Facebook, but this may be the first one I’ve seen on Tumblr. Success coach Jefferson Santos adds this tool to this channel with aplomb. Tumblr is a blogging platform that’s also very much a social community, and readers aren’t necessarily expecting to see big, commercial-looking call-to-action buttons. Accordingly, Jefferson triggers the LeadBox™ with a simple text link in his post. His design also reflects Tumblr’s white-space-heavy aesthetic—there’s just the right amount of content here, including a sharp-looking illustration of the worksheet on offer. Blue accents throughout keep things visually engaging.
10. York English: Application LeadBox™
What Stands Out: York English, a school in Fuzhou, China, attracts prospective teachers with a gorgeous website, then gets the application process started with a simple LeadBox™. Deciding to teach in China is a much bigger life decision than deciding to download a PDF, and the LeadBox™ reflects that. The image from the home page reappears here, and the copy’s clean and hype-free. With this professional first impression in place, the button can afford to get a little more playful. “Take Me to China,” it says, acknowledging that for most visitors this job isn’t just a career move but an exciting adventure. To make your own LeadBoxes® (or any other web assets you use) as elegant as York English’s, be sure to download our new pack of 3 dozen icons (each available in 6 colors and 2 sizes).
