Lilach's verdict: 4.6 out of 5. The reviewer enthusiastically endorses OptinMonster as their current favourite lead generation tool, praising its ease of use, exit-intent technology, targeted campaigns and A/B testing with no meaningful criticisms raised.
Getting started with Optinmonster
Getting started is quite easy and straightforward. Once you’ve created an account, make sure to integrate Optinmonster with any other tool you want to, such as Google Analytics and your email marketing app – it works with most apps, including Convertkit (my favourite), MailChimp and AWeber, and 16 others. When you’re ready to create your first Optinmonster opt-in form, go to your dashboard and click on Create New Optin. From here, it’s pretty self-explanatory:
There are numerous different types of opt-in designs to choose from, and some really good-looking selections for all types of needs.
Once you actually start designing your form, the entire process is very intuitive and you could be done in minutes, even with your first form (unless of course you’re like me and like to experiment with as many different changes as you can before you finally settle on one). You can add your own colours so that it matches your branding, customise all text, add images and choose from a very extensive collection of fonts so that your opt-in form will flow well with the rest of your website.
If you don’t want to use any of the forms provided, you can build your own, completely customised opt-in form.
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Exit-Intent Technology
The way the exit-intent technology works is that, by using behavioural technology, Optinmonster can detect when one of your website visitors is about to leave your website by their mouse movements. As they are going to click on close, an opt-in form will pop up to convince them to subscribe before they leave. Optinmonster claim that by using this technology on your website, you could be converting an extra 2 to 4% more people into email subscribers. What makes this exit-intent technology stand out to me is that you can create targeted campaigns based on what visitors are doing on your website.
For example, if you practice content marketing, you could prompt any user leaving your website with a message informing them of an interesting ebook that they could download for free, or telling them to sign up for a future webinar.
I think this is a particularly great feature for those who have an e-commerce website. Their exit-intent technology for e-commerce targets users who abandon their carts with whatever targeted campaign you want, such as a special discount to encourage a quick purchase on the spot.
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Highly Targeted Campaigns
With OptinMonster, you can create highly targeted page level campaigns. This feature allows you to display different messages to users, depending on their location and interaction on your website. This way, you can also easily segment your email list based on what interested various visitors on your website. It’s an incredibly useful feature because by segmenting your list in such targeted groups – which would otherwise be a headache-inducing task – can help you with increasing your subscriber and conversion numbers. Here are some of the ways you can use this feature to maximise your results:- Offer different downloadable material based on the visitor’s location on your website. For example, if you have someone reading a blog post on how to get more traffic, you could direct them towards an e-book that thoroughly covers the subject, as they are more likely to convert this way.
- If a user is visiting from a particular social network, set up a pop-up that lets them like/follow you on a different social network. This way, you could increase your follower numbers and get more engagement on social media.
A/B Testing
While I’m sure we’ve all heard numerous times how important A/B testing is, I’m sure many fail to test different styles and wordings simply because it seems like a lot of work. OptinMonster, though, makes it very easy to set up your own A/B test. Once you’ve created a form, simply go to your dashboard and click on the Split Test button to the right of your opt-in form’s name, then click on Create a new Split Test Version:
From there, simply try different variations: change the wording for the content and headline, try different styles and layouts, and anything else you can think to change. OptinMonster does the rest of the work for you by randomly displaying each opt-in form to different users.
You also get detailed analytics that will let you know which type of opt-in form works best for your website.
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MonsterLinks
Another cool feature is MonsterLinks, which turns links and images into a two-step opt-in process. Whenever someone clicks on the link or the image, a pop-up opt-in form will open up prompting them to take action. This feature is based on a psychology principle, which states that whenever someone starts a process (in this case, clicking on your link or image), they are more likely to see it through to the end (and subscribe to your email list).Analytics
As I mentioned a bit earlier, you can integrate OptinMonster with your Google Analytics account, which means you get detailed stats for clicks, views and the overall conversion rate for each of your opt-in forms; you can also track the referral pages for each of your conversions, so you know which of your website’s pages is attracting the most conversions.Yes/No Optin Forms
Yes/No opt-in forms are OptinMonster’s latest feature, offering subscribers the option to opt in or out with Yes and No buttons:
The idea behind Yes/No opt-in forms is that by giving users a choice, they are more likely to finish the subscription process. One of OptinMonster’s case studies claims that they saw a 250% increase in opt-ins.
To set up your own Yes/No opt-in form, go to your dashboard and select Create New Optin; in the left-hand side, you’ll notice the link for setting it up:
After configuring your form, go to Display Rules on the left-hand side of your dashboard to select when you want to enable the campaign.
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Conclusion
There is a reason why everyone is raving about OptinMonster and why it’s grown so much in what seems like no time. Not only is it easy to use and helps you create beautiful opt-in forms, it actually gets results. Have you tried OptinMonster yet? What other tools are you using and why? Let me know in your comments and please share 🙂The short version: OptinMonster helps you turn website visitors into leads and subscribers using targeted popups, exit-intent technology and smart targeting rules. Set it up correctly and you can grow your email list without hurting user experience or traffic.
Frequently asked questions
What is OptinMonster used for?
OptinMonster is a lead generation tool that lets you create popups, slide-ins, floating bars and other on-site campaigns to capture email addresses and grow your subscriber list. It works with most major email marketing platforms.
Does OptinMonster hurt user experience?
Not if it's configured well. Using exit-intent triggers, page-level targeting and sensible timing means campaigns show up when they're relevant, rather than annoying every visitor with the same popup on every page.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
How quickly can I see results with OptinMonster?
Many users notice an increase in leads within the first few weeks, especially when testing different campaign types like exit popups versus floating bars. Results depend on your traffic volume and how well your offer matches visitor intent.
Do I need coding skills to use OptinMonster?
No. OptinMonster is built with a drag and drop editor, so you can design and launch campaigns without touching code. Templates make it easy to get started quickly.