One of the biggest debates in the online marketing community is whether or not to include direct-response pop-ups on your site. The debate would be a lot less...View More fierce if these pop-ups weren't so damn effective. Whenever you are able to block out competing attention & deliver a clear & concise offer & CTA, your odds of converting go way up. However, one of the biggest arguments against it is that it kills user experience & is too pushy on the visitor. The problem with many pop-ups is that they are not targeted. There's a generic message that pops up immediately before the visitor gets to even browse the site (bad timing) & if it doesn't resonate, it's a deadly first impression. This is why I am sharing this example from http://www.bleacherreport.com (a very popular high-traffic sports blog).  I clicked on one of their articles upon Googling for info on the latest Floyd Mayweather fight & this pop-up came up for their app, Team Stream. Why is this simple example so different? The pop-up itself isn't the clever part. Plenty of companies show mobile pop-ups to download their app that can be annoying (e.g LinkedIn). The difference here is that this one is specifically targeted & completely congruent with what I was searching for. They show a headline & icon that are specific to my intent & demonstrate what we in the biz call maintaining "scent" http://www.conversionxl.com/give-your-advertising-roi-a-serious-boost-by-maintaining-scent/. Even though it's technically an obtrusion to the article, you still get a sense that they have your best interest in mind & that little bit of extra effort makes all the difference. Still anti-popup? Give this case study a look: http://danzarrella.com/my-data-shows-email-popups-work-and-dont-hurt & another post that expands on it: https://www.mailmunch.co/blog/how-to-use-exit-intent-popups-to-grow-your-email-list/