This is a bit of a rant, but also has a point.
It seems like every sales page these days has a fly-in window that tries to get you to opt-in to their mailing list. On the face of it, there’s nothing wrong with this. If they can’t make a sale, they try to get you on their list so they can make a sale later.
But their timing is all wrong. It’s like a teenage boy on a date who spends all his time getting up the courage to kiss the girl, and when he finally does he’s taken so long she’s yawning at the same time he tries to kiss her. It just doesn’t work.
On these sales pages, you start to read the headline, and before you can even fully parse what it says, a fly-in window comes on top of it asking you to opt-in to their list.
Excuse me, but I was trying to read there!
If they wanted me on their list, they should have put a form at the bottom of their sales page. Assuming I made it that far, that’s the point at which I’d be making a decision to buy or not buy. An opt-in form there would give me a third choice that’s in-between in terms of commitment. I’d be far more likely to opt-in even if I didn’t buy.
As it is, I just close the entire page whenever one of those fly-in windows gets in my face.
So, the point is this: respect your visitors, and be patient with them. They’ve just reached your page, give them time to digest what you have to offer. They have zero reason to trust you when they first arrive at your page, and trust is the only thing that will get them onto your list.
In-your-face marketing tactics might work face-to-face, where you can intimidate a person into doing what you want, but on the Internet relief is just one click away.
What’s Internet marketing tactic that annoys you the most?