Do you struggle to come up with optin ideas that are relevant to your audience? Do you sometimes wish someone would just tell you what optins to create? The answer could be as simple as creating offers around current holidays.

In this case study, you’ll learn how Cloudways increased their overall list 229% using holiday marketing, which led to a 120% increase in free trials.

Meet Cloudways

Cloudways is a known name within the managed cloud hosting industry. With infrastructure services from some of the top-most cloud providers, like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, DigitalOcean, Vultr, and Kyup, the managed hosting platform is home to some of the most sought-after features in the industry.

Cloudways chose to use the OptinMonster with the following goals in mind:

• Improve conversion rate of Cloudways’ Free Trial
• Increase subscribers to their blog newsletter
• Optimize audience segmentation based on four user personas:
  Startups, Ecommerce, Developers, Agencies

How Cloudways Uses OptinMonster

Cloudways decided to focus first on increasing subscribers to their blog newsletter and free trials. They did this by targeting readers who were about to leave the site without having made a purchase with an exit-intent optin.

Exit-intent optins trigger when the user’s mouse motions towards the browser as if to leave your website. This type of optin is best used to remind users of the value which brought them to your website in the first place.

Exit-intent optins are often our first recommendation for businesses trying to convert abandoning visitors. You can see examples of our customers’ best exit-intent optins in our Exit Intent Gallery.

The lightbox optin below was set to display on exit, when the user motioned to leave the website, but only if the user had also scrolled 50% of the page. The addition of the scrolling percentage indicates the reader was fairly interested in the page’s content, even if they were about to leave without purchasing.

At first, the conversion rate of the optin used was only 0.21%.

Admittedly, Cloudways was a bit disappointed in this low conversion rate. However, they didn’t stop there.

As they explored the other features OptinMonster offers, they began to see their conversions increase.

Specifically, they began using a two-step process to present a Yes/No optin to users.

Yes/No optins like the one below are effective because they force the reader to confront the consequences of choosing not to take the offer presented.

The conversions began to increase to 3.80% in a few weeks time – a 1700% increase.

That’s nearly 4% of users who were leaving the site without making a purchase, but instead registered for a free trial.

After these promising results, they decided to also use exit-intent optins for special holiday marketing campaigns throughout the year.

The Independence Day optin above converted 2.09% of exiting visitors.

The Halloween optin above converted 3.77% of exiting visitors.

The Christmas optin above converted 2.88% of abandoning users.

Not every optin was targeted to a well-defined holiday marketing event. Some, like the ones below, were seasonal or celebrated company-specific events.

A Yes click in the optin above led to the contest entry page, while the No button closed the optin. This optin converted at 10.77%.

This optin celebrating the founding of Cloudways converted 2.18% of abandoning visitors.

These are just a few of the holiday marketing optins used by Cloudways to increase subscribers on their list and subsequently, free trials.

These campaigns resulted in a 120% increase of free trials of Cloudways’ managed cloud hosting platform. That is a huge boost to their pipeline!

Why Holiday Marketing Optins Work

Holiday marketing optins are effective because they create a sense of urgency. The reader expects the offer will be withdrawn when the holiday is over, so they act quickly to grab the deal before it’s gone.

Notice that each of these holiday marketing optins included graphics, copy and an offer specific to the holiday. These elements also serve to reinforce the idea that this offer is only valid for a short time.

When asked what the Cloudways team thought of OptinMonster, they had this to say:

“For a marketer not equipped with technical knowledge, it is quite easy to get acquainted with OptinMonster. Moreover, it’s easy to integrate with mailing services like MailChimp and Customer.io, enabling a marketer to set multiple segments and list without the hassle of troubling the developers.

“Additionally, the data that comes from the optins is useful in optimizing the conversion rate of our landing pages, as well. OptinMonster makes it easier for marketers to analyze their customer base with respect to different personas and segmentation variables.”

Are you ready to convert abandoning visitors into sales? Get started using OptinMonster today.