30+ Types of Popups [+Templates & How to Use]

You’ll be surprised by how many types of popups there are.

Below, we’ll take a look at 38 most common ones—so you’ll find a type of popup that can be helpful for your business, be it an ecommerce store, SaaS, or a nonprofit.

Also, you’ll find case studies and other useful tips to help you create high-converting campaigns, no matter what popup type you choose.

Click to go to sections:

• Should you use popups?

• Types of popups based on format and trigger

• List of popup types based on goal

Should you use popups?

As any other marketing tool, popups have their pros and cons (we covered them in this popup guide). And sometimes, they get a bad rap from many folks.

Yet—

Success stories involving popups are everywhere.

If used correctly, various types of popups can be very powerful for email list building, increasing sales, and improving website navigation and shopping experience (especially if you use them as a part of your onsite marketing).

Here’s proof:

Types of popups based on format and trigger

More info + guides on how to create these types of popups:

• Survey popups

• Exit popups

• Sticky bars

• On-click popups

• On-scroll popups

• Lightbox popups

• Delayed popups

• Embedded popups

• Multistep popups

• On-hover popups

• Mobile popups

• Cart abandonment popup

• Countdown timer popups

Types of popups based on their goal

Here are some of the common types of popups based on their goal.

1. Welcome popup (for new visitors)

Features of this popup type:

• Shown to first-time and unregistered visitors

• Effective for converting new visitors into customers or subscribers

• Contains various incentives to sign up (content, exclusive deals, discounts, etc.)

If you’d like to have a welcome popup on your website, check out the video below and get started on creating by using our popup builder:

Unlimited free trial, no cc needed.

Get step-by-step instructions: How to create a welcome popup

And here's a video if you prefer:

2. Welcome popup (for returning visitors)

Features of this popup type:

• Shown only to returning visitors (those who visited but left without subscribing or buying)

• Used to build the email list faster (as returning visitors are more likely to sign up)

• Can contain email and phone number signup fields

Popup design review and contest

Read an expert review and recommendations for various types of popups:

Popup contest results

3. Discount popup

Features of this popup type:

• Contains a discount as the main motivation for visitors to sign up

• Showcases products in pictures to present options for the first order

• May contain extra incentives like free shipping

4. Newsletter popup

Features of this popup type:

• Used to build the email list

• Offers visitors to subscribe to a newsletter

• Usually contains extra bonuses (especially in online stores)

More examples of this popup type: Newsletter popup examples

5. Sale promotion popup (with a signup form)

Features of this popup type:

• Used to raise awareness of a sale

• Offers a special deal or a discount to those who sign up

• Usually promotes limited-time offers (about 48 hours)

6. Sale promotion popup (for driving traffic)

Features of this popup type:

• Used to drive traffic to the page with the sale

• Contains info about the main benefit for shoppers

• Could be displayed on product pages

7. Flash sale promotion popup with a code

Features of this popup type:

• Shares the sale announcement

• Contains the discount code for the sale

• Allows to apply the discount to the shopping cart in one click

8. Coupon popup

Features of this popup type:

• Contains a coupon code for the next purchase

• Requires the visitor to sign up to get the discount

• Provides the coupon immediately after signing up

9. Free shipping promo popup

Features of this popup type:

• Displayed to all visitors to maximize awareness of the deal

• Contains a link to the page with the best-selling items

• Shares the most important info about the offer

10. Product category promo popup

Features of this popup type:

• Subtle and small popup displayed in the corner of the homepage

• Motivates the visitors to check out a specific product or category

• Contains a link to the promoted product(s)

11. Product promotion popup

Features of this popup type:

• Focuses only on one product

• Contains some description and the image of the promoted product

• Has a link to the promoted product

12. Product discovery popup

Features of this popup type:

• Promotes one specific product

• Offers a resource describing the use cases of the product

• Requires email address to get the resource

Have you also noticed that all popup types you've seen so far on this list has only one signup field?

This design choice is deliberate, as it has the highest conversion rate:

Learn more: Popup statistics (research of 513 million popup views)

13. Product launch notification popup

Features of this popup type:

• Offers visitors to get on the waiting list to get notified when a product is available

• Requires a phone number for signing up

• Contains terms and conditions (a mandatory requirement for popups collecting phone numbers)

Another way in which Black Ember promotes new products is the onsite notifications:

14. Product giveaway popup

Features of this popup type:

• Allows to enter a giveaway for a product

• Request name and email address to enter

• Contains extra incentives to buy (free shipping)

Faguo, the online store using this popup type, obtained 5,000 new emails every month thanks to the product giveaway:

15. Discount wheel popup

Features of this popup type:

• Popup wheel containing a few different incentives

• Requires only the email to spin

• Contains a colorful background to match the rest of the website

16. Gift card giveaway popup

Features of this popup type:

• Allows to enter a gift card giveaway

• Requires only an email to enter

• Contains a product image

17. Visitor survey popup

Features of this popup type:

• Full screen popup

• Contains a link to a page with a survey

• Has a great background and creative copywriting (see below)

Here’s the message of this popup:

18. SMS popup

Features of this popup type:

• Requires a phone number to sign up

• Contains mandatory terms and conditions

• Allows to choose the country code

If you’re interested in how SMS popups are made, it’s actually pretty easy. You just need to add the phone number signup field when creating the popup.

Here’s how it’s done in Wisepops:

Free, no commitment.

Or—

See examples of SMS popups.

19. Free product promotion popup

Features of this popup type:

• Helps to increase the average order value (the free gift is applied to orders of a certain amount)

• Contains the image and the price of the free item

• The large headline focuses on the main value

20. Product quiz popup

Features of this popup type:

• Opens when the visitor clicks the Wallet quiz button on the website

• Showcases a few products in the background

• Leads the visitor to the product quiz

21. Social proof popup

Features of this popup type:

• Showcases a positive customer review

• Displays when the visitor is about to leave the website

• Lets shoppers know about the benefits of buying the product

22. Product category menu popup

Features of this type of popup:

• Offers shoppers a few options to start browsing products

• Can help prevent visitors leaving without exploring the website

• Is non-intrusive and helpful

23. Product reminder popup

Features of this popup type:

• Appears when the shopper is about to leave 

• Reminds them about a product they viewed

• Contains an image of a product with a link to it

Exit popups are another type of popup you can use to remind customers about products they left in shopping carts.

Here’s a quick video on how to make them:

24. Exit intent popup

Features of this popup type:

• Displays when the visitor is about to leave a product subscription page

• Offers a free product sample

• Contains a link to the free product

25. Upsell popup

Features of this popup type:

• Appears when the visitor adds a product to the cart

• Contains several related products with prices and links to them

• Can help increase sales and the average order value

26. Online order popup

Features of this popup type:

• Helps visitors make orders from a bakery

• Contains links to the ordering page and the app where customers can also buy

• Can be very helpful to businesses like coffee shops and restaurants to increase sales

27. Special offer (gift with purchase) popup

Features of this popup type:

• Lets the shopper know about a special offer (a free item for buying for $180 and more)

• Contains the image of the free product

• Can help online stores get more sales

28. Referral program popup

Features of this popup type:

• Describes the terms of the referral program

• Can help get more referral sales

• Helps build email list fast

29. Loyalty program popup

Features of this popup type:

• Describes the benefits of joining the loyalty program

• Contains a few ways to subscribe for the shopper’s convenience

• Helps build a base of active customers

30. Holiday (4th of July) popup

Features of this popup type:

• Is used only during holidays or special events

• Contains some kind of incentive for customers

• Helps get a boost in sales during holidays

31. Announcement popup

Features of this type of popup:

• Small message announcing a new service (a post-purchase payment)

• Contains a link to a page where shoppers can get details

• Can help get more sales by allowing customers to pay in more ways

32. Nonprofit popup

Features of this popup type:

• Drives donations

• Directs visitors to the donations page

• Well-designed and written

33. Birthday popup

Features of this popup type:

• Asks visitors to provide their birthday date

• Encourages customer retention with a special offer

• Can help increase customer satisfaction and loyalty

34. SaaS lead generation popup

Features of this type of popup:

• Offers visitors to set up a meeting to talk about their needs

• Used by software development and other service companies to generate leads

• Helps build a list of potential customers

35. Special announcement popup

Features of this popup type:

• Shares an important message with visitors

• Describes the details of the event

• Is displayed to all visitors for maximum awareness

36. SaaS product signup popup

Features of this popup type:

• Encourages visitors to try a service (a website building app)

• Helps the business to get signups for their tool

• Increases awareness of the product

37. Lead magnet popup

Features of this popup type:

• Shares a valuable resource (in this case, for graphic designers)

• Helps improve the company’s reputation in the eyes of the target audience

• Increases the company’s potential customer base

38. Video popup

Features of this popup type:

• Contains an embedded video

• Helps businesses promote themselves via videos

• Drives traffic to landing pages

Summary

As you can see, there are so many types of popups, and here you’ve seen just some of them. But hopefully you found a popup you were interested in here.

If you’d like to learn more about popups, we invite you to check out our blog:

• What is a popup? Meaning and examples

• Best practices for popups (increase conversions)

• How to create SEO-friendly popups

• Best popup software

• Guide to email popups