How to create an email capture popup with Nudgesmart

TL;DR

Pick an email-capture template (or start fresh and choose Email Capture as the campaign type), write an offer that gives the shopper a real reason to subscribe, set frequency to once-per-shopper, and connect Klaviyo (or your email service provider) BEFORE publishing — otherwise the new subscribers sit with no follow-up. The popup itself is just the door; the real conversion happens in the welcome email.

What makes a high-converting email capture

Three things separate email captures that grow a list from those that don't:

1. A real offer. "Subscribe to our newsletter" converts at ~1%. "Get 10% off your first order" converts at 4-7%. The shopper needs a tangible reason — the discount, early access, exclusive content, or a free guide.
2. One field. Just email. Add a phone field and conversion drops by ~30% — the number of merchants who actually use SMS doesn't justify the friction.
3. An immediate welcome email. Subscribers open at the highest rate within the first 24 hours. If your welcome email goes out a week later, most won't open it.

Step 1 · Pick a layout

Most-used layouts and when to use each:

• Centered modal — best for first-time visitors with a strong offer (10%+ discount). Demands attention.
• Slide-in card (corner) — best for return visitors or low-pressure offers (newsletter signup, early access). Less intrusive.
• Top/bottom bar — best for evergreen offers that should accompany browsing without interrupting it.

If you started from a template, the layout is already chosen — change it in the visual editor only if the layout doesn't match your offer's intensity.

Step 2 · Write the offer

Visual editor with the email capture popup canvas, headline field, body text, email input, and submit button all editable

Screenshot coming soon

Headline patterns that work:

• "Get 10% off your first order" (transactional, immediate)
• "Be the first to know" (FOMO, for product-launch lists)
• "Free shipping on your first order" (frictionless reward)

Avoid generic headlines like "Subscribe to our newsletter" — they tell the shopper nothing about why subscribing helps them.

Step 3 · Set targeting and frequency

Recommended starting setup:

• Page targeting: all pages except checkout. Email capture works on homepage, collections, product pages — anywhere the shopper is browsing.
• Trigger: time-on-page ≥ 10 seconds OR scroll depth ≥ 30%. Wait for engagement before asking.
• Frequency: once per shopper. Don't ask the same person to subscribe twice.
• Exclusion: if you can detect existing subscribers (via integration), exclude them from seeing the popup.

If you're capturing emails alongside other campaigns (exit-intent, spin-wheel), make sure they don't all fire on the same page — pick one popup per page slot.

Step 4 · Connect Klaviyo or your ESP

Integrations page showing the Klaviyo connection card with a Connect button

Screenshot coming soon

Once connected, every email captured by the popup flows into your ESP automatically — no CSV exports, no manual syncing. The shopper enters email → it appears in Klaviyo (or Mailchimp, etc.) → your welcome flow fires automatically.

If you skip this step and publish the campaign, the emails are captured to Nudgesmart but don't flow to your welcome flow. They sit unused while the shopper's intent fades.

Step 5 · Publish and monitor

Healthy email-capture metrics for the first week:

• 3-5% conversion (impressions → emails captured) for static modal popups
• 5-10% for popups with a clear discount offer
• Welcome-email open rate 35-50% (baseline; if lower, the welcome subject line is the issue)

If conversion is below 2%, the offer or the targeting is wrong. Iterate on the offer first — most popup performance lives in what you're giving.

Common pitfalls

• Emails are captured but don't appear in Klaviyo. Check the integration is connected and active in Integrations. Reconnect if needed.
• The popup appears in checkout. Add an exclusion rule for the checkout URL pattern. Popups in checkout damage conversion and can violate Shopify's checkout policies.
• Spam-bot signups inflate the list. Add a hidden honeypot field (Nudgesmart includes basic bot protection by default) and clean the list periodically by removing addresses that never engage.

Frequently asked questions

Should I capture phone numbers too?

Generally no — adding a phone field reduces email capture by ~30%. If SMS is a core channel for your store and you have a real SMS welcome flow set up, then yes; otherwise stick with email-only.

What's the difference between a single-opt-in and double-opt-in flow?

Single-opt-in adds the email to your list immediately. Double-opt-in sends a confirmation email first; the shopper must click to confirm. Double-opt-in is required by some ESPs and recommended for EU traffic; it reduces list size by ~10-15% but improves engagement metrics.

Can I A/B test two email-capture popups?

Yes. Use Experiments to run two variants — most useful when comparing offers (10% vs 15%, free shipping vs discount) or copy (transactional headline vs aspirational headline).

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