Why It Matters
With ad costs climbing and competition at its fiercest heading into Q4, every site visitor has to count. Cory Gill’s point is that growing your email and SMS list before BFCM gives you an owned audience you can market to for free when paid traffic gets expensive. The key moves: start planning three to four weeks out, keep your evergreen pop-up live until the sale begins, personalize by visitor type and traffic source, and use survey questions to collect zero-party data. That data pays off after the holidays, when brands that put it to work in segmentation and follow-up campaigns keep winning long after Q4 ends.
Who This Is For
Built for Founders members running DTC or ecommerce brands, plus the email, SMS, and CRO leads on their teams, who want to capture more subscribers before Black Friday. Especially useful if your pop-ups haven’t been reviewed lately, you’re unsure when to swap your evergreen offer for a BFCM one, or you’re collecting emails without gathering any preference data.
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In a recent webinar, I sat down with Cory Gill, Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer at Alia, to discuss how brands can use list growth to win during Q4, especially in a tough economic climate. Here’s a breakdown of the key takeaways, strategies, and actionable insights from our conversation.
Setting the Stage: Why List Growth Matters Now More Than Ever
Right out of the gate, I called out what everyone’s feeling heading into Q4: ad costs are up, competition’s wild, and everyone’s under pressure to make money. Cory jumped in and said, look, you’ve got to squeeze every bit of value from every single site visitor. With so many brands fighting for the same shoppers, focusing on growing your list (especially email and SMS) might be your lifeline during the busiest shopping season.
Preparation Is Key: Start Early
Cory emphasized that most successful brands plan their list-growth strategy well in advance, often 3-4 weeks before Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM). This preparation includes finalizing offers, scheduling campaigns, and, most importantly, capturing as many new subscribers as possible before the big sales hit. By growing your owned list ahead of BFCM, you set yourself up for bigger campaigns and more impactful marketing during peak traffic.
Testing and Optimization: Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late
Testing all year long is what the best brands do. Cory said Alia’s always testing, and it really pays off when Q4 hits. That said, it’s never too late to try something new. Play with your creative, mess with your timing, and keep making your on-site experience better. The goal is to get your capture rates up and make sure you’re rolling into BFCM with a list that’s ready to buy.
Personalization Drives Performance
One key differentiator for Alia clients is the ability to personalize pop-ups and experiences based on where visitors are in their journey. For example, new visitors see different pop-ups than returning ones, and those already subscribed to email or SMS get tailored messaging or incentives. Features like Prism AI allow brands to personalize pop-ups by traffic source or landing page, creating a more relevant experience that drives higher engagement and conversion.
Survey Questions and Zero-Party Data
Don’t just grab emails and call it a day. Ask survey questions, get some preference data, and learn about your audience. Get the insights you need for smarter creative and better segmentation down the road. If you know what people want before they even buy, you can tweak your messaging and offers to boost both conversions and retention.
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What Makes a High-Converting Pop-Up?
Cory outlined several elements that set high-performing pop-ups apart:
Offer: Reinforce your site-wide deal directly on the pop-up, or consider an extra incentive for signing up.
Timing: Test different trigger times (0-10 seconds is common). During BFCM, brands may opt for less aggressive timing (10-30 seconds) or use scroll/exist-intent triggers to balance conversions and user experience.
Targeting & Personalization: Differentiate between new and returning visitors, and personalize by traffic source or other attributes.
Design & Gamification: Gamified experiences (like card games or quizzes) often drive higher engagement. Urgency elements, such as countdown clocks, can also boost conversion during sale periods.
Segmentation: Use targeted pop-ups for specific segments, such as SMS-only offers for those already subscribed to email, or loyalty-focused messages for returning customers.
Best Practices for Q4 List Growth
Don’t Replace Your Evergreen Offer Too Early: Cory recommends keeping your evergreen pop-up live leading up to BFCM, with a subtle nod to early access for Black Friday deals. Switching too soon can cause sign-up rates to plummet.
Align Messaging: Ensure consistency across your site, pop-ups, and promotional materials. Don’t leave old offers running that could confuse shoppers during sales.
Leverage Automation: Use scheduling features to switch pop-ups at exactly the right time, and always QA before you go live.
Keep Testing: Even during BFCM, minor tests (like tweaking scroll depth or timing) can help optimize performance as traffic surges.
Looking Ahead: List Growth as a Springboard
As things wrapped up, the big takeaway was to use all that data and those new subscribers you picked up in Q4 to fuel your segmentation and personalization in the new year. Cory pointed out that the brands who use their zero-party data for post-holiday campaigns and ongoing engagement are the ones who keep winning long after Q4 is over.
Final Thoughts
Pop-ups and list growth are a huge lever you can pull to make every site visit count. If you focus on personalizing the experience, nailing your timing, and always testing, you’ll be ready for whatever the economy throws at you and set yourself up for a killer Q4 and beyond.
Watch the full webinar here:
