How to Create a Coupon Popup in WordPress (Step by Step)

Do you want to create a coupon popup on your WordPress website?

Coupon popups are a great way to convert your website visitors into paying customers. Showing a targeted coupon at the right time can make a huge difference in turning abandoning visitors into loyal customers.

In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll walk you through how to add coupon popups to your WordPress or WooCommerce site using the powerful OptinMonster plugin.

After 15+ years as a webmaster and working with hundreds of sites, I‘ve seen firsthand how effective well-timed coupon popups can be. Read on and I‘ll share my insider tips for creating popups that convert.

Why You Should Use Coupon Popups

Many business owners are hesitant to offer coupons because they worry it will hurt profits. However, strategic coupons have been shown to:

• Recover up to 30% of abandoned cart sales: Visitors often leave items in their cart. A coupon popup as they‘re exiting gives them an incentive to complete the purchase.

• Increase conversion rate by 10-15%: Coupons entice visitors who are on the fence about buying. Even a small discount can persuade them to click "Purchase".

• Drive more sales: By sharing coupon codes at the right times, you can generate more revenue overall. The incremental sales offset the discounts.

Coupon popups allow you to share coupon codes and discounts with visitors when they‘re most likely to use them.

Well-timed popups when a visitor is exiting or has abandoned their cart are ideal. The coupons give visitors a reason to complete the desired action instead of leaving your site.

Now let‘s look at how to create coupon popups in WordPress.

Step 1: Install OptinMonster

To create popups, you‘ll need a dedicated popup plugin. I recommend using OptinMonster which is the most powerful option on the market.

OptinMonster makes it easy to:

• Build all types of popups and overlays
• Target popups based on visitor behavior
• Integrate with email and analytics tools
• Analyze popup performance

Start by signing up for an OptinMonster account. You‘ll need at least the Growth plan to access advanced features like coupon wheels.

Next, install and activate the OptinMonster plugin on your WordPress site. You can refer to this guide on installing WordPress plugins if you need help.

Upon activating OptinMonster, you‘ll see a welcome wizard. Click "Connect Your Existing Account" and input your OptinMonster credentials to link it to your WordPress site.

You can also connect OptinMonster to your WooCommerce store. Go to OptinMonster » Settings, then the General tab. Click "Auto-Generate Keys + Connect WooCommerce" so your popups can access cart data.

Now your account is connected and you can start building popups!

Step 2: Create a New Campaign

In OptinMonster, each popup is part of a "campaign". To create your coupon popup:

1. Go to OptinMonster » Campaigns in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Click "Create Your First Campaign".
3. Select "Popup" as the campaign type.
4. Pick a template like "Coupon". You can search templates too.
5. Give your campaign a name and click "Start Building".

You‘ll be taken to OptinMonster‘s drag-and-drop popup builder. You can customize every element of your coupon popup here.

Step 3: Design Your Popup

The popup builder makes it easy to change your coupon‘s:

• Colors
• Text
• Fonts
• Images
• Layout
• Styles

For example, you can edit the default text blocks to say something like:

Get 25% Off Your Purchase!

Sign up now and we‘ll send you a coupon code for 25% off your entire order.

Experiment with different colors, fonts, and designs until it aligns with your brand.

You can also insert images, change backgrounds, add borders, pick animations, and more.

Once you finish designing, click "Save" at the top to save your coupon popup.

Step 4: Set Up Coupon Delivery

When someone clicks your popup, you need to give them the coupon code.

The easiest way is to show the code immediately using OptinMonster‘s "Success Message" feature.

To do this, edit your button and set the action to "Show Success Message". This displays a confirmation after they click.

In your success message, you can say something like:

Your 25% Off Coupon Code

Thank you for subscribing! Here is your coupon code to save 25%: SAVE25

This code is valid for 1 month on your entire order. Enjoy!

Now visitors get the coupon instantly when the click the popup.

You can also have OptinMonster automatically send the code via email when they join your list. Just connect your email service like Mailchimp first.

Step 5: Set Up Targeting Rules

By default, OptinMonster will show your popup to visitors after 5 seconds.

You‘ll get better results by showing it only to visitors who are likely to use the coupon.

For coupon popups, I recommend using the "Exit Intent®" trigger. This displays the popup when someone is about to leave your site.

You can also display it to visitors who:

• Are on a pricing or product page
• Have a certain item in their cart
• Have abandoned their cart

The more targeted your popup is, the higher your conversion rate will be.

Step 6: Publish Your Popup

Once you finish designing your coupon popup, it‘s time to publish it.

Go to the "Publish" tab in OptinMonster and make sure the toggle is set to "Publish". Click "Save" to activate your popup.

Now you can test it out on your live site. As visitors arrive, it will display based on the rules you set up.

Keep tweaking your targeting and offer until you get it converting well. Don‘t forget to A/B test different popup designs too.

Troubleshooting Tips

Creating your first popup takes a bit of trial and error. Here are some troubleshooting tips in case you run into issues:

• If popup isn‘t appearing, double check your display rules are configured correctly.
• Try a different browser or device if it shows up inconsistently.
• Clear your cache if you made changes that aren‘t showing up.
• Make sure no other plugins are blocking your popups from loading.
• Try deactivating other plugins one by one to identify any conflicts.
• Double check OptinMonster is installed properly and connected to your account.
• Look for any errors in your browser console that could indicate issues.

Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions! I‘m happy to help troubleshoot.

Next Steps

Well done on creating your first coupon popup in WordPress! Here are a few next steps to continue improving your conversion rates:

• A/B test different offers like 10% off, free shipping, etc.
• Make the popup match your brand with colors, fonts, etc.
• Show it on additional pages like category/tag archives.
• Integrate with an email service to send coupons automatically.
• Install a heatmap tool like Crazy Egg to see user behavior.
• Consider adding an exit-intent popup on blog posts too.
• Experiment with different designs and layouts. Don‘t be afraid to try new ideas.

Coupon popups are a set-it-and-forget-it way to passively generate more sales over time. I hope this guide gave you a good starting point. Let me know if you have any other questions!