Your popup is the first thing a potential customer sees, and most brands are wasting it.

They slap a 20% discount on their popup and call it a lead magnet. It seems like it should work—everyone loves saving money, right?

But here’s what actually happens:

You fill your list with bargain hunters who bought once at a discount and never come back at full price.

Meanwhile, the buyers who would have paid full price anyway? They’re now trained to wait for the next sale.

The fix is simple:

Give visitors a reason to trust you before you ask them to buy from you.

Today, I’m breaking down OtterBox’s popup to show you exactly what’s broken—and how to fix it on your own site.

Here’s their popup:

Problem 1: “Stay Connected” is not a reason to give you my email (Headline/Offer Strategy)

Scored 3/15 points

Their headline says “Stay Connected”.

The offer promises a 20% off code for “exclusive offers and updates.” Neither gives a visitor already browsing iPhone cases a real reason to hand over their email.

If someone’s on your product page, they already have buying intent. They need to know which case fits their life—whether they work outdoors, travel constantly, or just have a history of cracked screens. A discount doesn’t answer any of that.

It just signals you’re willing to sell for less if someone asks.

Here’s how I’d fix it

Replace the discount with an Educational Email Course (EEC) built around the customer’s actual fear—breaking their expensive phone.

• Headline: Stop Replacing Cracked Screens
• Offer: Free 5-day course: “The Drop-Proof Device Guide” — Avoid the 5 mistakes that lead to cracked screens before your warranty expires, a dead phone on your most important day, and $300+ in repairs you didn’t budget for (even if you think you’re already careful with your phone).

Name specific, visual outcomes the customer can already picture. Bargain hunters skip it. Buyers who care about protecting their device sign up.

That’s exactly who OtterBox wants on their list.

Problem 2: Nobody wants to give their phone number to a brand they just met (Mobile vs Desktop Experience)

Scored 7/15 points

Email AND phone number.

In the same popup.

From a brand you just met...smack my head.

Every extra field you add to a form reduces the chance someone completes it—and a phone number ask before you’ve built any trust signals SMS spam, not value.

The desktop version compounds this: two wide fields sitting side-by-side look off-balance, like a contact form dropped into a popup with no thought about how it renders at that size.

Here’s how I’d fix it

Email only—full stop.

Collect the phone number in a post-purchase email sequence. Segment your list by engagement first, then ask for more when you’ve earned it.

You can always get the phone number later.

You can’t un-scare someone who closed your popup because you asked for too much too soon.

Problem 3: Smart timing, one big asterisk (User Flow & Timing)

Scored 9/12 points

Credit where it’s due—OtterBox fires this popup on product category and product pages, not the homepage. That’s smarter than most brands, and it’s worth keeping.

The asterisk: timing on the right page only works when the popup itself gives visitors a reason to stop. A discount code on a product page asks someone to pause their buying decision for something that doesn’t help them make it.

Here’s how I’d fix it

Keep the product page trigger, but add a 10–15 second scroll-depth delay so it fires after someone has engaged with the page—not the moment they land.

Behavior-based triggers (scroll depth, time on page) outperform pure time delays because they fire for visitors who are actually reading, not just visitors who haven’t bounced yet.

Problem 4: Your CTA button should answer “what happens when I click?” (Call-to-Action Button)

Scored 2/12 points

“SIGN UP”.

Two words.

Zero context about what the visitor is getting or why they should click.

The button also blends into the bright yellow background—technically visible, but far from the most obvious thing on the popup.

Here’s how I’d fix it

Write button copy that mirrors the offer.

“Send Me Day 1” tells the visitor exactly what happens next.

Or “Protect My Device” connects to the outcome they care about.

Then swap the color to something with real contrast against OtterBox yellow—navy, black, or white all work.

The CTA button should be the first thing someone’s eye lands on, not something they have to hunt for.

Here’s my fixed popup:

• Fixed timing trigger: Product category/product pages + 10–15 second scroll-depth delay
• Fixed headline: Stop Replacing Cracked Screens
• Fixed offer: Free 5-day course: “The Drop-Proof Device Guide” — Avoid the 5 mistakes that lead to cracked screens before your warranty expires, a dead phone on your most important day, and $300+ in repairs you didn’t budget for (even if you think you’re already careful with your phone).
• Fixed CTA button: SEND ME DAY 1 (high-contrast color against OtterBox yellow)
• Fixed input: Email only (no phone number)
• Fixed close option: “No thanks, I’ll risk it” instead of just the X

Here’s what the fixed version does differently

It leads with pain, not discounts. The offer names specific problems—cracked screens, dead phones, repair bills—that the visitor can already picture. People sign up when the offer speaks to something they’ve already worried about.

It whispers to the objection.“(Even if you think you’re already careful with your phone)” speaks directly to the person who thinks they don’t need this. That’s the exact person OtterBox needs to convert.

The course does the selling work. Each day gives a specific reason why the right case matters—and why OtterBox is worth full price.

Here’s a quick before-and-after comparison:

See the difference?

Education builds buyers. Discounts build bargain hunters.

OtterBox’s final score: 21/54 points

That’s 39%—a failing grade for a brand with serious clout and a massive customer base. Most of the lost points came from their headline/offer strategy (scored 3/15) and their CTA button (scored 2/12).

Both are copy fixes, not design overhauls.

Lead with expertise, not 20% off.

OK, that’s it for today.

Until next time, see ya!

Gannon

P.S. Want to know exactly where your own popup is losing subscribers?

The free 15-Minute Popup Audit Kit scores your popup across 7 categories in 15 minutes — and tells you exactly what to fix first.

​​→ Score your popup in 15 minutes​​