technology Archives - intent.ly

Partnerize Partnerships Day 2026: Why affiliate measurement must evolve beyond last-click

Patience Kibblewhite — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 10:29:56 +0000

On 1 July, the intent.ly team attended Partnerize Partnerships Day in London, where the conversations were varied and insightful but with one topic standing out: how AI is changing customer journeys and what that means for affiliate measurement.

Two expert panel sessions tackled perhaps the biggest challenge facing the industry right now: how do we continue to measure and reward partner influence when fewer customer journeys include a measurable click?

The architecture of the machine-mediated market: measuring, verifying, and rewarding zero-click influence

The first session was chaired by Maura Smith, CMO at Partnerize and explored how AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews are fundamentally changing the way consumers discover brands.

Maura was joined by Jeff Thompson, SVP Strategic Alliances at Partnerize and Eliott Lee from Profound to discuss how consumers are no longer simply searching the web – they’re “having a conversation with the internet.” Increasingly, AI engines are completing much of the research on behalf of the customer before they ever visit a brand’s website.

For affiliate marketers, this presents a significant measurement challenge.

“The last-click model is slowly disappearing… you can’t optimise or fund what you can’t see.”

When AI has already influenced a purchasing decision before a consumer reaches a retailer’s website, the journey often appears as direct or organic traffic, leaving publishers and partners who influenced the sale invisible within traditional attribution models.

The panel also highlighted the growing importance of rewarding publishers whose trusted content is increasingly being cited by AI models. Without new measurement and compensation frameworks, there is a real risk that the high-quality content feeding these AI experiences becomes unsustainable.

One of the strongest messages from the session was that affiliate marketing already has many of the relationships, infrastructure and commercial models needed to solve this problem – but measurement must evolve beyond clicks alone.

When influence becomes invisible, measurement and compensation must become infrastructure

The second panel was chaired by Aftab Aslam, Global VP Customer Solutions at Partnerize and brought together perspectives from an agency (Acquire), advertiser (Loveholidays) and publisher (The Independent) to discuss what this shift means in practice.

They all agreed that “Trust drives decision-making, not clicks. We’re measuring the wrong thing if we’re measuring clicks in isolation.”

That sentiment was echoed throughout the discussion, as the panel explained that AI hasn’t created a new measurement problem – it has simply exposed one that has existed for years.

Publishers like The Independent have always influenced customers well before the final click, but traditional attribution models have struggled to recognise that value. As Ed Hutchinson explained, trusted editorial content creates inspiration, consideration and confidence long before a conversion occurs.

The panel also highlighted that brands need to move towards more balanced compensation models, rewarding upper-funnel content and influence alongside traditional CPA activity, rather than relying solely on last-click attribution.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway was that measurement needs to become multi-dimensional, combining attribution with incrementality testing, Media Mix Modelling (MMM), impression data and emerging AI measurement frameworks.

As one speaker put it: “Budgets shouldn’t follow channels. They should follow outcomes.”

Ending the day on a high

After a day full of thought-provoking conversations about the future of partnerships and affiliate measurement, we were delighted to win Partnership of the Year alongside Dr. Barbara Sturm at the Partnerize Performance Awards!

A fantastic end to a day that reinforced one thing above all else: the future of affiliate marketing is about measuring performance more intelligently – and all this on the same day England won the football too!

Patience Kibblewhite

Patience is intent.ly’s marketing executive, with a passion for creative content marketing and social media strategies.

The post Partnerize Partnerships Day 2026: Why affiliate measurement must evolve beyond last-click appeared first on intent.ly.

Beyond blanket discounts: Five incentive campaigns that convert

Patience Kibblewhite — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 16:16:19 +0000

While offering discounts has traditionally been the go-to strategy for driving conversions, there is a hidden cost. This approach can damage margins and condition customers to only purchase when an offer is available.

As consumer behaviour shifts toward value-led decision-making, brands are increasingly seeking smarter ways to engage high-intent traffic without relying on price cuts. In this guide, we explore five incentive campaign alternatives to blanket discounting that deliver strong performance while maintaining brand value.

High-Performing Alternative Campaigns:

1. Gift With Purchase (GWP)

Popular with premium brands, GWP campaigns offer complimentary gifts to shoppers to incentivise a high-price purchase, often as a reward for spending more.

Adds perceived value without lowering price
Great for AOV growth + product discovery
Works well with thresholds (“Spend £X, unlock Y”)
Can be used to shift excess stock

2. Free Shipping Incentives

One of the most effective ways to reduce friction, free shipping incentives work as a final motivation for conversion and often encourage customers to increase their order value to qualify.

Removes a key barrier to purchase
Encourages higher AOV
Simple, effective & widely applicable

3. Product Bundling & Multi-Buy Offers (BOGOF)

Ideal for beauty, fashion, and DTC brands, product bundling encourages consumers to purchase more by grouping complementary items. By increasing perceived value rather than reducing price, this strategy boosts basket size while efficiently guiding purchase decisions.

Drives volume without traditional discounting
Can be framed as a reward rather than a reduction
Encourages bulk orders

4. Stretch & Save Campaigns

Stretch & save campaigns encourage shoppers to increase their basket value by unlocking incremental rewards at different spend thresholds, creating a clear motivation to spend a little more to gain more value.

Drives higher AOV
Creates a sense of progression & achievement
Encourages upselling without heavy discounting

5. Gift Card Reward Campaigns

A powerful loyalty tool, gift card reward campaigns drive repeat visits and loyalty. They provoke immediate spending by offering a future-value reward (e.g. “Spend £X, get £Y gift card”).

Boosts conversions with added future value
Encourages repeat purchases & customer retention
Protects margin by deferring the reward to a later purchase

Ultimately, sustainable growth requires a shift from deeper discounts to smarter incentives. By prioritising precision, brands can protect their bottom line while still meeting the high expectations of today’s shoppers. It’s time to convert with precision, not just price cuts.

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Learn more about the GWP strategy in our intent.ly insights webinar: Beyond the Discount – Incentive Campaigns that Convert.

Patience Kibblewhite

Patience is intent.ly’s marketing executive, with a passion for creative content marketing and social media strategies.

The post Beyond blanket discounts: Five incentive campaigns that convert appeared first on intent.ly.

The power of onsite segmentation

Katy Scott — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 15:35:53 +0000

Segmentation has become a fundamental part of modern digital marketing. Brands invest in understanding their audiences and dividing them into meaningful groups through CRM data, lifecycle marketing, and paid media targeting.

Users are routinely segmented according to factors such as demographics, purchase history, engagement levels, product interests and lifecycle stage. These insights allow marketers to deliver personalised messaging across channels.

Yet there is one critical place where this segmentation frequently disappears: the website itself.

Despite sophisticated off-site targeting, many brands still deliver a largely generic on-site experience where every visitor sees the same messaging regardless of how they arrived or the behaviour they display. This disconnect represents one of the most significant missed opportunities in conversion optimisation.

Why Segmentation Matters Even More On-Site

The opportunity lies in extending segmentation into the on-site journey, where purchase decisions actually take place.

By the time a shopper reaches your website, they are already demonstrating a higher level of intent than earlier in the funnel, having already clicked an ad, opened an email, or searched for a product.

At this stage, the signals available to marketers become even more powerful. Behavioural indicators such as time spent on page, product views, basket activity and exit intent help to build a clearer picture of where the user sits in their individual purchase journey.

Moving Beyond Static Segments

Most marketing teams already operate detailed segmentation frameworks across their wider marketing stack. For example, users might be categorised as:

New vs returning customers
High-value vs low-value customers
Category-specific audiences
Abandoned basket users
Lapsed customers

These segments typically shape how users are targeted through CRM campaigns and paid media with personalised messaging, long before they reach the website. However, once that user finally lands on- site, the experience often becomes generic.

This is where on-site behavioural targeting becomes powerful. By activating prompts, overlays or personalised messaging based on real-time behaviour, segmentation can continue throughout the browsing experience. The website becomes a continuation of the shopper journey, rather than a total reset.

While traditional segmentation focuses on who a user is, behavioural segmentation focuses on what they are doing in real time. These signals allow brands to move beyond static audience segments and respond to intent.

For example, someone who previously clicked a category promotion in a paid ad should see that promotion reinforced on-site. A returning user who abandoned their basket could be reminded of the items they were considering, or someone browsing multiple similar products might need recommendations or social proof to convert.

When messaging aligns with a visitor’s past interactions and their real-time behaviour, the journey feels more natural and intuitive.

Identifying High Intent Behavioural Signals

In practice, the segments that deliver the strongest impact on conversion are rarely broad demographic groups, but high-intent behavioural segments. For example:

Returning visitors who previously abandoned a purchase
Users who have added items to their basket but not checked out
Users comparing multiple products
Users revisiting specific categories

These audiences are already engaged and close to converting. In many cases they simply require a small prompt, reassurance or reminder to complete their purchase. These small behavioural interventions at the critical moment can significantly improve performance.

Targeting Key Moments to Reduce Friction

Segmentation becomes even more effective when it focuses on moments of friction within the customer journey. Different stages naturally require different messaging.

Someone at the early research stage may benefit from guidance towards relevant categories or product discovery support. Visitors comparing products might respond better to messaging that highlights product reviews, key differentiators or recommendations. At the basket stage, reinforcing value through delivery information, guarantees or urgency can help maintain momentum. During checkout, reassurance messaging can address hesitation and reduce abandonment.

Recognising these different stages allows marketers to intervene at the exact moment where hesitation occurs, rather than delivering the same message to every visitor regardless of intent.

Testing and Optimising Segments

The most effective segmentation strategies are refined over time based on behaviour and campaign performance, and A/B testing plays a critical role.

Through experimentation, teams can validate which segments respond best to different messaging, determine whether interventions drive genuine incremental conversions, and refine the creative used to engage different audiences.

Over time this testing process helps identify the segments most responsive to prompts, nudges or personalised messaging, allowing teams to scale what works and discard what doesn’t.

Segmentation at the Point of Conversion

Segmentation has long been recognised as a powerful marketing tactic, but brands often focus on the traffic acquisition stage. The next evolution is ensuring segmentation continues throughout the on-site experience.

When off-site targeting, CRM messaging and on-site behavioural triggers are aligned, the customer journey becomes significantly more cohesive. Visitors encounter messaging that reflects their previous interactions and their current behaviour, creating a smoother and more intuitive path to conversion.

For brands looking to maximise the value of their segmentation strategies, the opportunity is clear: extend segmentation to the point where purchase decisions are actually made.
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Curious about implementing segmentation tactics? Contact our team to learn more.

Katy Scott

Director of Client Success

intent.ly

The post The power of onsite segmentation appeared first on intent.ly.

Convert more customers this gifting season 2026

Patience Kibblewhite — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 13:21:57 +0000

Gifting season is where good onsite journeys prove their worth – bringing high intent traffic, but often with high abandonment and limited patience from busy shoppers. As we approach some of the most competitive and lucrative dates in the retail calendar, from Valentine’s Day to Mother’s Day*, let’s explore how to use strategic on-site placements to capture high-intent shoppers during this period.

In a recent report, Phoenix Strategy Group marks how the online retail landscape has shifted: “between 2023 and 2025, Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) jumped by 40-60%” for ecommerce brands. This makes a highly effective on site journey more valuable than ever, with over one-third of consumers planning to shop online for gifts leading up to Valentine’s Day.

Brands should aim to create personalised buyer journeys that improve the user experience. intent.ly tech can help elevate every gifting moment by showing smart, data-driven incentives to shoppers; ensuring the right offer reaches the right customer, exactly when it matters most.

Here are four ways to use intent.ly solutions to deliver strategic offers, protect vital margins, and engage the 70% of shoppers who typically abandon their carts.

1. Gamification to Engage & Delight

For seasonal events like Valentine’s Day and Easter, standing out is key. Gamified overlays such as spinning wheels or inviting users to “shoot Cupid’s arrow” to unlock a reward, create more meaningful and memorable connections with users. It’s not just style over substance; research indicates that “gamified campaigns can increase customer engagement by nearly 48%.” – Rhapsody Media. Interactive campaigns add a moment of fun to an otherwise monotonous or stressful shopping journey.

2. Boosting AOV with Upsells & Gifts

Gifting season is the perfect time to recommend complementary products. Hotel Chocolat successfully boosted their Average Order Value (AOV) by implementing an overlay targeting users with basket values under £30, resulting in a 24% conversion rate and a 77% uplift in unit sales of their new alcohol product.

Alternatively, consider an In-page Gift With Purchase campaign. By using a dynamic progress bar to show how close a user is to a spend threshold, you can increase AOV while reducing cart abandonment. Gift With Purchase campaigns are a great way to reward shoppers for increasing spend, without discounting.

3. Preventing Cart Abandonment & Coupon Friction

High cart abandonment remains a major challenge, especially when savvy users leave to look for a discount code. Our Couponlytics data shows that 52% of code attempts are invalid, and only a fraction of those frustrated shoppers will ultimately convert.

By using real-time triggers such as exit intent or dwell time, you can surface the right offers at crucial moments to nudge hesitant buyers toward completion. Control your triggers based on basket value or user behaviour to ensure you are protecting your margins while providing value. For example, prompt high-intent users by triggering a discount campaign on exit intent, only at the checkout page.

Personalised email remarketing campaigns help close the loop by reminding shoppers to return and complete their purchase later too.

4. Driving Urgency with Countdown Timers

To motivate shoppers during a sale period, use countdown timers to create a sense of finality and add time pressure to an expiring offer. When implemented strategically, countdown timers are proven to increase conversions by 10-30%, GrowthSuite.

For an even stronger nudge, use a declining offer – where the discount dynamically decreases by 1% every hour – to generate urgency and encourage action. THG brand, Grow Gorgeous, used this intent.ly strategy to achieve a 34% increase in CVR and their highest number of sales in a single day.

Most successful gifting campaigns aren’t built at the last minute. They’re planned, tested, and optimised well ahead of peak traffic. Ready to dive deeper into these strategies? Contact us to start preparing your next high-performing campaign today.

*In the UK, Mother’s Day will be celebrated on Sunday 15th March 2026. Many other countries celebrate on the second Sunday in May (May 10th 2026) including the U.S., Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, most of Europe, New Zealand and South Africa.

Patience Kibblewhite

Patience is intent.ly’s marketing executive, with a passion for creative content marketing and social media strategies.

The post Convert more customers this gifting season 2026 appeared first on intent.ly.

Building a promo codes strategy that converts and protects margins

Patience Kibblewhite — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 16:08:12 +0000

Promo codes are powerful conversion tools, but without a clear strategy they can quickly eat into profitability. The most effective retailers design campaigns that are not only goal-driven but also responsive to shopper behaviour – ensuring incentives are purposeful, targeted, and margin-conscious.

Read on to learn the top-tips to perfect your strategy in preparation for peak season.

1. Set Clear Objectives
Your promo code strategy should align with your goals, to avoid over-discounting that erodes margins or under-discounting that stifles conversions. For example:

For volume growth: Use broader, higher-value discounts to attract a large customer base.
For customer acquisition: Focus on first-time customer offers, perhaps with a minimum spend threshold.
For profitability: Implement tiered discounts, product-specific offers, or minimum purchase requirements to maintain healthy margins.

2. Leverage Intent Signals For Personalisation
Utilise behavioural cues such as idle browsing, high basket value, repeat visits, exit intent, or scroll depth, to reveal whether a shopper is ready to buy, hesitating, or just browsing. This approach – central to intent.ly’s technology – allows you to trigger the right type of incentive at the right moment, and only if necessary to convert.

High-intent shoppers: Offer a small nudge (free delivery, low-value incentive) to close the sale.
Low-intent shoppers: Use a larger, time-bound discount to create urgency and pull them over the line.
Returning customers: Reward with exclusive loyalty-based codes instead of generic discounts, reinforcing long-term value.

3. A/B Test Promo Delivery
To optimise both conversions and profitability, test not only what you offer but how and when you offer it.

Showing vs. hiding codes: Does surfacing codes early increase engagement, or is it more effective to reveal them later in the journey?
Timing of overlays: Compare triggers such as exit intent, inactivity, or basket thresholds to see where they drive the best results.
Audience splits: Run controlled experiments with different segments (new vs. returning customers, mobile vs. desktop) to refine your targeting.

This data-driven approach ensures you’re not relying on assumptions – but on measurable outcomes. Learn more about effective A/B testing.

4. Align Promo Codes Across Channels
Promo codes shouldn’t sit in isolation. For maximum impact, they need to work seamlessly with your affiliate marketing channels, email campaigns, paid media, CRM, and other onsite activity. Aligning incentives across channels avoids confusion, minimises discount leakage, and gives customers a consistent experience.

Using bespoke, trackable codes for top partners, you can measure true ROI, strengthen affiliate relationships, and ensure every discount serves a clear purpose in your overall strategy – especially during Black Friday.

To learn more about how to unlock the psychology, tactics, and tools behind
high-performing promo code strategies this peak season, download our free eBook.

Couponlytics, intent.ly’s promo code insights platform, gives retailers full visibility and control over all discount activity to track performance, fix invalid codes in real time, and measure true revenue impact. By turning promo data into actionable insights, it helps brands reduce cart abandonment, optimise budgets, and strengthen top-performing partners – turning discounts into a driver of growth. Book a demo and personalised code performance audit at intent.ly/contact.

Patience Kibblewhite

Patience is intent.ly’s marketing executive, with a passion for creative content marketing and social media strategies.

The post Building a promo codes strategy that converts and protects margins appeared first on intent.ly.

Affiliate marketing: 12 months into the AI crystal ball

Ceej Johnson — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 13:22:29 +0000

It has been a while since I’ve shared some musings from the Affiliate ecosystem. Whilst I can’t claim to be the all-encompassing artificial intelligence source of knowledge for said Affiliate market, there have been some clear noises made during recent travels and conversations that I do think need addressing. Let’s begin with a recent trip across the pond…

Affiliate Summit East. Bright lights, loud rooms, lots of calls for traffic and wide-ranging company merch (IYKYK). Amongst the noise, one theme cut through: AI. Not whether it’s coming, that ship’s long since sailed, but what it’s actually going to do to the affiliate market over the next year.

At the moment it feels like AI has arrived at the party, found the drinks cabinet, and is now standing in the corner chatting up everyone’s best clients. Brands are fascinated by it, want to be doing more with it, but seemingly don’t have the in-house talent or speed to develop much themselves. So what happens next?

AI’s role in search is exploding. Between January and May 2025, referral traffic from AI-generated answers grew by over 500% across a sample of sites. That’s not a gentle uptick; it’s proof that consumers are increasingly happy to let a machine do their Googling for them and in many cases, stop right there without ever clicking through.

Which brings us neatly to the big, ugly question: what happens when AI isn’t just pointing people to affiliates, but effectively is the affiliate? If an AI tool can recommend a hotel, a pair of trainers, or a SaaS platform with an affiliate link neatly tucked in, does it start competing with the very partners who’ve historically driven that traffic?

That’s the existential debate. Search affiliates, coupon sites and non-social content partners rely heavily on traditional search. And now, that search behaviour is being hijacked by AI overview boxes, zero-click results, and chat interfaces. To make it worse, nearly 60% of searches already end without a click. AI isn’t building you a funnel; it’s becoming the whole conveyor belt.

Calm down Ceej, I hear you saying. Let’s not panic just yet. Studies show that only a small fraction of AI answers are (currently) genuinely transactional. Most are still top-funnel snippets: quick definitions, instant answers, the sort of info that ends the session there and then. That means high-intent commercial content such as comparison pages, reviews and voucher codes (for example) still have a role. In fact, it’s often the very content AI cites when it does provide a source. So if you’re building for both humans and machines to pick up, you’re not out of the game.

Of course, there’s a catch. Being cited in AI answers doesn’t guarantee traffic. The challenge for affiliates is to create content strong enough that, when AI does scrape it, users still want to click through. That’s the new arms race: “Generative Engine Optimisation” or GEO if, like me, you’re collecting new buzzwords to confuse your friends and family who still don’t know what you do for a living, even more.

Comparison sites in particular will need to rethink. Will AI summarise your carefully-crafted Top 10 broadband deals page into a neat three-sentence box and leave you nothing but tumbleweed? Possibly. But if your data is solid and your page offers a reason to engage (interactive tools, live pricing, exclusive offers etc) then you’ve got a fighting chance.

And let’s not forget the other conversation still humming in the background: regulation. Last year it was data. This year it’s AI. Spoiler alert next year it’ll probably be data and AI, wrapped up in a compliance bow no one asked for. Tracking, consent, attribution models – they’re not going anywhere, and they’ll continue to shape what “performance” even means.

So, where will we be in 12 months?

Here’s my take from all our discussions at ASE and in recent months:

AI won’t replace affiliates entirely. It will chip away at the easy wins, but the performance model is resilient. Affiliate marketing has survived cookies crumbling, browsers sulking, and regulators sharpening their pencils. It will likely survive this too.

Traffic will shift. Expect fewer casual clicks and more filtered, higher-intent visits. That’s not necessarily bad news – it might even improve conversion rates.

Winners will adapt. Affiliates who treat AI as another distribution channel by optimising to be cited and building content that’s AI-friendly will continue to grow. The ones who bury their heads in the sand will end up writing LinkedIn posts about “the good old days of SEO.”

Brands will lean harder on partners. If AI innovation isn’t happening in-house, they’ll want affiliates and tech partners to fill the gap. That opens the door for anyone offering tools, integrations, and smarter tracking. (Yes I work at a tech partner business and it’s a shameless plug – but it’s a true and relevant statement).

So should you be worried? Only if you think doing nothing is a strategy. The affiliate market a year from now won’t look unrecognisable, but the centre of gravity I can see will have shifted. More AI in the mix, fewer lazy clicks and tougher competition for space in those AI-generated answers.

The trick will be treating AI as an amplifier, not an enemy. Work out how to be visible, how to be the source of truth, and how to add value beyond what a one-liner summary can deliver. Do that, and in 12 month’s time you can still be cashing in commissions even if the funnel looks a little different.

OpenAI to be 2026’s Super Affiliate? WDYT?

Ceej Johnson

Chris ‘Ceej’ Johnson is CMO at intent.ly. With over 15 years’ experience in digital, affiliate and performance marketing, he has a passion for all things consumer behaviour and innovative advertising.

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How to set up effective A/B tests for overlays

Patience Kibblewhite — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 11:08:57 +0000

Data-driven testing unlocks valuable insights, enabling you to optimise conversion rates, engagement, and revenue. But where do you start?!

With over a decade of experience in affiliate marketing, we know a thing or two about what makes an A/B test truly effective. Here’s a sneak peek into our brand new eBook: The Ultimate Guide to A/B Testing to Boost Conversion Rates.

Let’s take it back to basics. Read on for a snippet of our chapter on Setting Up A/B Tests, where we break down the fundamentals to help get you started.

Identify Your Testing Objectives

Before launching an A/B test, define what success looks like. Common goals include:

Engagement or Click-Through Rate (CTR): Are users clicking the CTA button or interacting with the overlay, or do they dismiss it immediately?
Conversions: Does the overlay lead to more sign-ups, purchases, or other desired actions?
Average Order Value (AOV): Does the overlay influence users to spend more per transaction?

Having a clear objective ensures you focus on meaningful improvements rather than
just making random changes.

Choose Variables to Test

Once you know your goal, determine which elements of the overlay to test. Consider:

Design: Colours, fonts, images, and animations can all influence user behaviour.
Messaging: Headlines, body text, and CTA wording should align with goals and user intent.
Placement & timing: Overlays could appear instantly, after a delay, or when a user is about to exit.
Incentives: Discounts, free shipping, or exclusive content – different offers will likely
drive different results.

It’s important to test just one variable at a time to pinpoint what truly affects performance.

Follow Best Practices for Controlled Testing

To ensure accurate and truly meaningful results, follow these A/B testing golden rules:

Define what “success” looks like: Be clear about your goals. Are you trying to improve conversion rate, boost click-throughs, or increase revenue per visitor? Set a minimum effect size – the smallest change that would still make a difference to your business.
Keep test groups equal: Make sure your site visitors are randomly and evenly split between your original version and the test version. This helps avoid bias and ensures your results aren’t skewed by one group.
Make sure results are representative: Make sure your sample size is large enough and your audience is reflective of your real users. And remember to test across different devices and times of day to get the full picture.
Run the test long enough: We know it’s tempting to peek early and declare a winner – but patience pays off. Your test needs time to collect enough data to be meaningful. Ending a test too soon can lead to misleading results that won’t hold up over time.
Test, learn, improve: Every test – whether it’s a win, a loss, or a draw – teaches you something. Document your findings, reflect on what you’ve learned, and use that insight to improve future designs, strategies and tests.

Think of A/B testing as a continuous cycle: test, tweak, repeat. Each round gets you closer to a desired experience that feels seamless and works like magic!

For more advice on testing, how to measure and interpret results, optimising and scaling for success, as well as plenty of real life examples to inspire you, download our free eBook.

Back to journal to read more

Patience Kibblewhite

Patience is intent.ly’s marketing executive, with a passion for creative content marketing and social media strategies.

The post How to set up effective A/B tests for overlays appeared first on intent.ly.

Lily Ray at Awin Global ThinkTank: SEO is dead, long live SEO

Amy Jordan — Tue, 27 May 2025 15:15:31 +0000

If you thought SEO was just a quiet backroom discipline where nerds fiddle with metadata and whisper sweet nothings to Google’s algorithms, think again. Lily Ray – SEO expert by day, DJ and drummer by night – opened day two of Awin Global ThinkTank last week with her eye-opening predictions in light of Google’s recent unveiling of AI Mode.

Buckle up, my digital comrades. This ride gets bumpy.

The cycle of SEO doom (and gloom)

Ray kicked things off with a look back, and she’s seen every trick in the SEO book over her 15-year career: from keyword-stuffing and doorway pages to shady link-building tactics. She cleverly dubbed this predictable boom-and-bust loop the “SEO Goldrush” – a cycle in which clever SEOs find a new trick, share it at conferences like this, everyone copies it, Google notices, punishes it, and the whole thing begins anew.

The spam that ate the internet

Ray didn’t mince words when discussing what Google really thinks of SEO. Spoiler alert: it’s not always flattering. From spam updates to the famously brutal Helpful Content Update, Google has been in an all-out war against what it calls “content written for search engines.” That means thin affiliate pages, AI-generated fluff, and those dreaded “Best Running Shoes for Hamsters” lists that clutter SERPs.

If your strategy involved churning out 300 AI-powered articles about angel numbers and riddles, congrats – you’re probably already in Google’s sin bin.

Parasite SEO and the coupon catastrophe

In what might be the most gothic chapter of the modern SEO saga, Ray unpacked the phenomenon of “Parasite SEO.” We’re talking about high-authority publishers renting out their reputations to guest posters and promo code suppliers – most of it driven by third-party affiliate partnerships. The result? A wave of coupon content and product reviews that were neither transparent nor user-focused.

Google’s response? Swift and merciless. Entire swaths of content were de-indexed overnight, leaving many affiliate marketers holding nothing but broken links and broken dreams.

AI Mode and the rise of the machines

Then Ray dropped the mic on Google’s latest rollouts: AI Overviews and AI Mode. These new features are designed to keep users on Google by summarising top results into a neat AI-generated blob of information – meaning fewer clicks for publishers, and potentially the slow death of organic traffic.

The future of search might not even involve websites at all, since AI Mode results are more likely to link back to Google Business Profiles or other search results rather than your homepage.

So, what’s a marketer to do?

Despite the doomscroll-worthy vibe, Ray’s message wasn’t all despair. She pointed to bright spots – brands like TripAdvisor and product review pages that survived the purge by showcasing real-life testing and reviews of products. So her prescription? Go human or go home.

Optimise for AI summarisation, not just keywords: Structure content with clear, concise answers to common questions, and use headings like “Pros & Cons,” or “What to Know Before Buying”.
Invest in original research: Surveys, proprietary data, and genuine experience are gold.
Publish real product experiences: Especially important for affiliate and review content, include original photography, video reviews, and first-person narratives.
Get visual and social: Use YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit and podcasts, and publish transcriptions. Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT eat this stuff up.
Think multimodal: Repurpose content across video, Q&A, social posts, and infographics. Control your narrative and keep content consistent and up to date everywhere.
Think in “snackable citations”: Pull key ideas from long-form assets into tweet threads, carousels, and short clips that can be individually embedded and referenced.
Build and maintain authoritative author profiles with online footprints: LLMs tend to trust and cite people, not just brands.
Measure visibility in LLMs: Tools like Profound and ZipTie.dev can show how often you’re cited, and the sentiment around it.

By adapting your strategy to how AI models ingest and output information, you’re not just playing the new SEO game – you’re helping write the rules.

The verdict

Ray’s keynote was a whirlwind tour through the tectonic shifts rattling the SEO industry. Her tone? Sassy, savvy, and at times sentimental. “Focus on the things search engines can’t take away from us,” she urged. Like actual expertise, meaningful content, and authenticity.

Follow Ray on LinkedIn for more takes and advice to get ahead of these seismic SEO shifts.

(We also really enjoyed her DJ set at the Bon Voyage Beach Party that evening!)

More from Awin Global ThinkTank 2025:

Dr Karen Nelson-Field: Marketers need to stop counting eyeballs and start earning them

Scott Galloway at Awin Global ThinkTank 2025: Vulgar, vital, and very much on point

Rory Sutherland at Awin Global ThinkTank: A mind-bending closing keynote on psychology, perception, and peculiar bees

Amy Jordan

Amy is intent.ly’s marketing manager, and she has 15 years’ experience working in marketing for global events and technology.

The post Lily Ray at Awin Global ThinkTank: SEO is dead, long live SEO appeared first on intent.ly.

Dr Karen Nelson-Field at Awin Global ThinkTank 2025: Marketers need to stop counting eyeballs and start earning them

Amy Jordan — Wed, 21 May 2025 14:02:12 +0000

Dr Karen Nelson-Field closed the first day of Awin Global ThinkTank (apparently after enjoying four Portuguese custard tarts – being from Australia, she doesn’t get to Portugal often!). She walked on stage armed with a fresh book manuscript, and a righteous mission to save marketing and media measurement from itself.

Attention, please (no, really, please.)

Karen’s central thesis was crystal clear: time in view is not attention. And yet, most digital ad metrics are based on the former while pretending to measure the latter. “You think you’re buying eyeballs,” she quipped, “but what you’re really getting is a magic trick – and not a very good one.”

Cue the magician metaphor that anchored the whole session: marketers and magicians have the same job – to control attention and shape perception – but marketers are playing on a stage that’s noisy, unpredictable and under constant attack from toddlers, TikTok, and WhatsApp notifications.

Your stage is a scroll

Her point? Magicians work on stages. You work on screens. And on screens, people scroll. Fast. So fast, in fact, that Karen’s research showed most digital ads get less than 1.5 seconds of actual human attention – if you’re lucky. Some formats fare even worse. Research shows that we scroll a huge 1,121% faster on the web than on TikTok – and you know we all scroll fast on TikTok…

She likened our current metrics obsession – time in view, impressions, duration – as an industrial-scale sleight of hand. We’re measuring “ads served” and pretending they mean “ads seen.” But in truth, 75% of non-fraudulent impressions get zero actual human engagement. That’s not brand exposure. That’s digital tumbleweed.

The branding magician’s toolkit

So, how do we escape the illusion? Karen handed marketers a wand – or at least a cheat sheet:

Brand early and often: If your logo doesn’t show up until second five, chances are your audience already swiped to a dog doing backflips.
Use distinctive assets: Think meerkats, golden arches, the M&M crew. Your brand should be recognisable in 1.5 seconds or less.
Leverage emotion: A well-placed laugh, tear, or “aww” moment helps ads stick in the memory (but only if they remember who it was from).
Don’t rely on creative alone: Even award-winning ads can underperform if the platform they run on doesn’t give them enough airtime to breathe.
And her most brutal insight? Great creative still drowns in a bad media buy. If your ad performs beautifully on YouTube but tanks on TikTok, it’s not your team – it’s the platform. Attention is platform-dependent, not just content-driven.

Performance marketing, you’re not off the hook

And for those smug performance marketers hiding in the back? Karen had receipts. She warned that ignoring attention means leaving money on the table – that real attention doesn’t just boost brand lift, it drives cheaper clicks, stronger ROI, and better long-term performance. It’s not just a branding problem. It’s your problem too.

Final thoughts: pay attention to attention

Dr Karen Nelson-Field’s talk was less of a keynote and more of a public service announcement. A nerdy, no-nonsense takedown of everything broken in ad measurement – served with a smile and a sugar crash.

Her final message? “Magicians master where the audience looks. That’s your job now.” In an age of scrolling, swiping, and skipping, attention isn’t a given – it’s earned. And if you’re not earning it, you’re paying for the illusion of impact while your competitors cash in on reality.

More from Awin Global ThinkTank 2025:

Scott Galloway: Vulgar, vital, and very much on point

Lily Ray at Awin Global ThinkTank: SEO is dead, long live SEO

Rory Sutherland at Awin Global ThinkTank: A mind-bending closing keynote on psychology, perception, and peculiar bees

Amy Jordan

Amy is intent.ly’s marketing manager, and she has 15 years’ experience working in marketing for global events and technology.

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Surviving the privacy apocalypse: Key takeaways from ASW’s slightly terrifying keynote

Ceej Johnson — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:22 +0000

Another year, another Affiliate Summit West, where a global industry entourage descends upon Vegas to discuss the future of affiliate and performance marketing alongside, naturally, to see how long we can survive on nothing but coffee, networking and Vegas-priced cocktails. This year’s keynote was a sobering reminder that, much like my ill-advised blackjack strategy, tracking and attribution in affiliate marketing are under serious threat.

After a hyped-up, on-stage DJ attempted (and despite best efforts in my opinion, failed) to rally the morning troops from their jet-lag / late-night slumber / morning “Vegas” mood, Steve Brown, CEO at Moonpull was joined on stage by Santi Pierini, CEO at CJ, David Lloyd, Chief Customer Officer at Awin and Garth Harris, General Manager at CAKE, to discuss the ongoing impact of privacy regulations, the crumbling effectiveness of tracking, and how we, as an industry, can pivot before we all collectively crash into a compliance-shaped brick wall.

Here’s what went down – and why it matters.

1. Privacy regulations: digital marketing’s favourite nightmare

If you thought GDPR was just an annoying consent modal that users blindly accept, think again. Between Europe’s stringent data protection rules and the patchwork of US state regulations (CCPA, CPRA, VCDPA – you get the idea), marketers are facing stricter enforcement. Consent is king, and if your tracking strategy doesn’t align with new regulations, your legal team might start twitching uncontrollably.

2. The great traffic disappearance act

According to the panel, up to 50% of traffic (30% in the US, 50% in Europe) can be affected, depending on the consent mechanisms deployed. With browsers tightening privacy restrictions and ad-blockers on the rise, businesses are struggling to attribute revenue accurately. The message from the panel? Adapt or risk losing measurement entirely – leading to revenue loss, inaccurate attribution, and some very awkward performance reports.

3. Consent: no longer just a checkbox

The days of the default opt-in are over. Now, users need to actively say, “Yes, please track me” which, let’s be honest, most won’t. That means brands have to work harder to build trust and offer value in exchange for data. The key takeaway? Transparency isn’t optional – it’s survival.

4. EU vs. US: who’s got it worse?

The short answer? Everyone. The EU’s GDPR is ruthlessly strict but at least consistent. Meanwhile, the US has a ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ approach to privacy laws, with different rules for different states, however the CCPA is generally seen as the ‘starting point’ for said adventures. The panel references the teams of people they’ve had to hire and departments they’ve had to create in order to deal with data compliance.

5. Affiliate marketing’s identity crisis

Without reliable tracking, how do we prove conversions? If no one gets credit for the sale, does the sale even exist? The industry is scrambling; refining tracking models to ensure sales are accurately credited, preventing lost revenue and maintaining confidence in performance marketing.

6. The first-party data land grab

With third-party cookies crumbling like my post-conference stamina, brands are racing to collect first-party data. The catch? Users are getting stingier with their personal info, so incentives need to be smarter. No, a 5% discount won’t cut the mustard – start thinking of VIP access, exclusive content, and rewards worth remembering.

7. AI: the rebel tool against the tracking crackdown?

There was growing chatter during the panel that AI and probabilistic tracking might be the industry’s secret weapon against the tightening of tracking capabilities. With traditional methods becoming increasingly restricted, AI-driven models and data science could offer ways to maintain attribution accuracy without breaking privacy laws. While some see AI as another overhyped buzzword, others believe it could be the key to keeping performance marketing measurable and profitable in a post-cookie world.

8. Industry unity: a rare but necessary concept

The panel stressed that tackling privacy challenges isn’t a solo mission. Ad networks, publishers, brands – everyone needs to work together. That means lobbying for fairer regulations, sharing best practices, and maybe even agreeing on some universal tracking standards (gasp).
There was a shout out at this point towards the significant work that Kevin Edwards has been putting in since founding the Affiliate & Partner Marketing Association (shameless plug – intent.ly is a founding member), unifying industry stakeholders in order to lobby with regulators and showcase the value that the affiliate and performance market drives.

9. eCommerce woes: conversions in crisis

Brands are feeling the sting, with conversion rates slipping thanks to tracking limitations. Without personalised targeting and retargeting, customers are slipping through the cracks, taking their wallets with them. Marketers need smarter, privacy-safe strategies to keep shoppers engaged.

10. Fines: the scary bit

Ignore privacy laws at your peril – regulators are handing out fines like conference swag. The stakes are high, with penalties reaching (unbeknownst to me) up to $7,500 per single violation in the US. In other words, make sure your legal team isn’t spending too much time at the ASW happy hours.

What next? 5 actionable steps for survival

So, what’s the playbook for the affiliate and performance marketing industry, and for those within that who are tasked with navigating this chaos?

1. Invest in first-party data
If you’re still relying on third-party cookies, stop. Build your own data strategy, find ways of rewarding and incentivising users to share information, and nurture those direct relationships.

2. Adapt your attribution models
Experiment with probabilistic attribution, AI-driven models, and new tracking solutions to bridge the tracking gaps. As an example – more info on Awin’s new conversion protection initiative (CPI) here.

3. Work with regulators, not against them
The industry needs to stop treating privacy laws as an enemy and start collaborating with policymakers to create practical solutions that work for everyone.

4. Educate customers on data transparency
Users aren’t anti-tracking; they’re anti-creepy-tracking. Be clear about what data you collect and how it benefits them, and you might just win them over.

5. Collaborate as an industry
Brands, publishers, and networks need to work together to create new standards, share data responsibly, and ensure performance marketing doesn’t become a relic of the past.

Final thoughts: no one’s safe, but we must adapt

Let’s be honest – tracking and data protection aren’t exactly the sexiest topics, especially not at 10am in Vegas when half the room is still clutching an espresso like a life raft. But credit where it’s due – this session was well-moderated, engaging, and genuinely insightful. Turns out, discussing the slow demise of traditional tracking can actually be interesting… provided you throw in a bit of existential dread and a lot of caffeine.

The days of frictionless tracking and free-flowing data are gone, but affiliate and performance marketing isn’t dead – far from it. If we innovate, adapt, lobby and maybe say a small prayer to the compliance gods, we can turn privacy challenges into opportunities.

Ceej Johnson

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How to use overlays for upselling and cross-selling

Amy Jordan — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 09:47:31 +0000

Website overlays can be powerful tools for increasing average order value (AOVs) through upselling and cross-selling. When implemented strategically, they can enhance the customer experience while boosting your bottom line.

Here’s how to effectively use overlays for these purposes:

1. Timing is crucial: Present upsell or cross-sell overlays at the right moment in the shopper journey. For example, show them after they add an item to their cart or during the checkout process.

2. Relevance is key: Ensure the products you’re suggesting are complementary, or closely related to the shopper’s current selection or browsing history. Use data analytics to inform your recommendations.

3. Highlight the value: Clearly communicate the benefits of the additional spend. This could be to qualify for free shipping, to make a saving on a bundle package, or offer enhanced functionality.

4. Use social proof: Incorporate customer reviews or ratings for the suggested products to build trust and encourage purchase.

5. Personalise recommendations: Utilise customer data to tailor suggestions based on past purchases or browsing behaviour.

6. Create urgency: Use limited-time offers, countdown timers or low-stock notifications to prompt quicker decision-making.

7. Keep it simple: Don’t overwhelm customers with too many options. Stick to one or two highly relevant suggestions, at the right time in their journey.

8. Offer bundle deals: Create attractive packages that combine the original product with complementary items at a discounted price.

9. Test and optimise: Continuously A/B test different overlay designs, copy, timing and offers to improve performance.

10. Consider post-purchase overlays: Use thank you page overlays to suggest additional items or accessories for the item just bought.

By following these strategies, you can create overlay experiences that not only drive additional sales but also enhance the overall shopping experience for your customers. Remember, the goal is to provide value and convenience, not to push unwanted products. When done right, upselling and cross-selling overlays can significantly boost your average order value while maintaining customer satisfaction.

Whether your goal is to increase sales, boost AOVs, acquire new customers, manage inventory, or all of the above, our intelligent technology and technicians (including CRO experts and designers) can help you achieve them – book a demo to or download our case studies to learn more.

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Amy Jordan

Amy is intent.ly’s marketing manager, and she has 15 years’ experience working in marketing for global events and technology.

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How to create non-intrusive overlays that convert

Amy Jordan — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 15:54:19 +0000

Overlays can be powerful conversion tools when they seamlessly enhance the shopper journey – the key to success lies in creating non-intrusive overlays that engage users without disrupting their browsing experience.

Here are 10 tips to drive optimal results:

1. Timing is everything: Avoid bombarding visitors with overlays the moment they land on your site. Instead, use time-delayed triggers or wait until users have engaged with your content. Exit-intent overlays can be particularly effective, appearing only when a user is about to leave.

2. Relevance is crucial: Ensure your overlay content is highly relevant to the page the user is viewing or their browsing history. Personalised, context-aware overlays are more likely to be perceived as helpful rather than intrusive, and drive the desired result.

3. Easy dismissal: Always provide a clear, easily accessible way to close the overlay. Avoid using deceptive or guilt-inducing language for the close option. Respect the user’s choice to opt out.

4. Mobile optimisation: On mobile devices, screen real estate is limited. Design overlays that are easy to read and interact with on smaller screens, and consider using less intrusive formats like bottom banners.

5. Frequency capping: Limit how often a user sees your overlays. Implement a system that remembers when a user has dismissed an overlay and doesn’t show it again for a set period.

6. Seamless design: Create overlays that complement your site’s design and wider marketing campaigns rather than clash with them. A cohesive look feels less disruptive to the user experience.

7. Consider size and positioning: Overlays shouldn’t take up too much screen space or distract from the main content. Play around with the size and shapes of overlays to maximise engagement. They don’t have to be front and centre – consider side or bottom banners, or animations to capture attention.

8. Value-first approach: Offer something of genuine value in your overlay, such as a discount code or other incentive like free shipping. The message could also remind them how to qualify for these offers, such as spend x amount to unlock the incentive. When users perceive benefit, they’re less likely to feel intruded upon.

9. Performance optimisation: Ensure your overlays load quickly and don’t slow down your site. Sluggish overlays can frustrate users and negatively impact their browsing experience. Clear CTAs will keep users on the desired shopper journey.

10. Continuous testing: Regularly A/B test different aspects of your overlays as outlined above, including timing, design, and messaging. Use the data to refine your approach and find the sweet spot between conversion and user experience.

By following these guidelines, you can create overlays that effectively convert without alienating your audience. Remember, the goal is to enhance the user experience, not hinder it. When done right, non-intrusive overlays can be a powerful tool in your conversion optimisation arsenal.

intent.ly’s team of CRO experts, designers and intelligent tech tools make all of this easier than ever – book a demo today to see how we can help your brand convert more traffic.

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Amy Jordan

Amy is intent.ly’s marketing manager, and she has 15 years’ experience working in marketing for global events and technology.

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PRESS RELEASE: intent.ly announces game-changing global integration with CJ’s Universal Tag

Amy Jordan — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 08:41:01 +0000

intent.ly announces game-changing global integration with CJ’s Universal Tag, providing agile, performance-based conversion solutions for CJ clients

London, UK – 3 October 2024

intent.ly, the performance-based conversion optimisation platform, is excited to announce its strategic integration with the CJ Universal Tag, a breakthrough development designed to simplify and accelerate technology enablement for brands across CJ’s global network.

This seamless integration eliminates the need for brands to implement complex technical solutions, allowing them to benefit from intent.ly’s cutting-edge conversion technology with ease. By leveraging the CJ Universal Tag, CJ clients can now integrate intent.ly’s platform in record time, giving brands faster access to intent.ly’s high-impact, conversion-driven insights and solutions.

Key benefits of the integration include:

Ease of Implementation: With the CJ Universal Tag, clients can integrate intent.ly’s services without a complicated technical setup, dramatically reducing the time, effort and internal exchanges normally associated with onsite technology partners.
Enhanced Performance: Brands can quickly activate intent.ly’s technology to optimise conversion rates, boost engagement, improve customer experiences, and drive higher ROI across their conversion optimisation efforts.
Speed of Deployment: The rapid integration process allows more CJ clients to access intent.ly’s services more seamlessly, unlocking faster revenue growth than any other affiliate partner.

“As a technology partner operating within the affiliate space, strategic partnerships are key to our success,” said Ennis Al-Saiegh, CEO at intent.ly. “By integrating with CJ’s Universal Tag, we are removing barriers and helping CJ clients tap into low-risk, performance-based conversion solutions faster than ever before, complete with global reach.”

“Like CJ, we’re committed to driving value for brands and optimising experiences for consumers, and our innovative tech solutions will continue to evolve to meet their needs.”

This powerful partnership underscores the importance of collaboration with strategic technology providers in driving performance-based partnerships forward. With the intent.ly and CJ Universal Tag integration, brands can now scale and optimise their campaigns with unmatched speed and precision.

Linda O’Connell, Senior Vice President, CJ UK & Ireland commented: “We’re excited to strengthen our partnership with intent.ly through their integration to our CJ Universal Tag. This collaboration allows CJ clients to effortlessly implement intent.ly’s cutting-edge conversion optimisation solutions without the need for any extra development work. This integration reflects our dedication to simplifying technology enablement for our clients while driving stronger conversion rates and better customer experiences.”

CJ brands looking to enable intent.ly via the Universal Tag can do so through their Advertiser Account in Salesforce. Set up instructions can be found here.

— ENDS —-

About intent.ly:

intent.ly is an award-winning shopper journey optimisation platform empowering online retailers to engage and convert shoppers. Personalised engagement tools – website overlays, email remarketing and voucher code analytics – enable brands to achieve a wide range of ecommerce KPIs.

Media contact:
Amy Jordan
Marketing Manager
amy.jordan@intent.ly

About CJ Affiliate:

CJ Affiliate is the world’s leading affiliate marketing network, providing best-in-class solutions to optimise and grow brand partnerships.

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Amy Jordan

Amy is intent.ly’s marketing manager, and she has 15 years’ experience working in marketing for global events and technology.

The post PRESS RELEASE: intent.ly announces game-changing global integration with CJ’s Universal Tag appeared first on intent.ly.

The psychology behind effective overlay design

Amy Jordan — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 13:11:38 +0000

Effective overlay design goes beyond aesthetics; it taps into the core principles of human psychology to capture attention, engage users, and drive desired actions. Understanding these psychological triggers can significantly enhance the impact of your website overlays.

Visual hierarchy: The human brain processes visual information in a specific order. Effective overlays use size, colour, and positioning to guide the user’s eye to the most critical elements first. Large, bold headlines grab attention, while strategically placed call-to-action buttons direct user flow.

Colour psychology: Colours evoke emotions and associations. For example, red can create urgency, blue instils trust, and green often signifies growth or financial themes. Choosing colours that align with your message and brand can subconsciously influence user perception and behaviour.

Scarcity and urgency: People are motivated by the fear of missing out (FOMO). Overlays that highlight limited-time offers or dwindling stock tap into this psychology, encouraging quick decision-making and action.

Social proof: Humans are inherently social creatures who look to others for guidance. Incorporating elements like user reviews, testimonials, or usage statistics in overlays can boost credibility and encourage action through social validation.

Reciprocity: When users receive something of value (like free content or a discount), they feel compelled to reciprocate. Overlays offering genuine value before asking for something in return can be highly effective.

Choice architecture: Too many options can lead to decision paralysis. Effective overlays present clear, limited choices to guide users towards a desired action without overwhelming them.

Pattern-interrupts: The human brain is wired to notice changes in its environment. Overlays that appear at unexpected moments (such as when a shopper is showing exit-intent) capitalise on this, grabbing attention when users might otherwise disengage.

Cognitive load: Simple, clean designs reduce cognitive load, making it easier for users to process information and take action. Effective overlays avoid clutter and present information in easily digestible chunks.

Personalisation: People respond positively to personalised experiences. Overlays that use visitor data to tailor content or offers can significantly increase engagement and conversion rates. Dynamic baskets overlays are great for reminding users to complete the purchase – especially when combined with personalised incentives.

By leveraging these psychological principles in overlay design, marketers can create more compelling, user-friendly experiences that resonate with shoppers on a subconscious level, ultimately boosting engagement and conversion rates.

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Amy Jordan

Amy is intent.ly’s marketing manager, and she has 15 years’ experience working in marketing for global events and technology.

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10 types of overlay – and how to use them to build an effective full-funnel strategy

Ceej Johnson — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 14:06:02 +0000

Website overlays are powerful tools for engaging visitors and driving desired outcomes – such as to make a purchase or sign up to a newsletter. Understanding the different types and how to use them to target all stages of the shopper journey will help you build an effective full-funnel strategy, and enhance the sales potential of your website.

Here are ten common overlay types and when to deploy them:

1. “Welcome Mat”: Sometimes a full-screen overlay, target new visitors to make a strong first impression or highlight your most important offers. It’s ideal for showcasing your brand’s unique value proposition.

2. Exit-Intent Overlay: Trigger this when a user is about to leave your site. It’s perfect to rescue cart abandonment, capture leads or offer special discounts to keep shoppers on the purchase path.

3. Time-Delayed Overlay: Set this to appear after a shopper has spent a certain amount of time on your site. Use it to engage users who have shown interest by browsing for a while, or redirect them back to their original product search, for example.

4. Scroll-Triggered Overlay: Activate this when a user reaches a specific point on your page. It’s great for offering content upgrades or related product recommendations.

5. Bundling/Upsell Overlay: You can influence a buying decision by offering rewards that complement an item in the basket – and boost AOVs in the process.

6. Gamified Overlay: Implement this to add an element of fun and interactivity. A great way to offer purchase incentives or data collection, such as ‘spin the wheel’ campaigns, product quizzes, or seasonal competitions.

7. Video Overlay: Deploy this to showcase product demonstrations, testimonials, or brand stories. It’s effective for capturing attention and conveying complex information quickly.

8. Survey Overlay: Use this to gather customer feedback or conduct market research. It’s best used after a user has had a chance to interact with your site and has completed set actions to ensure it doesn’t distract from the conversion goal.

9. Social Proof Overlay: Showcase customer reviews, testimonials, or user statistics. This builds trust and can be particularly effective on product pages or during the checkout process.

10. Broadcast Overlay: Use this to highlight important news, limited-time offers, or upcoming events. It’s perfect for creating urgency or informing regular visitors about updates.

By strategically implementing these overlay types you can personalise the shopper experience, boost engagement, and drive higher conversions on your website. Remember to always test and optimise your overlay campaigns for maximum effectiveness, and to ensure seamless shopper journeys.

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Ceej Johnson

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