popup-cro

Overview

What is popup-cro?

popup-cro is a specialized conversion rate optimization (CRO) skill focused entirely on popups, modals, overlays, slide-ins, sticky bars, and notification banners.

It is designed to help you create interrupt-style elements that convert — email capture popups, exit-intent modals, discount offers, announcement bars, and similar — without damaging user experience or your brand.

When your goal is to collect more leads, grow your newsletter list, promote an offer, or save abandoning visitors through a popup or overlay, popup-cro provides a structured, repeatable process for planning, copy, design tradeoffs, triggers, and frequency rules.

Who is popup-cro for?

Use popup-cro if you are:

• A marketer or growth lead improving landing page conversion without redesigning the whole page
• A content or email marketer using popups to build a newsletter or lead magnet funnel
• A founder or solo operator needing simple, effective popup guidance without hiring a CRO agency
• A frontend or no-code builder who can implement popups but needs clear strategy, timing, and copy direction

If you are optimizing standalone forms that are embedded in the page (not in a popup), use the form-cro skill instead. For broad landing page or site-wide optimization, use page-cro.

What problems does popup-cro solve?

popup-cro helps when you:

• Run popups that have low conversion rates and high annoyance
• Aren’t sure when to show a popup (time delay, scroll depth, exit intent, page targeting)
• Need help deciding the purpose of each popup (email capture, discount, announcement, feature promotion, feedback, etc.)
• Want to improve performance of exit-intent popups on landing pages
• Need better, clearer popup headlines, value propositions, and CTAs
• Want frequency rules that respect users (e.g., not showing the same popup on every page)

It is especially useful when phrases like “exit intent,” “lead capture popup,” “email popup,” “scroll trigger,” “sticky bar,” or “notification bar” show up in your work.

Key capabilities from the repository

Based on the skill definition and evaluation prompts in the repository, popup-cro is tuned to:

• Start from a product marketing context file if present (.agents/product-marketing-context.md or older .claude/product-marketing-context.md), so recommendations align with your positioning and audience.
• Classify your popup type (exit-intent email capture, first-time visitor discount, announcement, etc.).
• Recommend headlines, incentives, and form structures for higher conversion with minimal friction (often email-only forms).
• Suggest trigger and frequency rules (e.g., exit-intent detection, “do not show again” for dismissals, first-time visitor targeting).
• Provide realistic benchmarks (like typical exit-intent popup conversion ranges) so you can judge performance.

How to Use

1. Installation and setup

To install the popup-cro skill from the coreyhaines31/marketingskills repository, run:

npx skills add https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills --skill popup-cro

This pulls in the skill definition and supporting evaluation files into your skills environment.

After installation:

• Open skills/popup-cro/SKILL.md to review the core guidance and workflow.
• Check skills/popup-cro/evals/evals.json to see example prompts and what a strong answer should cover.

2. Understand the workflow

popup-cro follows a structured approach before giving recommendations:

1. Check product marketing context

   • If your repo contains .agents/product-marketing-context.md (or the older .claude/product-marketing-context.md), popup-cro will use it first.
   • This ensures popup recommendations match your audience, positioning, and core value props.

2. Clarify the popup’s purpose
   The skill expects you to be clear (or to clarify together) on what the popup is for, such as:

   • Email/newsletter capture
   • Lead magnet delivery
   • Discount or promotion (e.g., 10% off for first-time visitors)
   • Product or feature announcement
   • Exit-intent save offer
   • Feedback or survey collection

3. Assess current state and traffic
   If the popup already exists, popup-cro will guide you to share:

   • Current performance (views, conversions, CTR)
   • Triggers used today (time on page, scroll depth, exit intent, page targeting)
   • User complaints or UX issues (especially on mobile)
   • Traffic sources (paid vs organic, new vs returning visitors, key page types)

3. Running practical use cases

Use popup-cro interactively in your agent or skills environment by asking task-focused questions. Here are example scenarios aligned with the repo’s evals.

Exit-intent email capture popup

Prompt popup-cro with something like:

Help me create an exit-intent popup for our SaaS landing page. We want to capture emails from visitors who are about to leave without signing up.

popup-cro will typically help you:

• Confirm this is an exit-intent email capture popup.
• Draft a compelling headline that speaks to why visitors leave or offers additional value.
• Choose a lead magnet or incentive (e.g., extended trial, checklist, discount) to lift conversions.
• Keep the form minimal (often email only) to reduce friction.
• Define a clear CTA and an easy close option.
• Recommend trigger configuration (desktop exit-intent behavior, mobile alternatives) and frequency rules (e.g., don’t show for a set period after dismiss, don’t show to recent converters).
• Share realistic conversion benchmarks for exit-intent popups (for example, low-single-digit to low-double-digit ranges) so you know if your results are healthy.

First-time visitor discount popup

For a discount offer, prompt like:

We want to offer a 10% discount to first-time visitors via a popup. When should we show it and what should it say?

popup-cro will help you:

• Treat this as a discount/promotion popup targeting first-time visitors.
• Recommend timing (e.g., after some engagement rather than instantly on page load).
• Suggest copy and value framing so the discount feels relevant instead of random.
• Propose frequency and targeting rules (first-time visitors only, cap impressions, avoid interrupting key flows).

4. How to integrate with your stack

popup-cro itself does not inject JavaScript or manage popup rendering. Instead, it gives you the strategy and specification to implement in your tools, such as:

• Frontend code (custom React/Vue components, vanilla JS popups)
• Landing page builders (Webflow, Framer, etc.)
• Popup and onsite messaging tools (e.g., dedicated popup platforms)

Use popup-cro to define:

• The popup’s objective and KPIs
• Trigger rules (time, scroll, exit intent, page targeting)
• Design and layout tradeoffs (field count, imagery, close button placement)
• Copy and CTA variants to test

Then implement these recommendations in your chosen tools and run A/B tests as appropriate.

5. Files to review in the skill

To get the most from popup-cro, start with:

• SKILL.md – the main skill definition with principles and step-by-step guidance (including sections like Initial Assessment and Core Principles).
• evals/evals.json – curated evaluation prompts that show example use cases and what a complete, high-quality answer should include.

FAQ

When should I use popup-cro vs form-cro or page-cro?

Use popup-cro when you’re working on any interrupt-style element:

• Popups and modals
• Slide-ins and overlays
• Sticky bars and notification bars

If the conversion element is embedded in the page (e.g., a signup form in the hero), use form-cro. If you are optimizing the overall layout, copy, and flows of a full page or funnel, use page-cro.

What types of popups does popup-cro handle best?

popup-cro is tuned for a broad range of marketing popups, including:

• Exit-intent email capture popups
• Newsletter and lead magnet popups
• Discount and promotion modals for first-time visitors
• Feature or product announcement overlays
• Feedback and survey prompts
• Sticky bars and notification banners on landing pages

Does popup-cro decide the visual design or just strategy?

popup-cro focuses primarily on strategy and messaging:

• Clear objective and audience
• Timing, triggers, and frequency rules
• Offer selection and incentive framing
• Headline, body copy, and CTA suggestions
• Form length and field recommendations

You or your design tools handle exact visuals (colors, fonts, layout). popup-cro will highlight UX considerations such as making the popup easy to close and ensuring mobile usability.

Can popup-cro help me avoid annoying users?

Yes. A core goal of popup-cro is to improve conversion without annoying users or harming brand perception. The skill encourages:

• Sensible timing (avoiding instant popups before visitors engage)
• Limiting how often a popup appears per session/user
• Respecting dismissals (do not show again for a defined period)
• Keeping copy honest and aligned with your product marketing context

Does popup-cro include performance benchmarks?

The repository’s evaluations indicate that popup-cro references typical conversion ranges for common popup types (for example, what’s reasonable for exit-intent popups). You can use these ranges to:

• Judge whether a current popup is underperforming
• Set realistic test goals and expectations

Always compare to your own historical data and traffic quality for final decisions.

What do I need in my repo for best results?

For the most accurate and aligned recommendations, it helps to have:

• A current product marketing context file:
  • .agents/product-marketing-context.md, or
  • .claude/product-marketing-context.md (older setups)
• Basic performance data for any existing popups (views, conversions, main traffic sources)
• Clarity on your main goal (e.g., email list growth vs immediate sales)

popup-cro can still operate without these, but supplying them improves the quality and specificity of guidance.

Is popup-cro a good fit for non-marketing modals?

If your modal is purely functional (e.g., login dialogs, cookie consent, system alerts), popup-cro is not the best fit because its guidance is marketing and conversion-focused. For those cases, use your design system and UX guidelines instead.

popup-cro is ideal when the modal or popup is meant to drive a marketing action: signups, leads, offers, or feedback tied to growth and conversion.