OptinMonster vs. OptiMonk

OptinMonster vs. OptiMonk: Campaign Types

Of course, the most essential feature of any lead generation software is the types of campaigns you can create.

What kinds of popups and other campaigns can you actually make with OptinMonster and OptiMonk?

Let’s take a look at OptiMonk first. OptiMonk allows you to create 4 different campaign types:

• Fullscreen
• Popup
• Nanobar
• Sidemessage (similar to OptinMonster’s Slide-In)

OptiMonk has 112 popup templates to choose from, as well as a blank option you can use to add your own code:

“Nanobars” are sticky bars that appear at the top or bottom of the browser, and stay there as the visitor scrolls. They are the same as OptinMonster’s floating bar campaigns.

OptiMonk has 30 templates for those, plus an option to code your own:

Then they have 29 “Sidemessage” templates. These campaigns actually don’t show up on your website’s sidebar. They are like sticky popups that appear off to the side of your page and stay there as the visitor scrolls down the page.

Again, if you’re familiar with OptinMonster’s Slide-In campaigns, they are similar to those (though taller in length):

Finally, OptiMonk has “Fullscreen” campaigns with 40 templates to choose from.  Fullscreen campaigns are like regular popups, but they take over the entire screen:

Now let’s take a look at your campaign choices in OptinMonster.

In the OptinMonster app, you choose from several different campaign types:

• Popup: an effective and popular campaign that grabs attention
• Fullscreen: a fullscreen campaign with a call to action that can’t be ignored
• Slide-In: similar to OptiMonk’s “sidebar” campaigns, these slide in from the side of the browser
• Floating Bar: sticky footer or header bars that stay in place as your visitors scroll
• Inline: these embeddable campaigns can be placed within your site’s content or sidebar

But with these 5 types of campaigns, you can do so much more, such as:

• Sidebar Forms
• Content Lockers
• Coupon Wheel Optins
• Countdown Timers (static and dynamic)

Each type works on any size screen (desktop, tablet, or mobile) and has plenty of beautifully designed templates to choose from.

OptinMonster has over 50 templates, each of which can be instantly turned into Yes/No campaigns (which we’ll look at more closely later). Here are just a few:

And here’s a quick look at some of OptinMonster’s designs for Floating Bars:

As you can see, OptinMonster also offers quite a few powerful campaign types that aren’t available with OptiMonk. Let’s take a look at those…

2 Types of Inline Campaigns: In Your Content or In the Sidebar

Used correctly, popups are powerful tools for lead generation and conversion optimization.

But what happens when a visitor closes your popup? If they change their mind, how can they sign up for your email list?

Smart business owners will give them the option to subscribe even if they didn’t opt into the popup.

The best way to do this is by placing a static campaign on your website. You can do this either on the sidebar of your page or embedded directly in your content.

Let’s start with sidebar campaigns.

When you place a sidebar optin form on your site, you turn every page into a lead generation opportunity. Sidebar Forms look like this:

Your users get to see the content on your website without any interruptions, and you get loads of email signups every month!

If you’re only using popups on your website, instead of a variety of campaigns, you could be missing out on hundreds of leads. In other words, Sidebar Forms (not offered by OptiMonk) are a great way of catching low hanging fruit.

The other type of sidebar not offered by OptiMonk is an Inline campaign embedded directly in your content. BlogTyrant uses an Inline campaign at the end of their post to boost signups:

Again, these are great because they’re static campaigns. That means they’re always on your page regardless of triggers and targets.

By using these static campaigns along with other dynamic ones (campaigns that open when a user scrolls 50% down your page, for example), you’re truly maximizing your conversion rates.

At OptinMonster, we give you all the tools you need to make sure you don’t miss out on any opportunity to convert visitors to subscribers and customers.

Two-Step Yes/No Optin Forms

You may have noticed that some campaigns above feature a signup form asking for an email, while others have simple buttons with no optin fields to fill in.

That’s because some of the forms, the ones with only buttons, are Yes/No campaigns. They add an additional step before asking for an email address to help increase your conversion rates:

Now, you might think that adding an extra step to your campaign means lower conversions, but Yes/No campaigns have the opposite effect!

And that’s thanks to the Zeigarnik Effect, which suggests that people who begin an action are more likely to complete it. So a visitor who clicks the Yes button is more likely to continue the process and sign up for your email list.

It’s like how a good salesperson uses small talk to start the conversation rather than diving into the pitch. Because if they can get you talking first, you’re more likely to allow the conversation to continue.

Yes/No campaigns begin an engaging conversation with your cold traffic, which makes them more likely to become warm leads.

OptiMonk has a few popup templates that have Yes/No buttons (also called two-step or multi-step optins) that come with the default design. These are spread out through their templates, and you need to search for them manually to find them.

There’s no filtered option to pull them up quickly.

But with OptinMonster, you’re not limited like that. You can actually enable the Yes/No view for ANY campaign you choose with the simple click of a button.

Go to the Yes/No feature at the top of your campaign editor and click the toggle switch to Display a Yes/No View:

Boom. That’s it!

You now have an incredibly powerful Yes/No campaign ready to grow your email list. And this is an effective campaign to use.

A Yes/No optin like this one by Salt Strong converts 10% of of all visitors who comes to their website:

And another one of our clients, ChinaImportal, increased conversions from 2% to 20% just by adding a Yes/No step to their optin form.

By clicking the toggle to enable a Yes/No campaign to any of our templates, you can see HUGE increases in your conversions.

If you’re serious about growing your business, you definitely don’t want to miss out on Yes/No campaigns.

Content Locker

There’s another feature that OptinMonster provides its users that isn’t available with OptiMonk: a Content Locking campaign.

Content Locking campaigns are super powerful because they lock away your most valuable content until the visitor enters their email address. That means you can have regular content for casual browsers, and premium content for your subscribers.

And the best part is, you can add this function to any piece of content currently on your site. So if you have great content, you’ve already done the hardest part.

We’ve seen sites like TradingStrategyGuides get 11,000+ subscribers in just 1 month with 1 Content Locking campaign.

And Whole Whale converts a whopping 21.42% of all visitors with this obfuscating content locker:

Like we said, it’s super powerful.

Content locking is another quick-win tool you’re going to want if you’re serious about building your email list.

Event Countdown Timer

Another important feature that’s worth a mention here is the countdown timer.

OptiMonk does have a countdown timer. You can enter how many hours and minutes the countdown timer starts with. But, the date or time is always fixed:

OptinMonster also has a countdown timer you can add to any campaign using the drag and drop builder.

You choose the length of the timer in days, hours, minutes, and seconds.

But what if you want your timer to count down to an event, like the end of a holiday sale?

Both OptinMonster and OptiMonk have that option, too. Which is really effective at creating a sense of urgency.

And when combined with OptinMonster’s campaign scheduling feature, this is an excellent tool for:

• Boosting event registrations
• Promoting holiday sales and special offers
• Advertising webinars, conferences, and more

LifterLMS added a simple countdown timer like this to their pricing page and unlocked $23,700 in sales in just 5 months.

Ok, so both companies have countdown timers. So what?

OptinMonster pushes the concept further than OptiMonk by giving you the choice of also making your countdown timer dynamic:

A dynamic countdown timer means that the date or time for your countdown isn’t fixed. It simply begins the first time your user sees a campaign.

So if you want each user to have a full 7 days to take advantage of a promotion, you can give all of your audience that unique experience. When one visitor comes on a Monday, they’ll get 7 days to claim their promotion.

And when another visitor comes on a Tuesday, they’ll also get a full 7 days to claim their promotion.

This is a remarkably useful tool at not only increasing your overall conversion rate but also improving your audience’s user experience (UX).

Plus, with our MonsterLinks™, you can easily use these dynamic (or static) countdown timers as part of a promotional email campaign, too.

Ok, so after you’ve designed your campaign, the next step is to decide who should see it.

Campaign Targeting and Triggers

The more personalized your campaigns are for each visitor, the more conversions you’ll get.

So, what kind of targeting tools do OptinMonster and OptiMonk offer?

Both OptinMonster and OptiMonk offer powerful targeting options like:

• OnSite Retargeting®: Create special offers and promotions for returning visitors
• OnSite Follow Up Campaigns®: Make on-site drip campaigns triggered by visitor interactions
• Referrer Detection: Show targeted messages based on where the user is coming from
• Page-Level Targeting: Customize your campaigns based on the page or section of your website
• Geo-Location Targeting: Personalize campaigns based on a visitor’s location

But OptinMonster alone offers these more advanced features:

• WordPress Category and Tag Targeting
• Multiple Rulesets

Let’s take a closer look at how these targeting options can skyrocket your conversions and boost your revenue.

WordPress Category and Tag Targeting

If you’re using WordPress, this is another conversion-boosting trick you definitely want in your toolbox.

By targeting your campaigns based on the type of content a visitor is viewing, you’re giving them exactly what they’re interested in at the exact moment of interest.

Interest-based campaigns are incredibly high-converting, so don’t miss out on this feature!

And/Or and Multiple Rulesets

OptinMonster’s Display Rules are what make it such a robust conversion optimization and lead generation solution.

OptinMonster gives you full control over your campaign with the ability to add “and/or” conditions, plus multiple rulesets. Here’s how it works:

In one ruleset, you select all the triggers that you want for your campaign to appear. All the triggers you choose for that ruleset need to be fulfilled for it to appear.

For example, if you select “after 10 seconds” and “after scrolling 50% down the page,” the campaign will only trigger if the user has been on the page for 10 seconds AND scrolled 50%.

But you can also choose an “or” rule so that the campaign will appear if either condition is met.

But what if you wanted to display this campaign with different triggers on another page?

You could decide to show the campaign sooner, or have it triggered with Exit Intent® technology on a page that has a high bounce rate from organic searches.

To find those bounce rates, you simply need to check with Google Analytics. Then you can adjust your campaign’s rulesets to include Exit Intent® to keep time on page longer.

You can create as many separate rulesets (not just rules) as you need.

This gives you the flexibility to target multiple segments of your audience with one campaign.

OptiMonk, on the other hand, lets you add rules but not rulesets. They also only give you the “and” option, rather than the “and/or” conditions to your rules.

It’s a small difference that can have a significant impact on your overall conversion rates.

OptinMonster vs. OptiMonk: The Final Word

Look, here’s the deal: you can do a lot with both software.

But you can do more with OptinMonster.

Not only that, but our pricing is more approachable for small to medium-size businesses.

OptiMonk’s Essential package starts at $39/month. That gives you unlimited campaigns 2 domain, 30,000 page views (for your whole site), and A/B testing.

For the same price, you can get started with OptinMonster’s Pro package with unlimited campaigns, A/B testing, 50,000 campaign views (regardless of your site’s traffic), content locking, device targeting, 3 domains, and so much more!

Note: The information above reflects our pricing as of the writing of this article. For current pricing, check our pricing page.

So, which lead generation and conversion optimization tool is the best choice for you?

If you…

• Are serious about building a targeted email list
• Need to reduce shopping cart abandonment and recover lost sales
• Want to maximize your conversions and revenue

…then OptinMonster is the tool you need.

OptinMonster’s more powerful features like multiple Campaign Types, Content Locking, dynamic Countdown Timers, Device-Based Targeting, and more are incredibly useful for growing your email list, generating leads, and instantly lifting revenue.

Click here to get started with OptinMonster today.