How to Create a Pop-Up Using Hubspot’s CTA Beta Tool
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How to Create a Pop-Up Using Hubspot’s CTA Beta Tool

Have you looked into creating pop-ups using Hubspot’s CTAs Beta tool?


Consider this your guide to getting started!


It’s true. Hubspot’s latest feature of the CTAs Beta tool allows you to create promotional pop-ups. A pop-up is a website element that appears on your HubSpot-hosted website. It’s usually designed to capture visitor attention and encourage a specific action like signing up for a newsletter or exploring a special offer.


Despite pop-ups receiving a bad rep in the past when executed effectively, they can serve as powerful tools for marketers to engage with website visitors, helping them effectively drive conversions and nurture leads.


In this step-by-step guide, we'll demystify the process of creating pop-ups with the CTAs Beta tool in HubSpot.


Let's dive in!


Please note: These steps are for people using the Hubspot Professional and Enterprise account types. You can learn more about the features of these account types here.

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Hubspot Pop-Up Form


Step 1: Log in to your Hubspot Account.

Step 2: Go to the Marketing drop-down menu in the top nav bar. Scroll down to click Lead Capture. Then select CTAs.

Step 3: Once you’re in the CTAs tool, look in the top-left corner. If it says CTAs (Legacy), click the drop-down menu and select CTAs BETA instead. If the menu already says CTAs BETA, you’re ready to begin.

Image of Hubspot CTAs BETA


Step 4: Inside the CTAs Beta tool, click the Create button in the upper right-hand corner.

Step 5: Next, select the template you’d like to use for your pop-up. Template options are provided for:

  1. Live Webinar Registration pop-up

  2. Event Registration Slide-in

  3. Download Free eBook pop-up

  4. Newsletter Subscription pop-up

  5. Blog Article Slide-in

  6. Product Demo Banner

Step 6: To make your selection, hover over your template of choice, and select the Choose template button. Or, if you prefer, you can click Start from scratch on the menu on your left.

Screenshot of Hubspot Templates

Step 7: Click the field with the pencil icon at the top center of your screen to give your pop-up a name. Be sure to follow your organization’s naming convention.

  1. For example: YY_MM_CTA Pop-Up_Purpose of CTA

Step 8: Now for the fun part. It’s time to customize your template with copy, imagery, and colors that fit your brand’s guidelines.

Add content to your pop-up CTA. You should be in the Edit menu already (find this at the top center of your screen to check). To add content to your template, click the Add tab in the menu on the left. You can add buttons, images, dividers, forms, and rich text to your pop-up by dragging them into the design. If you’re using a template, it’s likely you will not need to add any content because your template will have all the modules you need.

Screenshot of the Add section for Hubspot's CTAs BETA

View your pop-up content. In the menu on the left, click the Content tab. This serves as a high-level view of all the components in your pop-up CTA. You should see a list of the content that you've added to your pop-up. You can drill down on a specific component like text, image, or button to edit it.

Screenshot of the Content section for Hubspot's CTAs BETA

Design and styling. Customize the look and feel of your pop-up CTA with styling options under the Design tab. To find the design tab, go to the left-hand side and click “Design”. You can adjust the sizing, layout, styles, and background of your pop-up CTA.

Screenshot of the Design section for Hubspot's CTAs BETA

Step 9: Once your pop-up CTA is designed to your liking, it’s time to determine when, where, and how often it will be shown. Click the Targeting option in the menu at the top of your screen. Here is a breakdown of your options for each of the three questions you’ll be asked to answer. When should it be shown? You have 6 options to choose from: - Trigger on button click - Always show - Trigger on page scroll - Trigger on exit intent - Trigger after elapsed time (Our favorite option) - Trigger after inactivity

Screenshot of the Targeting section for Hubspot's CTAs BETA

Where will it be shown? Choose the web pages you want your CTA pop-up to appear on. Then add optional filters based on information about your visitors. For instance: You can choose to show the pop-up CTA to only website visitors who are in your Hubspot contacts. You can also add rules to hide your pop-up CTA. To hide your pop-up on a specific web page, click “Add exclusion rule.” For example: Let’s say I’m building a pop-up with a newsletter sign-up CTA. I want the pop-up to appear on all pages except the newsletter sign-up landing page that has the form. I’d add a rule to exclude that page from the list.

Screenshot of the Targeting section for Hubspot's CTAs BETA

How often will it be shown? Choose the frequency at which your pop-up CTA will appear.

Screenshot of the Targeting section for Hubspot's CTAs BETA

Step 10: Now that you’ve selected your targeting parameters it’s time to go to the Options tab on the top menu.

  1. Under the “Small screen sizes” menu, select whether you want your pop-up CTA to be seen on small screens like mobile devices and tablets

  2. Using the “Campaign” drop-down menu, assign your pop-up CTA to a campaign

  3. Under the “Scheduling menu”, set a date and time for displaying and publishing your pop-up CTA. Hubspot provides an option to unpublish a pop-up CTA. This is great for promotional or product update CTAs that have an expiration date.

Screenshot of the Options section for Hubspot's CTAs BETA

Step 11: Once your pop-up CTA is designed, your Targeting is selected, and Options are complete, it’s time to Preview. Click “Preview” on the top right-hand corner of the page. Make sure to double-check that everything looks good. Step 12: Ready to go? Let’s Publish your pop-up CTA. To do so, click the orange “Review + Publish” in the top-right corner. Then, select “Publish now”.


Congrats, you’ve just created your first Hubspot pop-up CTA!


These pop-ups are not just eye-catching but also effective tools to boost your conversions, enrich the user experience, and foster deeper engagement with your audience. Keep experimenting, analyzing performance, and optimizing to continually improve your engagement and conversion rates. If you have any questions or need further assistance, don't hesitate to reach out.


If you’re looking for more Hubspot How-Tos, check out our following blog posts:


Happy marketing!

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