Suppose you’ve ever been wondering why catchy and concise announcement bars on Shopify are becoming more prominent. In that case, it is because of their ability to catch the user’s eye the second they visit the site. Undoubtedly, customers’ attention is one of the most important aspects of a successful sales generation strategy. With only 8 seconds to grab the user’s attention, online stores need to be engaging, but more importantly, efficient. An announcement bar is one way to do that.
What is an announcement bar?
An announcement bar, also called a “Free shipping bar,” “Header bar,” “Top bar” is a discreet bar that contains a one or two-sentence message. It also may include a button or a link (Call to Action) and a dismiss button so that customers can easily hide the message. It is typically located at the top of the page; hence, it’s one of the first things the customer sees. Generally, they are a significant improvement of pop-ups that were quite intrusive.
Announcement bar use cases
You should use an announcement bar on your online store because you will be gaining a lot while sacrificing little to nothing on your site. First of all, an announcement bar is one of the first things that customers see. Furthermore, they’re quick to update, and they are unobtrusive. Here are a couple of ways you can use them –
Create a sense of urgency
Many people haven’t heard of the term “Fear of missing out” (FOMO) but have experienced it at some point. Defined by a 2013 study, it’s “a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent.”
Announcement bars are a perfect way to leverage this marketing strategy by introducing a deal, product, or free shipping deadline. Some great example messages that will most definitely drive your sales to include –
- Buy until 6 pm for free delivery
- Save 35% this week only
- Sign up today for 15% off your purchase + get exclusive offers
- Free Shipping on Orders Over 100
- Alerts of Low Stock Product, Selling Fast,
- Order Delivered by Tuesday
- Get 20% Off Your First Order With Code COMFORT20
- Due to high order volume, your order may be delayed
- BUY NOW, GET A FREE GIFT
Discount codes and deals
Announcement bars are also a great place to provide discount codes for customers to enter at the checkout or announce bundle deals like “Buy 3 and get one free”. Just make sure that you deliver on the promise, and your store correctly handles this.
Provide important information to the customer
You can also provide information in the announcement bar that affects specific customer demographics. It can be anything ranging from the currencies that you accept to the countries you deliver to. There is, however, a particular piece of information that has the potential to increase your sales dramatically. “Nine out of ten consumers say free shipping is the top-most incentive to shop online more, and orders with free shipping average around 30 percent higher in value,” said Invesp. Therefore, if you provide free shipping, it should go where customers can immediately see it.
Promote a new product or service
If you’ve just released a new product or a service, why not promote it on the announcement bar. It will almost definitely drive more users to the new item and help generate buzz. Just be sure to update it over time, when it’s not “new” anymore.
Drive awareness to a special event
When we’re talking about special sale events, the two most notable events that come to mind are Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Be sure to combine tactics mentioned in the previous use cases to maximize sales when customers are active worldwide.
There are, of course, many more use cases for announcement bars, so don’t just limit yourself to this list. Make the announcement bar suit your and your store’s specific needs.
Some pitfalls to avoid
As with any great tool to increase your sales, there are things you need to keep in mind. In other words, don’t turn a great opportunity into a disaster by way of:
Not updating the announcement bars.
If you don’t update the announcements on your store and customers keep seeing the same old message, they may start not to notice the notification or think that you’re not updating the store’s content. Try to keep it fresh.
Not allowing the user to close the announcement bar
One of the reasons why announcement bars are so hidden is because they will enable the user to dismiss the bar quickly, and it’s gone. Some users might get annoyed if they’re
Using redundant messages
Announcement bars are a space for important information that grabs the user’s attention. Don’t just grab it to say “Hi.”
Overcomplicating the message
Stick to simple announcements that are easy to comprehend and don’t take up too much space. You can use links to drive for more information.
How do I add an announcement bar on Shopify?
This section will provide you with two options that require no financial investment to get your announcement bar up and running in your store.
Firstly, Libautech has released a free and paid version app called “Add Announcement bar,” which can help you achieve any of the use cases mentioned before, as well as avoid the common announcement bar pitfalls.
Features included in the app:
- 30+ Texture, Gradient, and Plain templates to match the style of merchants theme
- Target specific countries and devices
- The geographical analysis of each announcement bar
- Schedule your announcement bars to show at specific times and dates
- Rotate multiple announcement bars in a slideshow
- Capture emails with Subscribe Bar
- Unlimited Free Shipping Bar, Estimated Delivery Bar and Announcement Bar, Subscription Bar
- Track the performance of each Announcement Bar so you know which bar generates the most sales.
The announcement bar is a necessity if you are looking to boost your sales significantly during Christmas and BFCM. We highly recommend you start preparing for the spike in web traffic during the holiday season by using the help of our announcement bars.
Add Announcement Bar for free on your store – https://apps.shopify.com/add-announcement-bardenied that privilege.
