How to start selling with YouTube Shopping and turn viewers into customers

Billions of people use YouTube daily as an entertainment hub, classroom and search engine. Now, they also use it for finding and buying products.

A Google survey showed YouTube is 1.6 times more likely to influence buying decisions than any other social platform. With YouTube Shopping, the platform converts that high-intent attention directly into purchases, moving beyond mere influence.

Currently, over 500,000 creators and brands are enrolled in the YouTube Shopping program. If you want to be part of the experience, this guide will break down all you need to know.

Read on to learn what YouTube Shopping is, who qualifies for it, how to set it up and measure it, and tips for maximizing your sales on the platform.

What is YouTube Shopping?

YouTube Shopping is an e-commerce affiliate program that allows eligible brands and creators to promote products directly within their YouTube content.

Viewers can browse and buy products without leaving the video player with features like product tagging, channel storefronts and integrations with platforms like Shopify.

YouTube Shopping benefits brands, creators and consumers in different ways:

• Brands: Turn long-form videos, Shorts and livestreams into sales touchpoints
• Creators: Open a monetization path beyond ad revenue and brand sponsorships
• Consumers: Remove the friction of jumping from tutorial to search to product page

The audience to sell to is enormous, too: Sprout Social’s 2026 Content Strategy Report shows 63% of all social media users have a YouTube account. Even niche product categories can find a lucrative market here.

What are the eligibility requirements for YouTube Shopping?

To join the YouTube Shopping affiliate program, your channel must already be in the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). That’s the baseline requirement because YouTube Shopping is tied to monetization access instead of just channel size.

Additional eligibility requirements:

• Meet the subscriber threshold. In countries where expanded YPP is available, creators may qualify with 500 subscribers plus the required uploads and watch hours or Shorts views. In other eligible YPP regions, creators generally need the standard 1,000 subscribers threshold, plus the required watch hours or Shorts views.
• Operate in an eligible country. YouTube Shopping is currently available in the United States, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, India, Singapore, Brazil, Taiwan and Japan. Creators outside these regions are not eligible for the affiliate program yet, even if they’re already in YPP.
• Avoid restricted channel categories. Music channels, Official Artist Channels and channels associated with music partners aren’t eligible for the affiliate program. This may include channels linked to music labels, distributors, publishers or VEVO.
• Make sure your channel isn’t Made for Kids. Your channel audience can’t be set as “Made for Kids”. YouTube also excludes channels with a significant number of videos marked as made for kids, since Shopping features are commercial tools.

YouTube’s eligibility bar for Shopping is higher than for many other features. That’s because the platform wants to protect viewers from low-quality or misleading promotions, and it wants to reward channels that have invested in building audience trust over time.

Why set up YouTube Shopping for your business?

If you’re already publishing on YouTube, Shopping features turn product interest into immediate action. Stop burying links in the description or hoping viewers search for your product later. Bring the checkout directly to the content they’re watching.

YouTube Shopping can help your business by:

• Creating a frictionless path to purchase. By tapping product tags in a video, viewers can quickly see pricing and details, and move to checkout right away while their interest is still high. No need for extra steps and clicks away from the site.
• Capitalizing on high-intent video engagement. YouTube is where people watch demos, reviews, comparisons, tutorials and hauls before making a decision. Shopping features let you place relevant products directly inside that research experience, making purchase more likely.
• Centralizing your social commerce analytics. Connect YouTube Shopping to your store and social media management platform to better understand which videos, formats and products drive revenue, and where you’re getting true return on investment (ROI).
• Creating more revenue opportunities from your content. Shopping adds another way to generate value from your videos beyond ads, views or brand awareness. Evergreen videos can continue introducing people to your products long after they’re published.

How to optimize your YouTube Shopping strategy for maximum sales?

Turning eligibility into revenue takes more than turning the Shopping feature on. Here are five ways to consistently drive brand sales through the platform.

1. Sync and tag relentlessly

Don’t make people hunt for a link in the description. In 2026, friction is the enemy of conversion, and half of your potential buyers won’t bother to scroll.

Instead:

• Connect your store. Make sure your Shopify storefront or Google Merchant Center is directly synced with your YouTube channel so your full catalogue is available for tagging.
• Overlay tags. Use YouTube’s product tagging feature across every format you publish, including long-form videos, Shorts and livestreams. Viewers can tap the “View products” overlay that appears on screen to see product details and pricing, then hit “Buy” without leaving the player.

Check out this example of a tagged video from DJI:

 

Sprout Social Essentials Pro Tip: Find your top 10 performing evergreen videos and retroactively tag the featured products in them today. Most of your existing watch time lives in older videos, so monetizing those already earning attention is the fastest way to compound results.

 

2. Lean into the “Human Premium”

You don’t need a RED camera and a soundstage to create videos that sell. The most persuasive content today often looks like a friend filming on their kitchen counter, under normal lighting, on a normal day.

What to do:

• Show, don’t tell. Create more comparisons, unboxing videos and unfiltered reviews or demonstrations. Let the product do the talking through actual use instead of voiceovers.
• Be honest to build trust. If your product has a limitation, mention it. Counterintuitive as it sounds, transparency about what your product isn’t builds confidence in what it is.

For example, here’s an ASMR video from Dyson with a human feel:

3. Master the “Hybrid Funnel” (Shorts to Sales)

According to Sprout Social’s research, slightly more YouTube users prefer videos under 60 seconds over longer content, making Shorts a powerful discovery format.

But long-form is still where deep trust and high-ticket conversions happen. The best YouTube strategies connect the two to create a “hybrid funnel’.

Two ways to put that into action:

• The LIFT method. Create a comprehensive, shoppable long-form video that answers every meaningful customer objection. Then cut 3 to 5 Shorts from that single video or shoot fresh vertical clips that each highlight one specific pain point.
• The bridge. Use the Shorts to capture attention, then funnel viewers directly to the long-form video using the Related Video link. The long-form is where your main product tags, chapters and storefront live, and Shorts are where you get the traffic.

This pairing also protects you against algorithmic fluctuations. Shorts may surge or cool, but a strong long-form video can sell consistently for years.

4. Host high-urgency live shopping “drops”

Live shopping isn’t just for massive influencers. It works especially well when two things are true: your community is engaged and your inventory is limited.

For small brands, both are often built into the business. Turn your live streams into sales by:

• Pinning your products. Feature specific items in your stream and pin them to the top of the live chat so viewers can buy instantly, without scrolling away from the broadcast.
• Creating scarcity. Offer flash sales, exclusive bundles or limited-time discount codes that expire the moment your live video ends to encourage swift action.
• Prioritizing engagement over production. Run with two people if you can: one host who demonstrates the product on camera, and one team member moderating the chat and answering buyer questions in real time. Removing hesitation on the spot is worth more than better lighting or polished scripts.

5. Optimize for “zero-click” search and AI discovery

YouTube videos are increasingly showing up on Google’s AI Overviews and search results, especially for product-led or how-to queries. Most people don’t even have to click to get the answer they’re looking for (also known as “zero click” search).

Treat your videos as landing pages so AI tools, search engines and buyers can find you. Follow the tips below to stay visible:

• Entity SEO. Train the algorithm on exactly what you sell. Use highly descriptive, keyword-rich titles (e.g., “Best Sustainable Skincare Routine for Dry Skin”) instead of vague ones (e.g., “Our New Products”). Include your product, category and use case in the description and on-screen text.
• Timestamps and chapters. Break videos into clearly labelled chapters (e.g., “02:15 – How to apply the serum”). Google uses these timestamps to serve specific product topics directly inside search results, sending high-intent buyers straight to your shoppable tags instead of into a generic results page.

Here’s an example of a YouTube Shopping video from Sephora optimized for search:

Notice the keywords in the title and description, as well as the clearly labelled chapters.

Instead of spending on production, invest in engineering your video metadata to be machine-readable and helpful to humans at the same time.

How to set up YouTube Shopping for your brand

Once you’re eligible, setting up YouTube Shopping for your brand is more straightforward than you’d expect. The workflow looks like this:

1. Open YouTube Studio and head to the ‘Earn’ tab: This is your control panel for all monetization features, including Shopping. If Shopping is available, you’ll see it as a card here.
2. Connect a supported e-commerce platform: Next, link an online store (e.g., on Shopify) directly. Alternatively, you can connect via Google Merchant Center, which is a good fit if you’re already running Google Shopping ads and want a single product feed powering both.
3. Sync your product catalogue and resolve any initial disapprovals: Once connected, your products will start populating in YouTube Studio. Expect a handful of disapprovals on the first sync, usually due to image quality, missing attributes or restricted categories. Fix these at the source in your store, and they’ll refresh in YouTube within a day or two.
4. Organize your channel storefront. Curate which products appear (and in what order) on your channel’s Store tab. Lead with hero products, current promotions and seasonal priorities so buyers see your best items first.

From there, you can start tagging products inside individual videos, Shorts and livestreams, and your shoppable infrastructure on YouTube is officially live.

How to track the performance of YouTube Shopping?

Vanity metrics like views and likes will tell you whether people are watching your content. But they won’t tell you whether your content is selling. Follow the steps below to measure the true return on investment on your YouTube Shopping strategy:

• Start with retention, not reach. Look at the average view duration, audience retention curve and re-watches to understand your viewers’ watching patterns. A video that holds attention through five minutes of demo time is doing more for your pipeline than one that racks up impressions in the first 10 seconds.
• Track metrics that tie back to revenue. Pay attention to the number of direct product clicks, the click-through rate on tagged products, the total revenue attributed to specific videos and your per-product conversion patterns. This data separates content that entertains from content that earns you money.
• Segment by format. Compare conversion behavior across Shorts, long-form videos and live streams to understand what purpose each format serves and where you need to allocate more budget and production time. For example, you might discover your live streams drive spikes but long-form videos generate steady revenue.

While you can track most of these metrics inside YouTube’s native analytics, using a third-party tool like Sprout Social lets you tap into additional features that elevate your strategy across all your social media channels, not just YouTube.

For example, you can use Sprout to analyze engagement metrics, schedule content, manage audience interactions and offer customer care across multiple networks from one place.

You’ll also see where YouTube sits within your broader social strategy and exactly how much YouTube Shopping contributes to overall revenue.

Use YouTube Shopping to drive sales with your videos

YouTube Shopping is one of the best examples of where content and commerce overlap. Luckily, there’s still plenty of time and space for brands to build trust, tag products and sell on the platform before it gets crowded.

Sprout Social helps you do all of that and connect your performance to revenue. From scheduling and audience insights to engagement and reporting across YouTube and other channels, Sprout enables you to grow your brand with shoppable content.

Get started for free with Essentials by Sprout Social.

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Email signup forms: how to get more subscribers from every page

Your signup form is the single point of entry between a visitor and your email list. It can make or break the decision to subscribe.

The copy, design, type, and placement of your form all affect whether someone signs up or moves on.

Here is what works, why it works, and how to apply it.

• Type of email sign up forms
• Where to place your sign up form
• Tips to write sign up form copy that gets results
• Tips to design your sign up form
• Testing and optimizing your sign up form
• Case Study - 150% lift in engagement

Type of email sign up forms

There are several signup form types, and each serves a different purpose. The right choice depends on where and when you want to capture attention.

1. Inline forms

Inline signup forms are embedded within the body of a webpage. You can place them at the top, bottom, in the sidebar, or anywhere within your content. You can place them on all pages of your site or on specific pages.

Pro tip: Use the AWeber for WordPress plugin to quickly and easily place your sign up forms on various pages of your website, and track the performance of your sign up forms.

2. Pop-up forms

Pop-up forms are not embedded within your content. They appear or "pop up" at specific points during someone's visit to your website.

These forms can pop up or slide in from the side, top, or bottom of your page. They can blur out the surrounding page or appear over it without blurring.

Pop-up forms increase subscriber signups because they grab attention. But they can also impact user experience. You can adjust display settings so they are less disruptive.

There are four variations of pop-up forms:

Time-delayed pop-up

This form does not appear right away. It lets visitors view your content before presenting the form. When deciding on the ideal delay, check your web analytics to see the average time on page, and set the delay just before that. You can also control how often someone sees it: every visit, only once, or every certain number of days.

Scroll-delayed pop-up

This form appears after someone scrolls to a specific point on your page. Because it appears after scrolling, the visitor has already engaged with your content.

Exit-intent pop-up

This form appears when someone is about to leave your site. It is effective at saving lost opportunities. If someone did not find what they were looking for, you can present an enticing offer to encourage them to subscribe.

Learn more about exit intent popups and how to capture leaving visitors.

Two-step pop-up

This form appears after someone clicks a link or button on your page. It typically sees high conversion rates because the visitor has intentionally clicked to receive your offer.

3. Landing page forms

Unlike a website with multiple pages, buttons, and navigation, a landing page has a single purpose: to capture subscriber signups.

Landing pages do not have navigation bars, menus, or other links. Your visitor has two choices: subscribe or leave.

Landing pages are effective because they keep visitors focused on one thing. You can use images, videos, text, and more to emphasize the value you provide when they sign up.

Where should you place your email signup form?

Using different types of forms helps improve each visitor's experience with your site. Some will immediately interact with a pop-up form. Others respond better to a form embedded in your content.

When deciding where to put your signup form, find the most noticeable yet natural placements that do not interrupt the experience someone has with your website.

Keep your form contextual. Make it relevant to the content the visitor is consuming, without feeling intrusive. You will capture more signups when the form appears at the moment someone is most likely to convert.

Where to place inline forms

You should have an inline form on every page of your website in your footer or sidebar. No matter where someone is on your website, they’ll have the opportunity to subscribe. The incentive you offer on this form should appeal broadly, even if visitors have different interests. For example, a 10% discount coupon or your latest tips and best practices.

Related: 25 brilliant lead magnet ideas to grow your email list right now

Where to place pop-up forms

Most of your traffic arrives on your homepage first. Add a pop-up form there to capture as many visitors as possible. This should promote your main incentive.

You can also place pop-up forms on other high-traffic pages. Identify these pages using a website analytics tool like Google Analytics.

Similar to inline forms, you can add pop-up forms that are specific to the content on each page.

How do you write signup form copy that converts?

Your signup form copy plays an essential role in highlighting the value you are offering. Here are the principles that turn visitors into subscribers.

1. Use a clear, concise headline 

There should be no question what subscribers will get by signing up. Use a headline that clearly conveys what you are offering and how it will help.

Example:

Coconuts & Kettlebells uses a headline that communicates the offer immediately: a free home workout program. The description adds value points, including that it is 72 pages and designed to help you get fit from home.

2. Clearly communicate the value

Below your headline, expand on the value you will provide. Explain how your offer solves a problem or answers a question. Show what changes for the subscriber after they sign up. You can do this with a sentence or two, or a bulleted list.

Example:

Stepmom Magazine's landing page articulates the value by including bullets of the types of content subscribers will receive.

3. Set clear expectations

Your signup form should set expectations about what subscribers will receive, how often, and what kind of content to expect.

This reduces spam complaints and unsubscribes. It also builds trust and helps you remain GDPR compliant.

Example:

Cat's Meow Village tells subscribers to expect fun, light-hearted emails every day for 21 days. As a subscriber, you know exactly what is coming.

4. Write conversational copy

Phrases like "Oh hey!" or "Hey you!" grab attention because visitors do not expect them. This copy hooks them in so you can tell them the value they will get from your email list.

Example:

Really Good Emails uses conversational copy that grabs the visitor's attention and feels personal.

5. Be creative, witty, or humorous

Being creative or humorous with your copy builds trust and allows subscribers to relate to you more easily.

Example:

How Not to Sail uses witty copy that ties into the sailing theme of his brand. Instead of a button that says "Sign Up," the form uses sailing terminology. The visitor imagines climbing aboard a ship and sailing away.

How should you design your email signup form?

Design can have a major impact on how people perceive your form. That’s because 90 percent of first impressions are based on visual or color cues alone.

In order to maximize your sign up form’s potential, here are a few things to consider:

1. Keep form fields to a minimum

Every additional field you ask for at the point of signup increases friction. Forms with fewer input fields convert better because visitors spend less time signing up.

In most cases, name and email address are all you need. If your goal is a new subscriber, ask for name and email. That is it. If your goal is lead generation, you might ask for more information to qualify the lead. Think about your goal to determine how many fields are right.

You can always gather additional information later through multi-step forms or post-signup surveys.

Example:

Ann Handley uses a signup form with just two fields to make the subscription process quick for visitors.

2. Use a clear call to action

Your CTA button should remind visitors of what they are signing up for. A button that says "Sign Up" is a missed opportunity.

The text on your CTA button should relate to the action the subscriber is taking. If you are offering a free guide, your button could say "Send me my free guide!"

Placing urgency in your CTA encourages action. Think "Join now!" or "Yes, I want in!"

Using personal or possessive language increases clicks. Phrases like "Send me updates!" or "Start my free trial" or "Download my free templates" help subscribers connect with the offer.

Example:

Paul Kirtley uses possessive language on his CTA button that relates directly to the action the subscriber is taking.

Related: 10 Call to action best practices to get more email subscribers

3. Follow a hierarchy for font sizes and types

When writing headlines, subheads, and description text, follow a typographic hierarchy. Your headline should be the largest text, followed by subheads, then description text.

Stick with one to two font types on your signup form. If you use more than one, make your headline font distinct from the rest.

Example:

FroKnowsPhoto uses good typographic hierarchy with the headline as the largest font, followed by a smaller subhead and description. Various font styles (bold, italicized, all caps) add visual interest.

4. Stick to 1-2 font colors

Too many font colors are distracting and make your form difficult to read.

Example:

The Daily Skimm uses just white for their font color, and it works.

5. Create color contrast

Contrasting colors help your signup form stand out on your website. A bright color on a neutral page draws attention to the form, which can increase the number of completions.

Example:

Teach Me To Talk uses a form where the color scheme attracts attention while clearly spelling out the incentive.

6. Visually represent your incentive

A visual representation of your incentive can be the extra push someone needs to subscribe. Signup forms with images receive significantly more views than those without.

Example:

Spoon Graphics adds a fun visual graphic to represent their incentive.

7. Let subscribers choose their preferences

Letting subscribers choose their email preferences helps engagement rates because they can customize the content they receive. When subscribers personalize their experience, they get more value and engage more.

Example:

The Intrepid Guide's signup form lets subscribers choose topic preferences for a more personalized email experience.

8. Try presenting an unfavorable alternative

Positioning opting out as an unfavorable alternative gets visitors to think about the negative consequences of not subscribing. This tactic works for pop-up forms or any type that can be dismissed. It does not work for inline forms or landing pages.

Example:

Boast gives subscribers a discount for signing up. If visitors do not want to subscribe, they click "No thanks, I prefer paying full price." That alternative makes subscribing the obvious choice.

If visitors don’t want to sign up, they can click “No thanks, I prefer paying full price.” at the bottom of the form. Who wants to pay full price? Not many people would like that alternative.

9. Use social proof

Social proof works on a basic principle: if other people have done something, it must be worth doing. It makes visitors feel confident that you are not a spammer and that they are making the right choice.

Example:

Nerd Fitness lets visitors know that over 300,000 people are subscribed to their email list. This builds trust. If that many people signed up, the content must be valuable.

10. Try use a big CTA button

More than half of website visits come from mobile devices. Make it easy to enter information and tap the button on a phone screen.

Example:

Mark Asquith's signup form has a big, bold button that reads "Download Now." It is easy to see and easy to tap.

11. Use plenty of white space

Give your copy room to breathe by spacing out the text, images, and form fields. This makes your form easier to read and helps it feel professional, which increases trust.

Example:

1 Chic Retreat uses plenty of white space to give their copy room to breathe.

Or have AI create the form for you

That is a lot of design decisions. Typography, color contrast, white space, CTA copy, field count. If you would rather skip the blank canvas, the AI signup form builder in AWeber handles all of it.

Describe your business in one sentence. The AI generates a complete signup form with your brand colors, a headline, description copy, the right input fields, and a designed layout. A bakery collecting emails for a weekly recipe newsletter gets a different form than a fitness coach promoting a free workout plan.

Every element is editable. Adjust the copy, swap colors, add or remove fields, change the button text. The AI gives you a working draft. You make it yours.

The form connects directly to your AWeber email list and automation workflow. New subscribers flow straight into your welcome sequence.

Learn more about how the AI signup form builder works.

Testing and optimizing your sign up form

Publishing your signup form is the beginning, not the end. It is important to continually improve and update your form by testing various elements.

You can run A/B tests (or split tests) to compare two versions of your signup form and find out which one performs better.

Over time, your signup form can become less effective because visitors have seen it multiple times. If it did not entice them to sign up previously, it most likely will not now. Test updates to your form with a fresh look periodically.

You can test anything on your signup form:

• Headline text
• Image vs no image
• Image vs video
• Description text
• CTA button text
• CTA button color
• Whether you ask for a subscriber’s name or not
• Timing of your pop-up form
• Placement of your sign up form

Case Study - 150% lift in engagement

When AWeber was looking to freshen up our popular “What to Write in Your Emails” course, some subscribers said they wanted more frequent emails. Others requested less frequent emails.

So we decided to let subscribers choose their own course email frequency on the signup form. Then, email automation delivered the course at their preferred pace.

This change increased open rates by 47% and click-through rates by 150%.

Research from AWeber found that 94% of small business owners write their own marketing emails. If that is you, giving subscribers control over frequency is one of the highest-impact changes you can make to your signup form.

Want to see how we did it? Check out our step-by-step explanation.

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Why brands need human-generated content ecosystems

If an AI-generated post receives a thread of AI-generated comments, does any human care?

Even in B2B marketing, where professional tone and buttoned-up writing are the norm, audiences are fatigued with overly polished AI content.

Half of Gen Z will block or unfollow an account for posting AI slop, per Sprout’s Q1 2026 Pulse Survey. Another 6 in 10 consumers report being less likely to engage with brand content in this AI atmosphere.

We’re back with the latest edition of our series, @Me Next Time, where we invite some of our favorite social experts to share how they really feel about the latest trends and industry discourse. This time, we’re addressing how AI backlash is bringing humanity back to B2B marketing, and why having a bench of employees in your content helps brands break through.

We sat down with Patsy Wagner, Associate Director of Global Content & Owned Channel Marketing at Spotify, to find out how she brings human-driven storytelling to the B2B side of the brand. We also talked about how human-generated content ecosystems drive authority, discoverability and connection in the age of answer-optimized search.

What is human-generated content vs. AI-generated content?

First, how do human-generated and AI-generated content differ?

• Human-generated content: Images, articles, videos, ads and other digital material drafted by humans. Distinctly human content pulls from lived experience and original ideas that robots can’t replicate.
• AI-generated content: Materials drafted entirely by AI (even with human refinement).

 

As consumers have gotten savvier, key “tells” of AI-generated content have emerged, including the overuse of em dashes, sentences that are all the same length, three-point lists and “it’s not X, it’s Y” statements. There are also the images and videos that defy the laws of psychics and the natural world. But AI is getting better, to the point where many people aren’t sure if they’ve encountered it. Some 43% of consumers say they only see AI slop sometimes or never, according to our Q1 2026 Pulse Survey.

Even as AI content evolves, consumers remain steadfast in their stated preference for human-generated social content. According to The Social Media Content Strategy Report, consumers want brands to make human-generated content their #1 priority in 2026. In a direct contradiction, marketers say they use AI for content creation more than any other task. When social teams lean on AI for the creative part of their jobs instead of tedious work like data collection and analysis, it creates a dynamic that is good for neither the creators nor the audience.

While AI tools make quick work of tasks like content editing and ideation, they can’t replace human nuance. The rise of AI-generated content and AI influencers has some users declaring we’re in the era of “dead internet.”

Wagner explained why using AI for social content can lead to an engagement drop-off. “AI content often sounds similar in cadence and punctuation. The more a brand defines its distinct tone, the more it will differentiate and connect with customers. Humans are drawn to ‘the zags’ or minor errors. AI produces textbook content, but that doesn’t get noticed. I recently told our agency, ‘Give me something I can hate,’ because it’s easier to pull back from a big swing than to work with something too palatable.”

The human voices you need in your social media content ecosystem

For brands navigating a sea of slop, just posting from the brand account reduces opportunities for success. People carry more credibility, and brands need an ecosystem of influencers, employee creators and executives to effectively reach their audience.

Wagner added, “On LinkedIn, people use their feed rather than visiting brand pages. Messages feel more authentic coming from a person. I personally pay more attention to people at my own level who are also in the weeds. Their advice is actionable, not just a framework. In the age of AI, it’s nice to see a relatable face you could DM.”

Executive voices

The Sprout Social Content Benchmarks Report found that almost half of social users say the content they wish they saw more of on LinkedIn is company updates directly from leadership.

Your executives are uniquely positioned to share a POV on the future of your organization and industry, and overview of your latest features and product releases. Execs like Spotify’s co-CEO, Gustav Söderström, who has been with the company since 2008, can also help connect your brand’s history with the present.

Putting executives in front of the camera makes your brand seem trustworthy and transparent, helping you earn lifelong customers. It also supports talent retention, while attracting and reassuring investors and partners.

Employee creators

We’ve already written about why employee creators are so critical for helping brands maintain engagement amid AI content ubiquity. Their distinctly human quirks, talents and personalities multiply content resonance and visibility.

The best employee-generated content comes from employees who are genuinely passionate about content creation and are willing to develop their personal brand alongside the corporate brand. Within reason, they should have free rein to showcase their competency and individuality. In 2025, Sprout’s own Internal Creator Network’s share of video impressions grew 680% year-over-year. Now it accounts for almost 30% of all video impressions, despite being less than 8% of our total content mix.

Your employees help your audience emotionally connect with your brand, reminding people that there are real humans behind your logo.

Influencers and creators

Influencers and creators serve as an extension of your brand’s identity. Their content becomes part of your brand universe and shapes the way people see your products.

That’s why long-term relationships are so beneficial for brands and influencers alike. Influencer partners also become partners in collecting customer feedback, leading product innovation and, of course, crafting content that will effectively reach your shared audiences.

The impact of influencer marketing is undeniable, with 64% of consumers saying when a brand partners with their favorite influencer, they’re more likely to make a purchase per Sprout’s Q3 2025 Pulse Survey.

How human-generated content fortifies your brand

Of course, human content is more resource-intensive than AI content generation. Even with AI tools and software, it still requires talent management and sourcing, plus the time to create training materials and provide real-time coaching. But that extra effort is worth it, as human-generated content distinguishes your brand, adds new distribution channels, and brings cohesion to your audience’s experience and internal team’s strategy.

Distinct brand identity

Every marketer dreams of building brand identity so recognizable consumers don’t even need to see your logo. They know your brand from a color palette, a font or even a few lines of copy. Even when AI is trained on your brand guidelines, it doesn’t replicate the subtlety that makes your tone and voice distinct. As employee voices become more important, recognizable personalities become the characters in your extended brand universe.

Wagner explained: “As marketers, we spend a lot of time thinking about how brands show up from a creative perspective, which tends to mean their visual identity. But I would argue that as AI becomes a resource many teams use to write copy, tone, voice and humanity become even more important than visual expression of a brand.”

Whether you’re building or retaining hard-won awareness, human storytelling makes it easier to create truly original content. The personalities of the people you feature can still shine through, even while staying on-brand. The key is integrating your brand guidelines at the concepting and briefing stage. You might answer questions like:

• What cues can I provide talent so they hit the right tone (i.e., funny, educational, serious, playful)?
• How does this person’s point of view complement our brand values and narrative?
• What proprietary data points can we feature in this content?
• Should this post become a content series?
• What brand visual elements should this content incorporate (i.e., backgrounds, lighting, on-screen graphics)?

Amplified distribution

Ironically, human-generated content tends to perform just as well—if not better—with AI-driven search than AI-generated content. One study found that 82% of articles cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity are written by humans, and only 18% are generated using AI.

“From a technical standpoint, human-generated content helps because LLMs are looking for signals across so many different channels. My team leads our SEO function too, and those levers are evolving. Answer engine optimization (AEO) is a totally different beast. You need to be across so many channels, and the authority signals are different. Putting content on your brand’s own channels probably isn’t what gets you discovered,” said Wagner.

When you publish human-generated content like short-form videos on YouTube and TikTok, AMA Reddit threads, and expert-driven Substack and blog articles, you’re feeding the ravenous LLMs that require a constant diet of human ideas and data to remain useful.

Plus, showing up across channels meets audiences’ changing media diets.

As Wagner put it, “People are consuming media in such a fragmented way. To get in front of your audience and have an impact on their perception, you need to be everywhere they are: thought leadership blogs, influencer accounts, traditional media and your internal employees’ pages.”

Integration across functions

Human-led content ecosystems require social, content, SEO and other digital marketing teams to work in lockstep. These orgs must align around goals and objectives, while allowing each function the chance to lean into their expertise. For example, the content team knows how to build cohesive thought leadership narratives. The social team has mastered video production and influencer marketing. The SEO team is well-versed in the evolution of search.

At Spotify, Wagner’s team is composed of all of these different disciplines. “I’m a firm believer that content and channel marketing work better when they’re integrated. We’ve been asking big questions like: What can we do to create a more integrated approach to content marketing?”

Humans keep the internet (and your brand) alive

AI-generated content is everywhere, and it’s bogging down our algorithms and attention spans. The brands that break through will be the ones that double down on human perspective rather than dilute it.

Human-generated content builds trust, relatability, community and long-term audience connection in ways AI can’t replicate. By activating executives, employee creators and influencers, brands can create an ecosystem that expands reach while reinforcing authenticity. This approach also strengthens discoverability across increasingly fragmented channels and evolving search behaviors.

AI may accelerate content production, but it’s human creativity, opinion and imperfection that keep audiences paying attention.

Looking for more on employee-generated content? Check out our employee advocacy program launch checklist to create your own program.

The post Why brands need human-generated content ecosystems appeared first on Sprout Social.

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Popup forms: how to capture subscribers without annoying visitors

A popup form is a small overlay window that appears on your website to collect email addresses. Done right, it's the fastest way to grow your list. Done wrong, it's the fastest way to lose a visitor.

The difference has nothing to do with the popup itself. It's about when, where, and how often it appears.

Most popup forms fail because they show up too early, too often, and on every page. The visitor hasn't even read a sentence yet, and you're asking for their email. That's not a conversion strategy. That's an interruption.

You can build a popup that converts and still respects the person on the other side of the screen. Here's how.

How to design a website popup

The fastest way to design a popup is to describe what you want. The AI Signup Form Builder from AWeber creates the entire popup from a text description. Tell it your business, what you're offering, and when the form should appear. Something like: "I run a marketing blog. Offer a free email checklist. Show the form after 30 seconds." The builder generates the copy, design, layout, and fields. You can edit any element or use it as-is.

Once the form is ready, it connects to your AWeber email list automatically. When someone submits the form, they're added to the list you selected and can enter any automation sequence you've built. No coding, no separate design tools, no third-party plugins. (For step-by-step instructions, see AWeber's guide to creating a form with the AI builder.)

Whether you use the AI builder or design manually, the same principles apply.

Start with a specific headline

Your headline should state what the visitor gets in under ten words. Not "Subscribe to our newsletter." Instead, "Get the weekly marketing checklist." The visitor should understand the offer before they read anything else.

"Free email marketing checklist" beats "Join our list" every time. Name the deliverable. Be specific about what shows up in their inbox.

Add a value statement (optional)

One sentence of context below the headline. "Sent to your inbox in 60 seconds" or "Used by 5,000+ small business owners." This line builds urgency or credibility. If the headline is clear enough on its own, skip it.

Keep the form to one or two fields

Email is the only field you need to start a relationship. If you want a name for personalization, add one more field. That's the ceiling for a popup.

Every additional field reduces completion rates. Collect everything else later through a welcome email, segmentation, or a preference center. (For inline forms on dedicated pages, you have more room. See our guide on lead capture forms that convert.)

Use action language on the button

"Send me the checklist" outperforms "Submit." First person ("Get my free guide") outperforms second person ("Get your free guide") in most tests. The CTA button is doing the final work. Make it specific to the offer.

Make the close button obvious

Not a tiny X in the corner. Not a guilt-tripping "No, I don't want more customers" dismiss link. A clear, visible close option. If someone doesn't want to subscribe right now, let them leave easily. Trapping visitors doesn't build trust.

When should a popup form appear?

Timing decides whether the popup feels helpful or hostile. A popup that fires in the first three seconds tells the visitor you care more about their email than their experience. A popup that waits until someone has scrolled halfway down the page, or spent 30 seconds reading, appears when the visitor is already engaged.

The three most effective triggers are scroll depth, time on page, and exit intent.

Scroll-based triggers

Scroll-based triggers show the popup after the visitor scrolls a percentage of the page. For blog posts, 40% to 60% scroll depth works well. The visitor has consumed enough content to have an opinion about your site.

Time-based triggers

Time-based triggers fire after a set number of seconds. Fifteen to thirty seconds gives most visitors enough time to engage. Anything under ten seconds feels aggressive.

Exit-intent triggers

Exit-intent triggers detect when a visitor's cursor moves toward the browser's close button or address bar. The popup appears just before they leave. This is the least intrusive option because you're only reaching people who were about to go anyway. Exit-intent popups consistently convert at higher rates than timed popups because they don't interrupt the reading experience.

You can combine these triggers. Show a scroll-based popup to engaged readers. Reserve exit-intent for everyone else. Readers deep into your content get the offer when they're most interested. Visitors who are leaving get one more reason to stay connected.

How often should the popup appear?

Once a visitor closes your popup, showing it again on the next pageview is the fastest way to train them to leave.

Set a frequency cap so the popup appears once per session, or once every seven days if you want to be more conservative. Repeated popups don't convert resistant visitors. They just confirm the decision to leave. If someone closes your popup, respect that decision for at least the rest of their visit.

Where should a popup form appear?

Not every page on your site needs a popup. Showing the same form everywhere dilutes its impact and frustrates visitors who see it repeatedly across different contexts.

Page targeting

Match the popup to the content. A popup offering a "blog writing checklist" makes sense on a post about content marketing. It makes no sense on your pricing page. Show popups only on pages where the offer is relevant.

A generic "join our newsletter" popup works nowhere as well as a targeted offer tied to the content. If someone is reading about email automation, offer a resource about email automation.

Device targeting

Popups behave differently on mobile and desktop. A popup that looks fine on a laptop can cover the entire screen on a phone.

Google has used intrusive mobile interstitials as a negative ranking signal since January 2017. Full-screen popups that cover all content immediately on mobile page load can hurt your search rankings. Popups triggered by a time delay, scroll depth, or exit intent are not penalized.

Show a smaller banner or slide-in on mobile. Save the full-screen popup for desktop. Make the close button easy to find and tap on any screen size.

Popup form examples

Four examples of forms created using the AI Signup Form Builder in AWeber.

Gamify

Turn the popup into a quiz, trivia question, or spin-to-win wheel. The visitor engages before they see the email field.

Discount offer

A spin-to-win wheel or coupon popup that fires right before someone leaves. The visitor enters their email to claim the prize.

Multi-step form

The visitor makes a low-commitment decision first. By the time they see the email field, they've already said yes.

Sticky bar

A thin bar at the top or bottom of the page with a form field and CTA button. Always visible, never blocking content.

You can build any of these formats with the AI Signup Form Builder. Describe the format you want, set the timing, and the builder handles the rest.

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How to build a lead capture form that converts

You're getting traffic. People visit your site, read your content, and leave. No email address. No way to follow up. No relationship.

A lead capture form fixes that.

This guide covers what to include on your forms, where to place them, and how to build a form that segments subscribers from the moment they sign up.

What is a lead capture form?

It's a short form on your website or landing page that collects a visitor's contact information in exchange for something valuable. One good form, in the right place, with the right fields, turns anonymous visitors into subscribers you can actually reach.

Lead capture forms appear on websites, landing pages, blog posts, and social media link-in-bio pages. They connect directly to your email marketing platform so every new subscriber enters your system automatically, ready to receive your welcome sequence.

What fields should you include on a lead capture form?

Start with the minimum: an email address field and a submit button. Every field you add beyond that reduces your conversion rate. The question is whether the information you gain is worth the subscribers you lose.

Email address

This is the only required field. Without it, you have no way to follow up.

First name

A first name field lets you personalize emails using conditional content. "Hey Sean" outperforms "Hey there" in open rates.

Additional fields

A single segmentation question like "What best describes your business?" or "What's your biggest challenge right now?" lets you tag subscribers at the point of signup and route them into targeted automations. In AWeber, tags applied at form submission feed directly into Workflow Builder automations, so each subscriber gets relevant content from their first email.

Fields that rarely earn their place: phone number (unless you're a service business booking calls), company name, job title, and physical address. Save those for later in the relationship when trust is established.

For most small businesses, two to three fields is the sweet spot. Email plus first name gives you personalization. Add one segmentation question and you get immediate automation power. Anything beyond three fields needs a strong justification, or a multi-step form that spreads the ask across multiple screens.

How to build a lead capture form

Building a lead capture form doesn't require coding or design skills. The AI Signup Form Builder in AWeber creates forms from a text description.

Describe any form you can imagine. A single-field email capture for your homepage. A multi-step quiz that segments visitors across three screens before asking for their email. A popup with branded button copy and a specific offer. The AI builder creates it from your description.

You're not limited to templates or preset layouts.

Where should you put lead capture forms on your website?

Form placement determines whether visitors actually see your form before they leave. The best form converts zero subscribers if it's buried in a footer nobody scrolls to.

Above the fold on your homepage

This is the highest-visibility position on your site. Visitors see it without scrolling. Pair it with a clear value proposition: what they get, how often, and why it matters.

Inline within blog posts

Place a contextual form one-third of the way into your content. The reader has consumed enough to trust your expertise but hasn't finished the article. The offer should relate directly to the topic they're reading. A blog post about email subject lines should offer a subject line template, not a generic newsletter signup.

Exit-intent popups

These forms appear when a visitor's cursor moves toward the browser's close button or back arrow. Exit-intent captures visitors who would otherwise leave with nothing. The key is a specific, compelling offer. "Wait, grab this free template before you go" outperforms "Subscribe to our newsletter." Exit-intent forms in AWeber detect this cursor movement and trigger automatically.

You don't have to figure out placement on your own. The AI Signup Form Builder in AWeber lets you specify where you want your form to appear. Tell it you want an inline form for your blog, a popup for your homepage, or an exit-intent overlay, and it builds the form for that placement.

Lead capture form examples that convert

The best lead capture forms share three traits: a specific promise, minimal friction, and visual clarity about what happens next.

All the form examples below were created using the AWeber AI Signup Form Builder.

Blog subscribe

A short inline form inside a blog post. One to two fields. High relevance because the reader is already engaged with the topic.

The question-style multi-step form

Opens with an engaging question, collects preferences across two to three screens, and asks for the email on the final screen to deliver results. High completion rates because curiosity drives the interaction.

The free tool access form

One field (email address) gating access to a calculator, generator, or template library. The value is immediate, which reduces hesitation.

What should you write on a lead capture form?

Every word on your form either moves someone toward subscribing or gives them a reason to hesitate. The copy framework is simple: state what they get, how often, and what happens next.

Headline: One sentence describing the benefit. "Get weekly email marketing tips that take five minutes to read" is stronger than "Subscribe to our newsletter."

Subheadline: Address the objection. "No spam. Unsubscribe anytime." removes risk.

Button text: Specific action beats generic language. "Send me the templates" converts better than "Submit." The button should complete the sentence "I want to..."

Social proof (optional): "Join 100,000+ small business owners" works when the number is real and impressive. Skip it if your list is small. A testimonial quote near the form works at any list size.

Lead capture form best practices

Good form design comes down to reducing friction and increasing motivation. These practices apply whether you're building a single-field popup or a four-step segmentation form.

Ask for one thing per screen

Multi-step forms outperform long single-page forms because each screen feels quick. One question, a few answer choices, and a button. That's it.

Match the offer to the page

A form on a blog post about subject lines should offer a subject line swipe file, not a generic newsletter signup. Relevance is the single biggest driver of form conversion. Visitors convert when the offer extends the value of what they're already reading.

Use specific button copy

"Get the free checklist" outperforms "Submit" every time. The button text should tell the visitor exactly what happens when they click.

Show a progress bar on multi-step forms

When visitors can see they're on step 2 of 4, they're more likely to finish. Progress indicators reduce abandonment because the end is visible.

Place the form where intent is highest

Above the fold for homepage visitors who arrived with purpose. Inline at the one-third mark for blog readers who are engaged but haven't committed. Exit-intent for visitors about to leave. Different placements capture different intent levels.

Keep the design clean

White space around form fields reduces visual noise. Fewer competing elements on the page means more attention on the form itself.

Tag subscribers at submission

Every answer choice on a multi-step form should apply a tag. Those tags become triggers for automated email sequences in your Workflow Builder, so each subscriber gets content matched to what they told you on the form.

What is the best form builder for lead capture?

The best form builder for lead capture has no limitations on what you can create. No rigid templates. No preset layouts you have to work around. You describe what you want, and it builds it.

That also means it connects directly to your email platform. A form that collects subscriber data but can't apply tags, trigger automations, or route people into the right welcome sequence is just a data collection tool. The form builder and the email platform need to be the same system.

Only one email marketing platform on the market does both: AWeber. The AI Signup Form Builder creates any form you can describe in plain text. A single-field popup. A branded multi-step quiz. A full-page signup with custom segmentation fields. You tell it what you need, and it generates the form with your branding, your copy, and your fields.

Because the form builder lives inside AWeber, every form is natively connected to your subscriber list, your tags, and your Workflow Builder automations. There's no integration to configure, no webhook to maintain, no third-party tool passing data between systems. A subscriber fills out your form and enters your automation in the same moment.

Lead capture form template: a starting point

Form templates are outdated. They force you to start with someone else's design, then spend time stripping out what you don't need and adding what you do.

A better approach: describe the form you need in plain text and let it get built for you. The AI Signup Form Builder in AWeber works this way. Tell it your business, your offer, and the fields you want to collect. It generates a branded form with your colors, your copy, and your layout. No template required.

If you see a form on another site that you like, you don't need to find the same template. Copy the image, paste it into the AI form builder, and tell it to create something similar for your business. It builds a version matched to your brand in seconds.

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