Campaign Monitor Test
| VERSION A |
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How site visitors voted:
VERSION A (56%)
VERSION B (44%)
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Actual Test Results:
The ‘Are you a designer?’ overlay got 24.7% more visitors to sign up for a free account than the same landing page without an overlay. Surprising but true, the conversion path requiring a click to enter was the winner. Perhaps the overlay copy increased the self-identification and sense of personal relevancy prospects felt about the offer? Campaign Monitor used Google Website Optimizer with creative help from Newism Pty Ltd. to conduct the test. Traffic was driven by online ads on relevant third-party sites. View the ad that brought visitors to the winning landing page here. The campaign goal was to get professional web designers to sign up as affiliates, offering Campaign Monitor’s email services to their clients. On a side note, the marketing team tested another version of the landing page sans overlay that had completely different benefit copy. Instead of promoting the benefit of impressing your clients, it headlined “earn money in your sleep.” Although this type of copy often works gangbusters in the affiliate world, in this marketplace the conversion rate was precisely zero. The lesson: always test key benefit copy because you never know what will work with a particular prospect demographic. WhichTestWon.com is sponsored by: WiderFunnel Conversion Optimization, the A/B and multivariate testing firm that guarantees your ROI. Click here for info on improving your site’s results — risk free – today! |
Wow… this one really got me. I figured the added benefits of having a landing page with additional content would provide a better response. In this case, not so though!
I don’t know if it was intended that way, but you gave a pretty big clue with the overlay that popped up on this page whilst I considered the question. Hehe
Indeeed an unusual situation to present an overlay! My hunch was that it would be effective because of its appealing graphic and that the question was very quick and easy to deal with. It created a bit of intrigue and suspense to audience that had already decided to click through. Cool!
A few months ago this would have got me, but now we have seen several examples like this work well. Great example!
I agree with Stuart… it was a give away with the popup
It’s another example of creating what’s known as a psychological “YES-SET”… starting the “YESSES” flowing from the outset of the sales presentation. Simple, yet effective… but only IF the copy underlying it is effective.
Success!
Drew Eric Whitman, D.R.S.
Direct Response Surgeon(tm)
http://www.Cashvertising.com
I noticed that MarketingSherpa has been using this technique for a few weeks now. They learn from their research…
My theory is that the overlay acts like a very basic landing page that helps the users self qualify for the subsequent content. They only have to read a very simple question, and if they agree, they then feel a bit more affinity with the website and are then willing to invest the time to read the denser copy on the next page.
Very interesting.
I am curious – how have people implemented the overlay without negative impact to SEO?
I am not a fan of the overlay, but it does work in some situations. The immediate increase in leads may not be justified after taking into account the lead quality of forcing an overlay, and also the loss of brand value by the people who were greatly turned off by your company forcing a pop-up.
I saw this popup when the campaign was live. I think a big part of why this is effective is that the overlay directly related to the ad driving traffic to their page. The ad was a simple blueprint box with the words “Built for designers”. You may still be able to see the ad on design blogs like smashingmagazine.com. So I think the success is not just in an overlay, but in a call from the ad, with an answer on the landing page.