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SUMMARY: “In
effect, BuzzFeed’s devotion to rapid A/B testing was also an acknowledgement
of sorts: ‘We don’t know what works.’” – Bharat Anand in The Content Trap Does
your marketing department embrace that same humility? To
inspire your search for what works with your brand, read on for examples from
Codecademy, an energy shopping website, and a federal credit union. |
by Daniel Burstein, Senior
Director, Content & Marketing, MarketingSherpa and MECLABS Institute May
19, 2021
This article was originally published in the MarketingSherpa
email newsletter.
“Any
piece of marketing data that doesn’t help you predict behavior is virtually
useless to you as a marketer,” said Flint McGlaughlin in Unlock the Power of Your A/B Testing Program.
In
this article, we bring you stories of companies that ran experiments to create
data that would help them predict behavior of not only customers, but also
fellow website owners.
First
up, a look at how Codecademy discovered the most effective way to present its
pricing to potential students. Then, an energy shopping website that ran
landing page tests to predict how customers would react to a simpler signup
process. And finally, a credit union that ran an SEO experiment across six
different strategies to predict the best way to build more links to its
website.
Quick Case Study #1: Rule of 100 and ordering
in pricing presentation contribute to a 28% lift in annual pro plans for
Codecademy
As a
subscription business, Codecademy knew that
small repeatable wins could compound to earn them millions of dollars in
additional revenue.
"When
I think back to where we were two and a half years ago, the biggest issue with
our testing program was that we tried several small ideas in different places
and didn’t iterate enough on concepts. Our ideas were driven by individual
opinions and changes that we saw our competitors making, which is one of the
worst ways to run a testing program,” said Daniel Layfield, Product Manager,
Codecademy.
“The
tide turned for us when we began focusing on our own learners and what we knew
about them—their perceptions of our product and consumer behavior that was
supported by evidence. This research informed better hypotheses, which allowed
us to launch better tests and start unraveling bigger problems—problems we
couldn't solve without changing fundamental parts of our business. That’s what
led us to strategic testing. Once we realized this, we had to prioritize which
areas of the business to test first,” he said.
One
of the first strategic tests the growth team prioritized was to A/B test
reordering the pricing plan cards, with the hypothesis that shifting the order
to start with the lowest price instead of the shortest plan length would
increase the value perception of the higher LTV (lifetime value) plans.
The
original (control) was ordered from monthly to annual plans and included the
percentage customers could save by signing up for a longer plan.
Creative Sample #1: Control (original) price presentation for
Codecademy
The
after (treatment) is ordered from the lowest monthly cost to the highest.
It
also leveraged a psychological principle called the Rule of 100, which suggests
that users perceive dollar amounts over 100 as being greater in value than
percentages, even if both equate to the same amount. Because the savings on the
annual plan was above $100, the team tested showing dollar amounts.
Creative Sample #2: Treatment (after) price presentation for
Codecademy
The
“after” (treatment) test variant contributed to a 28% lift in annual pro plans,
increasing the average order value as well as the lifetime value of new
customers.
“Use
research, persuasion principles, and experimentation to find the best pricing
presentation that works for your users and achieves business goals,” advised
Ben Labay, Managing Director, Speero (Codecademy’s customer experience
agency).
Quick Case Study #2: Reducing friction
increases sales 32% for energy shopping website
Power
Target LLC runs energy shopping websites like ElectricityRates.com to
help consumers in deregulated energy markets make more informed, confident
choices while providing a simple online marketplace for switching electricity
providers.
The
team ran a landing page test to better understand customers and increase sales.
For Power Target, a sale is a customer enrolling in a new electricity plan.
Users
coming from paid traffic were landing on a generic experience with a little bit
of information about what the site offered and a ZIP code entry form visitors
had to fill out to take the next step and compare energy rates in their area.
This experience was not specific to any market or customer segment and while it
was effective for high-intent visitors, a lot of users were bouncing.
Creative Sample #3: Before (control) paid traffic landing page for
energy shopping website
The
team created a new (treatment) landing page that has a relevant headline and
displays energy options from the user’s utility before they have to enter any
information. The team’s hypothesis was that by displaying energy options and
cutting out the step of having to enter the ZIP code first, users would
essentially be able to instantly “window-shop” by seeing what’s available in
their area immediately upon landing.
Creative Sample #4: Treatment (after) paid traffic landing
page for energy shopping website
The
A/B split test ran for about four weeks and the treatment improved conversion
rates by 32% over the previous version and was rolled out to all paid traffic
coming to ElectricityRates.com.
“Give
your customer what they're looking for as soon as they land on your site.
Eliminate any unnecessary steps to make the buying process as smooth as
possible and constantly question ‘do we really need this step/process in order
to better serve the customer?’” advised Adam Cain, Director of Customer
Experience, Power Target LLC. “Also make your landing experience as relevant as
possible to the user’s intent including their location, demographics, etc.”
Quick Case Study #3: Six strategies that
helped credit union secure 77 backlinks
Over
a seven-month span of link building, the team at Truliant
Federal Credit Union secured a total of 77 backlinks for the
financial institution’s website by testing six different strategies. Of the 77
links acquired, over 70% were to target pages. Here are the strategies they
experimented with:
·
Unlinked mentions –
“Once you’ve identified these unlinked mentions, you can reach out to the
appropriate contact and request to update the mention with a clickable
hyperlink back to your site,” said Jeff Hibbard, Vice President of Digital
Innovation, Truliant FCU. The team identified 1,500+ opportunities for this
strategy, securing 35 links with a 2.5% conversion rate.
·
Broken links or 404
pages – The team identified 250+ opportunities for this strategy, securing 18
links with a 2.6% conversion rate.
·
Link additions – The
team identified pages with existing backlinks where it made sense to offer a
Truliant page in tandem with the existing link. The team identified 350+
opportunities for link addition, securing six links with a 1% conversion rate.
·
Ego baiting – The team
found existing external links on the site and tried to secure placement on a
Press, About Us, or Featured On page on a third-party website. They identified
70+ opportunities for this strategy, securing two links with a 1% conversion
rate.
·
Thought Leadership –
They tried providing quotes, participating in interviews and podcasts, or
becoming a regular contributor to relevant publications. The team found 250+
opportunities for this strategy and secured 14 links with a 2.5% conversion
rate.
·
Pitching as a Resource –
“This approach requires you to create high-quality and competitive content, you
just need to make sure that there is a sincere value add for third-party
websites providing a link back to the resource,” Hibbard said. They secured
three links with a 0.5% conversion rate.
“In
addition to ranking keyword and traffic growth, we also saw improvements on the
Page Authority (PA) score from Moz on the same pages,” Hibbard said.
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