What if you could increase your revenue by 26% with a simple change in your website design? That’s what Invesp CRO did for their ecommerce client by testing different home page variations during the holiday season.
This is just one example of how brands can use experimentation to optimize their marketing and innovation efforts.
In this article, we will explore real-world cases of successful tests that have boosted conversions, engagement, and customer satisfaction for various businesses. You will learn how to apply the principles and best practices of experimentation to your brand and achieve similar results.
Real-World Examples of Successful Tests (and Optimization Tips by CRO Experts)
Here are some examples of successful tests and optimization tips from experts:
1. Holiday A/B Testing by Invesp
The holiday season is a crucial period for brands, where competition intensifies, and capturing consumer attention becomes even more challenging.
In 2021, holiday retail sales hit a whopping $889.30 billion in the US alone.
IN 2022, this number increased by 5.3%, and holiday retail sales reached $936.3 billion.
These numbers are especially shocking if you consider the relatively recent outbreak of the COVID-19 virus.
This also shows that the holiday season will always be a special time for people to splurge and treat themselves and their loved ones.
Seeing the impact of holidays on ecommerce and the retail market, let’s delve into an intriguing case involving Invesp CRO and their holiday testing for an ecommerce client.
Goal:
During the holiday season, Invesp CRO aimed to optimize the website design for their ecommerce client to improve their sales.
Results:
Through iterative testing and experimentation, Invesp CRO achieved significant improvements in the purchase rate, demonstrating the effectiveness of their approach.
Here’s how they went out about it:
Their client’s original website design had multiple offers, showcasing a 25% discount and free shipping for orders exceeding $99 across various categories.
This made the website cluttered and made for an overwhelming user experience.
Our A/B testing team recognized the need for optimization and introduced several variations to the website design.
Variation 1:
In Variation 1, they simplified the page by removing excessive numbers and relocating the discount offers and free shipping details to the bottom of the header image. Additionally, they strategically added a “hottest deals” section immediately after the hero section, capturing visitors’ attention with enticing offers.
The results of Variation 1 were promising – showing a significant 6.4% increase in the purchase rate. This positive outcome reinforced the importance of streamlining the user interface and providing a clear and concise value proposition to holiday shoppers rather than a cluttered mess of discounts and offers.
Variation 2:
Building upon this success, Invesp CRO created another variation.
In Variation 2, they made the “up to 70% off” discount offer more prominent.
By highlighting this compelling deal, they achieved an impressive 26.4% surge in the purchase rate. This outcome showcased the immense impact of strategically showcasing an exciting offer during the holiday season when consumers actively seek the best deals.
Variation 3:
Continuing their iterative approach, Invesp CRO introduced Variation 3, which involved removing the “hottest deals” section.
Surprisingly, this adjustment still yielded a 14.4% increase in the purchase rate.
This demonstrated the importance of finding the right balance between providing enticing offers and avoiding overwhelming visitors with too much information.
Through these variations, Invesp CRO successfully optimized the website design for their ecommerce client during the holiday season.
To quote Invesp’s team,
“If you add too many holiday offers, it can be overwhelming for customers. Why not create different variations of your site and combine one or two offers to see which variations drive the most conversions?”
2. Landing Page Testing by Admix Global
Dmytro Sokhach, founder of Admix Global and an experienced SEO professional, shares an example of a successful test that significantly impacted his landing page conversion rates.
Experiment Goal:
Dmytro and his CRO team focused on adding a human touch to the landing page to increase trust and ultimately boost conversions.
Experiment Description:
Initially, Admix Global’s landing page was relatively standard, looking like any other digital agency website, with stock photos and a lack of personal touch.
Dmytro and his team hypothesized that injecting authenticity and humanizing the page could establish visitor trust, leading to higher conversion rates.
To execute the experiment, they implemented the following changes:
- Replaced stock images with real-life pictures of their team members.
- Included video testimonials to showcase genuine feedback from clients.
- Posted actual job vacancies, adding credibility to the authenticity of the company.
These modifications aimed to create a sense of trustworthiness and human connection.
Experiment Results:
Through an A/B test, Dmytro and his team compared the performance of the modified landing page against the previous template.
The results were remarkable – a significant increase in conversion rates:
The conversion rate rose from 6.99% to 12.08%, representing a substantial growth of 73 percent.
The experiment proved their hypothesis right – adding a human touch had a significant impact on trust and, in turn, conversions.
Reflecting on the factors that contributed to their success, Dmytro emphasizes two key elements.
Firstly, their fundamental approach went beyond mere aesthetics. They delved into consumer psychology, recognizing that potential customers value trust and authenticity. By using these principles as the foundation for their changes, they were able to connect with their audience on a deeper level.
Secondly, being data-driven played a crucial role. By setting up a proper A/B test and meticulously analyzing the numbers, they could objectively evaluate the results. This allowed them to make informed decisions based on concrete data, ensuring the experiment’s success.
Based on his experience, Dmytro suggests,
“My advice to fellow CRO experts is to begin with fundamental, underlying hypotheses instead of randomly testing aesthetic elements. The principle that being genuine can drive trust and conversions paid off significantly.”
3. Improving Conversion Rates with Streamlined Navigation: A Real-World Experiment
Daniel Chabert, the CEO & Founder of PurpleFire, shares an insightful example of an experiment that helped him increase conversion rates for an ecommerce platform specializing in specialty toys.
Identifying the Challenge:
In 2016, one of their ecommerce clients faced a persistent challenge – low conversion rates.
Upon analyzing the site, Daniel and his team discovered that the unconventional navigation was creating friction for users. To tackle this issue, they conducted an A/B test, comparing the original site design to a new design with a streamlined menu.
Experiment Design:
Daniel’s team redesigned the site to simplify the user experience by improving navigation.
The team strategically increased the visibility of popular categories and guided users toward specific product selections. By reducing friction and enhancing the ease of navigation, they sought to impact conversion rates positively.
Results:
The A/B test yielded compelling results.
With its streamlined menu and improved user experience, the new design increased conversion rates by 18%.
This outcome validated the hypothesis that simplifying navigation can directly and positively impact the platform’s conversion rates.
Key Factors for Success:
According to Daniel, several key factors contributed to the success of this experiment:
- Accurate identification of the root cause: The team identified that the site’s poor navigation was the primary obstacle to better user experience and conversions. This insight informed their approach and led to effective solutions.
- Well-defined testing goals: They established clear objectives, creating a frictionless experience and improving conversion rates through simplified navigation. This allowed the team to measure the success accurately.
- Precise tracking of metrics: The team tracked conversions of the control and variation groups, ensuring that other factors remained constant. This rigorous approach provided reliable results and strengthened their confidence in the findings.
4. Optimizing Meta Descriptions
Maria Harutyunyan, the co-founder of Loopex Digital, shares an example of a successful experiment she led, focusing on optimizing meta descriptions for a client’s website.
Enhancing Click-Through Rates with Personalized Meta Descriptions
Maria and her team had a hypothesis that customizing meta descriptions for each page of their client’s website could lead to improved click-through rates (CTR) from search engine results pages (SERPs).
They selected a few pages to test this hypothesis and crafted more engaging language while incorporating targeted keywords into their meta descriptions.
Results: A Significant 25% Increase in CTR
After closely monitoring the results for a few weeks, the team found that the personalized meta descriptions had a remarkable impact.
The pages with customized descriptions resulted in a 25% increase in CTR compared to those with standard meta descriptions.
Encouraged by this success, Maria and her team revamped the meta descriptions for all of their client’s websites, leading to SEO improvements across the board.
Key Factors for Success:
According to Maria, this experiment’s success was primarily due to:
- Well-Defined Hypothesis: The experiment started with a clear hypothesis – personalizing meta descriptions could enhance CTR from SERPs. This helped the CRO team focus their efforts and guided their approach.
- A/B Testing Approach: To accurately measure the impact of the changes, the team implemented an A/B testing approach. They used a controlled group (pages with standard meta descriptions) and a test group (pages with personalized meta descriptions) for comparison.
- Quantifiable Metrics: The team relied on clear, objective metrics – in this case, CTR – to gauge the experiment’s success. The use of quantifiable data provided actionable insights and validated their approach.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: Based on the positive results, the team optimized all of their client’s website meta descriptions, leading to tangible SEO improvements.
5. Reducing Churn Rate Through Experimentation
Matthew Ramirez, CEO and Founder of Paraphrase Tool and Forbes 30 Under 30 alumni shares a real-world experiment that aimed to reduce the churn rate in his company.
Identifying the Problem: Churn Rate
Despite his company’s overall revenue growth and customer satisfaction success, Matthew’s team faced a recurring challenge with customer churn. Many customers were leaving the company after their free trial period ended, posing a threat to long-term customer retention.
Exploring the Problem: Experimentation for Insights
Matthew and his team initiated a series of experiments to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying causes behind customer churn. They sought to uncover valuable insights to inform effective strategies for reducing churn.
Implementing a Solution: Proactive Customer Engagement
Their analysis revealed a clear pattern: people were leaving when their free trial period ended. The customer support team had been trying to get customers to upgrade and stay, but the people leaving had not been contacted.
Recognizing this critical period as a pivotal opportunity, they designed an experiment focused on proactive customer engagement and started contacting customers as soon as their free trial ended.
Results: Successful Churn Reduction
The implementation of their proactive customer engagement strategy yielded positive results.
Their churn rate was reduced by 15%, and the customer support team was able to reach customers and provide them with a reason to stay with the company.
Stressing the importance of conducting experiments that generate actionable insights, Matthew suggests,
“While experimentation can be beneficial, organizations must ensure that their experiments will give actionable insights. This involves setting clear goals and hypotheses, gathering sufficient data for analysis, and testing multiple variations. Experiments that lack adequate data or variation will not offer valuable insights.
Actionable experimentation involves conducting experiments that provide insights that can be used to improve your current strategy or process. This is more beneficial than just collecting data to analyze. It’s crucial to conduct experiments accurately and obtain meaningful data to better understand your customers and enhance your strategy or process.”
Best Practices for Effective Experimentation
Based on the above examples, here’s a quick overview of the best practices for effective experimentation. These best practices are tried and tested by successful entrepreneurs and industry experts.
- Define Clear Objectives: Clearly establish the goals and objectives of your experiments. Remember to identify specific insights or improvements you aim to achieve.
- Develop Hypotheses: Formulate data-driven hypotheses based on observations, customer behavior, or industry trends. A well-defined hypothesis will provide a clear direction for your experiments.
- Gather Sufficient Data: Your data should be reliable and comprehensive to support your experiments. Sufficient data allows for accurate analysis and meaningful insights. It also helps you avoid making assumptions or relying solely on personal opinions.
- Test Multiple Variations: Explore different variations or strategies to test against a control group. Testing multiple variations helps identify the most effective approaches and optimizes outcomes.
- Utilize Controlled Testing: Implement A/B testing or other controlled testing methods to accurately measure your experiments’ impact. This approach allows for a clear comparison between different versions or strategies.
- Track and Analyze Key Metrics: Determine the key metrics that align with your experimentation goals. Regularly track and analyze these metrics to assess the success and impact of your experiments.
- Iterate and Refine: Use the insights gained from your experiments to iterate and refine your strategies, processes, or products. Embrace a cycle of continuous improvement based on the outcomes of your experimentation efforts.
The Final Verdict: Unleashing the Power of Experimentation!
Experimentation is a powerful tool for driving innovation and achieving remarkable results. These experimentation examples highlight the importance of clear objectives, well-defined hypotheses, data-driven decision-making, and a culture of continuous improvement.
As we conclude our exploration of experimentation in action, it’s also essential to remember that the key to success lies not only in conducting experiments but also in embracing a mindset of continuous learning and adaptation.
By embracing experimentation as a fundamental part of their operations, organizations can foster a culture of innovation, stay agile, and make informed decisions that propel them toward long-term success.
