Time to Chat? ??

Have you ever used one of those little chatbots in the bottom corner of a website?

Sometimes they’re helpful. Sometimes they’re infuriatingly annoying.

But many websites at this point have them to ask if you need help or prompt you with FAQs.

We took some inspiration from that experience for today’s test.

Let’s see how a chat message widget can impact donor conversion rates for this organization.

Hypothesis

Adding a chat message widget to a podcast page will increase donor conversion rates.

Why might this work?

The chat message widget will create a greater perception of social presence and personal connection, encouraging engagement.

By including a “profile” image of the podcast hosts, it simulates a text message experience which should be more familiar and eye-catching for users.

Control

Treatment

Results

The chat message widget outperformed the traditional “dear listener” approach, achieving a conversion rate of 0.37% compared to 0.13% for the control.

This represents a 187.9% increase in conversions.

Some tips for testing this (and other) ideas

1. This test kept the variable isolated to just how the premium offer was presented. The copy in the control and treatment was exactly the same.
2. Test the design of your chat widget to see how to make it clear and visible to users.
3. Test when and how the chat widget deploys: is it open as soon as visitors land on the page? Does it open as they scroll down? Should users have to click on it first to open it?
4. Test the messaging in your chat widget: can it be more conversational? Should you lead with a question and prompt a response? What if your CTA button looked more like a reply bubble?

A/B testing is the primary way to cut through subjectivity and let your donors tell you exactly what works to improve results. Discover the power of a/b testing and start building your own testing program through this data-driven training course. Click to learn more!