Using Positive Feedback in Your Copy ??

Next time you get a note from a subscriber or donor raving about your organization, be sure to jot it down somewhere. Better yet, create a spreadsheet where you can save the good feedback you receive. They could pay off later.

Adding testimonials to your landing pages might just be the thing some folks need to trust your claims and say “yes” to whatever it is you’re asking them to do.?

Let’s take a look to see how this impacted one organization. ??

Hypothesis

Adding a testimonial for landing page visitors will achieve a higher sign-up rate.

Why’s this worth testing?

Adding “social proof” such as testimonials to landing pages validates the offer by showing that others found it valuable and that it delivers on its promise.

No one wants to hear you brag about yourself. But hearing that others had a good experience with your offer or when donating to you can boost the credibility of your offer.

Control

Treatment

Results

The treatment with the testimonial led to a 15.2% increase in conversion rate.?

Some tips for testing this and other ideas

1. Make sure that the testimonial makes sense in the context of your offer.
2. Add the name of the person who gave the testimonial to strengthen its validity.
3. Test different ways of displaying testimonials—should it have a different text color, be in a pull-quote block, or be right in line with your copy?
4. If you’re offering a book or similar offer, test adding an actual Amazon review and the star rating.
5. Test the placement of the testimonial—is it more effective higher on the page or down by the form?
6. Sometimes testimonials in line with copy aren’t always effective. Test putting it in the right column near the form.

More about this experiment & other resources

• Check out the full write-up of today’s experiment
• Our year-end resource hub
• Last minute ideas for your year-end campaign
• A year-end fundraising special [Video]