from surfers to supporters: how to optimize your …from surfers to supporters: how to optimize your...
TRANSCRIPT
From Surfers to Supporters:How to Optimize Your Donation Pagesto Convert Visitors into Donors
Dawn Stoner, DonordigitalNonprofit 911 WebinarNetwork for Good
June 2, 2009
2
Agenda
• Why test?
• What to test on your landing pages
• Best pages to test & test types
• Case study: Amnesty International
• Getting started with testing
• Q & A
3
� Most organizations have donation page conversion rates below 20% -- some less than 10%
� Poorly designed donation pages drive away potential donors
Why Test? A huge untapped opportunity …
4
Why Should You Care?
� Improved conversion on donation pages means more dollars raised …
� with no increase in outbound marketing!
5
A word about web users…
� The avg. attention span is 8 seconds!
� People read 25% slower on the web*
� You must grab their attention fast
*Source: Marketing Sherpa
6
Things to Test!
� Headline
� Header Image
� Gift strings
� Copy under headline
� Form layout
7
Things to Test!
� Form fields
� Buttons
� Security logo & placement
� Testimonials
� Copy formatting
8
� Pages with a high traffic and conversions
� Main web, email & Search donation pages are prime candidates
� Pages with poor conversion rates, e.g. 15% or less.
� Pages with analytics tracking code already installed (or CRM tools to track traffic and conversions)
Best Landing Pages to Test
9
A/B or Split Tests
� A single variable is tested
� Page traffic is split (usually 50:50)
Multivariate Testing (MVT)
� Testing multiple variables (page elements) on a landing page at the same time*
*Requires significantly more traffic and conversions than A/B tests
Types of Tests
Case Study: Amnesty International USA
• Donordigital and Amnesty International began a testing project in 2007. In all we conducted ~ 10 tests.
• Main test goal: raise more money online
• Strategic goal: get donation pages ready for year-end fundraising season (when big money is made or lost)
11
• We ran A/B and multivariate tests, focusing on email & Search donation pages
• Primary test metric: Conversion rate*
• We also analyzed fundraising metrics to understand full impact of page changes
• We used the Optimost testing platform*Conversion rate = total gifts/page views
Case Study Background
12
• Test type: A/B split test
• Test variable: gift string values
• Test segment: non-donors on the AIUSA email file
• Hypothesis: folks who had never given online might respond better to a conservative gift string
Test 1: Email donation page
A/B Test Values Variable: Gift String Values
Value 1 $35-$75-$150-$500-$1,000
Value 2 $35-$75-$100-$150-$250
Test 3: Email Landing Page
13
Results:
• The conservative gift string had a 15% better conversion rate, at an 81% confidence level.
• The conservative gift string raised only 1% more money, since lower suggested amounts reduced average gift size by 13%. [
Test 1: Email donation page
Baseline Creative Challenger Conversion Rate %
Change
Significantly Different?
Broader gift string
Conservative gift
string +15.0% Directionally
Test 3: Email Landing Page Test Results
14
Test 2: Google Search donation page
• Test type: Multivariate
• 4 variables tested:� Introductory text
� Mission Copy
� Gift string layout
� 1 column vs. 2 column form field layout
• Each variable had 2 possible values
Test 2: Google
Landing Page
Variable A: Introductory
copy
Variable B: Mission Copy Variable C: Gift
String Layout
Variable D: 1-column
vs. 2-column field
layout
Value 1 Control copy Appears in right column Vertical 1-column
Value 2
More emphasis on tax-
deductibility No mission copy Horizontal 2-column
Test 2: Google Landing Page Variables
15
Test 2: Google Search donation page
A
B
Header copy variable
Mission Copy
Gift string layout
Field layout variable
A B
C
D
16
Test 2: Google Search donation page
Baseline Creative* Challenger Conversion Rate %
Change
Significantly Different?
Introductory copy
More emphasis on tax-
benefits in copy +2.3% NO
Mission copy in right
column
No mission copy in
right column -22.7% YES – Negative
Vertical Gift String
Layout
Horizontal Gift String
Layout +21.4% YES – Positive
1-column form field
layout
2-column form field
layout -6.5% NO
Table 2.1: Google Landing Page Test Results
Results:
• Winning creative improved Amnesty’s Search page conversion rate by 40% last December, netting $72,000 in incremental dollars for that month alone.
17
Getting Started with Testing
• What works for Amnesty may not work for you.
• Gut feel is no substitute for actual tests!
• Test, test, test
18
What you’ll need for multivariate testing
• A testing platform such as the Google Website Optimizer (free)
• Enough traffic and conversions to yield significant data*
• Staff time or a consultant to set up and analyze the tests
• Time and patience
*Roughly 100 conversions per page variation, e.g. a test with 2 variables and 2 values each (4 page variations) would need ~ 400 conversions.
19
What you’ll need for A/B testing
If you don’t have the traffic, tools or resources for MVT, you can still A/B test your big ideas!
You’ll still need:
• Web analytics to track results on test page(s)
• Enough traffic and conversions to yield significant data*
• A single variable to test (be bold)
• A hypothesis
*Donation pages that get 50+ conversions over a 4-8 week period are best. If conversions are lower, testing time will be longer.
20
Additional Resources
• For more testing ideas and resources, download our new white paper: Landing on Gold: Optimizing your donation pages to increase giving – a bright spot in a
tough economy at www.donordigital.com
• Additional resources we recommend:
• www.roirevolution.com
• www.marketingexperiments.com
