A case study on testimonials, what we are testing, and how you can too.
This week we are starting a new feature here on the blog; the #casestudy.
We will be taking real Art Storefronts customers, agreeing on an idea to test, running an A/B test, and sharing not only the results, but the why, and a step by step guide on how you can run your own test should you see fit.
So who is this for?
Whether you are a print studio, photo lab, or an individual artist selling your work, you all have customers and potential customers visiting your website looking to accomplish things
The easier you make it for them to accomplish that action the more its gonna happen.
So lets start there and this week we are going to focus on the impact of the testimonial.
Profile:
Custom Canvas Prints is a Utah based print studio hosted on the Art Storefronts platform. They offer canvas and paper prints to users nation wide. They are a shop that prides itself on their customer service and they have the testimonials to back it up.
Idea to Test:
A testimonial placed on the upload to print page will increase overall conversions via the upload to print tool.
We have blogged here about the case for testimonials / social proof before.
Testimonials are solid gold to begin with – especially tweets (how awesome is that one above btw) – but any authentic testimonial will do.
They are best used ANYWHERE, but especially in places where you are asking your user to take action. In this case we are asking the user to upload an image.
So let’s make them feel good about taking that next step by placing an awesome testimonial next to the upload to print box.
How we will measure:
Currently, Custom Canvas Prints has Google Analytics setup and has created a Google Analytics goal that measures when a user places an item in their cart by using the upload to print tool.
We are going to place a testimonial just below the upload to print button and see if we can’t increase that rate.
Current Site
The standard Art Storefronts upload to print page.
Version we are going to test
We have added a testimonial directly below the upload to print
Outcome:
In the follow-up post we will report back on how the test went, the results we were able to achieve and equally important what we are going to test next.
Guess what?
We might fail.
The conversion rate might very well go down. Sales might drop. If they do we will pull the testimonial down, come up with another idea to test, and then go on with the next test.
Thats what the game is all about.
ABT – Always Be Testing.
You know what though?
We might just win.
Conversion rates might go up and Custom Canvas Prints might start converting more users into sales and ultimately grow the business.
Guess what we do if that’s the case….
Yep.
We are going to grab the next idea; what if we put testimonials all over the site, on all pages, what if we removed every clickable link on the upload to print page aside from the upload button, started running re-marketing ads, etc, etc.
The important thing is to always be testing.
Remember a/b testing is all about doing it, doing it quickly, and then doing it again.
Want to test with us?
To which you are likely to reply…
a/b testing sounds difficult. There is no way I have the technical acumen to do something like this!
To which I can only respond, “ERRONEOUS”!
ERRONEOUS on both counts.
You can absolutely do this.
In our next post we will walk through the results we got and how we designed the test from start to finish – all the steps and tools. You will be left with a step by step guide on how to execute the test, how to know its statistically significant, and be confident enough to run it on your site and see if how it works for you.
[Disclaimer: Baby step number 1 and 2 are first. Install Google Analytics on your site and configure your Google Analytics Goals. Once installed you need a baseline of data of at least let’s say 15 sales or so for this to be effective. So if you have not got that done yet get on it.]
