How layering sequential asks affects name conversion
Hillsdale College
Founded in 1844, Hillsdale College is an independent liberal arts college with a student body of about 1,400. Hillsdale’s educational mission rests upon two principles: academic excellence and institutional independence. The College does not accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies for any of its operations.
Experiment Summary
Timeframe: 12/08/2014 - 12/18/2014
Hillsdale was given the opportunity to offer free subscriptions to their award winning publication, Imprimis, to a list of ideal prospects. The standard subscription process required a home address since a print publication would be delivered via mail. We wanted to see what kind of impact that level of friction had on potential sign ups.
Research Question
Does asking for visitor information in multiple steps instead of all at the same time produce a greater number of high quality prospects?
Design
Results
| Treatment Name | Conv. Rate | Relative Difference | Confidence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C: | Full Home Address | 32.2% | ||
| T1: | Name and Email Only | 76.0% | 136.0% | 100.0% |
This experiment has a required sample size of 9 in order to be valid. Since the experiment had a total sample size of 289, and the level of confidence is above 95% the experiment results are valid.
Flux Metrics Affected
The Flux Metrics analyze the three primary metrics that affect revenue (traffic, conversion rate, and average gift). This experiment produced the following results:
0% increase in traffic
× 136.0% increase in conversion rate
× 0% increase in average gift
Key Learnings
The conversion rate for email addresses acquired was incrementally better when we removed the address requirement. We will need to evaluate these emails acquired at a later date to determine if the higher volume of prospects resulted in better quality leads.