How the placement of elements to add urgency affects conversion
The Heritage Foundation
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institution—a think tank—whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.
Experiment Summary
Timeframe: 06/03/2015 - 06/04/2015
Previous experiments had taught us the positive impact increasing urgency and progress toward a goal can have an a campaign. As part of a moneybomb campaign, The Heritage Foundation wanted to determine if the placement of the visual elements designed to promote these two factors would impact the donor conversion.
For the campaign, we designed two landing pages: one with a thermometer at the top and a countdown clock at the bottom and another with these two visual elements flipped.
Research Question
Which placement of the countdown clock and thermometer of the donation goal will have the greatest impact on donor conversion?
Design
Results
| Treatment Name | Conv. Rate | Relative Difference | Confidence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C: | Thermometer at the Top | 20.9% | ||
| T1: | Countdown Clock at the Top | 20.6% | -1.6% | 15.9% |
This experiment has a required sample size of 111,858 in order to be valid. Unfortunately, the required sample size was not met and a level of confidence above 95% was not met so the experiment results are not valid.
Key Learnings
Regardless of whether the countdown clock or thermometer was displayed at the top of the page, the pages had nearly identical conversion rate. From past experiments, we know both of these elements will boost campaign performance. What we learned here is that their placement is less important than simply being included in the page.