Sunday, February 20, 2011

How a small change in link text led to 45% increase in customer re-engagements

The emails given below were sent to customers who hadn't been transacting on Cleartrip's site for a long time – potentially lost customers. We wanted to understand why they weren't transacting with us any more through a one question survey.

One of the emails received 45% more survey responses than the other. Can you guess which one?

One link-off read Spare a minute to let us know ».

The other, Answer one simple question & let us know »

Both the links reinforced the fact that the survey was short and would not take very long to complete. Yet, it was the second link text – "Answer one simple question & let us know" – which led to more responses.

That's right. One small change led to a 45% increase in lost customers re-engaging with our brand & giving us an opportunity to win them back.

Any theories as to why the second text performed better? Respond in the comments below.

The email salutation was personalized with the recipient's first name. The only difference in the email templates was the text of the link which led to a very short survey form - everything else was identical.
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10 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 21, 2011 at 11:18 AM

    the fact that you weren't asking for a minute of their time but hoping they could do something really simple :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Abhisek SardaFebruary 21, 2011 at 3:30 PM

    In degrees of vagueness, "one minute" is more vague than "one simple question".

    You'll find many such examples in these books: Nudge (by Richard Thaler) and Gut Feelings (by Gerd Gigerenzer)

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousFebruary 21, 2011 at 4:11 PM

    I think quiz, question, win, contest, Answer are quite eye catching in any text content especially newsletter type emails.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Saurabh NandaFebruary 21, 2011 at 5:53 PM

    @Abhisek: True. But it's really surprising to see such a lift in response rates with such a small change.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Saurabh NandaFebruary 21, 2011 at 5:54 PM

    @Abhisek: Any other examples of this kind you've come across first-hand?

    ReplyDelete
  6. RichardFebruary 22, 2011 at 8:36 AM

    My money is on the word "Spare". It almost feels like "waste a minute". People my have reacted, I don't have time to spare for this. Just a thought. Then again, maybe it's just that people love to share their opinions, but not give their time away.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Manjeet DahiyaFebruary 24, 2011 at 12:40 PM

    Interesting! Would like to see more such examples.

    ReplyDelete
  8. priyanka merchant parikhMarch 2, 2011 at 3:24 AM

    the second one definately wins hands down. because the phrase " spare a minute" is misleading. The customer knows its just a pharse or way of saying, and generally the time taken is usually longer than a minute. and they feel it a waste of time.
    In the second one " answer one simple question" the word "ONE" makes one click as its just one question and he is done!

    ReplyDelete
  9. RichaApril 15, 2011 at 12:36 AM

    Asking to spend a minute does not indicate definiteness. Amount of time spent on doing something is very subjective. Also, I believe, most people have been sucked into filling really long surveys which promised just 2 minutes or so...(i have been). So, it can also be a case of 'once burnt twice shy'

    Whereas 'one question' implies definiteness. It means 'just one' question. That implies less harm, more like a favor being done you and fewer people mind that :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Siddharth DeswalMay 19, 2012 at 9:01 PM

    Hi Saurabh, late reply but answering "one simple question" is usually a 15 second (or lesser) affair, significantly lesser than a minute. I'm kind-of surprised why no one has pointed this out before.

    Also, "vagueness"; one-minute sounds like a bullshitter trying to get me in and then making me spend 5 to 6 mins on a survey.

    ReplyDelete

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