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.