Intimate couple image in an advertorial: +183.3% conversions
Test run byConversion FanaticsCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsSwapping a product-science image for a photo of a couple in an intimate setting lifted advertorial conversions by 183.3%.
Conversion Fanatics ran this test for a seller of a product aimed at men aged 35 to 60. A third version with a smiling couple did worse than the original.
- The intimate-couple image lifted conversions by 183.3%.
- The smiling-couple image lost; the source reports it as 100% worse.
- Only the image changed, but no conversion rates or sample size were shared.
The change
Science image swapped for a photo showing the experience
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The advertorial had an image near the top right explaining the science behind the product. It showed how the product works, not what using it feels like.
Variant
The same advertorial used a photo of a couple in an intimate setting instead. A second variation showed a smiling couple with a man in the target age group.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- The winning image showed the outcome buyers wanted, not the mechanism. That speaks to the reason people buy.
- The smiling couple was too general and may not have signaled what the product was for.
- In a text-heavy advertorial, one of only a couple of images carries a lot of weight.
Caveats: No sample size, duration or significance was shared, and the product type was not stated. The data is from 2015, and a very large lift from a single image on unknown traffic deserves a retest.
Who ran it
Conversion Fanatics ran this test for a seller of a product aimed at men aged 35-60 and published the results (Conversion Fanatics blog case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Conversion Fanatics →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we replace the explainer image with one showing the result buyers want, then more readers will convert because they picture the benefit for themselves.
- Primary metric
- Conversion rate from the advertorial
- Guardrails
- Click-through to the offer page
- Bounce rate
- Refund rate
- Who should test it
- Brands running advertorials or long-form landing pages where the benefit is emotional. It fits less where buyers need proof of how a product works, such as technical or medical products, or where ad platform image rules apply.
Questions
What images work best in an advertorial?
In this test, an image showing the outcome buyers wanted beat one explaining the science.
A generic happy image did worse than both.
Can changing one image really change conversions?
It can. Here a single image swap was the only change and the lift was 183.3%, though no sample size was shared.
What is an advertorial?
It is a page written like a news article that explains a product's benefits before the sales pitch.
Advertorials are often used as a step between an ad and the offer page.
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