Live crowd photo instead of laptop on event page: +40.18% clicks
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsReplacing a laptop-screen hero image with a photo of a live conference crowd lifted click-through to the registration page by 40.18%.
ExactTarget ran this test in 2013 on the landing page for its Connections conference, and it was published as a VWO case study. The test measured clicks, not finished registrations.
- Click-through to the registration page: +40.18%.
- More than 11,000 visitors saw each version.
- Completed registrations were not reported, so the effect on sign-ups is unknown.
The change
The hero image changes from a laptop screen to a live conference crowd.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The event landing page showed a laptop screen in the hero image. It made the conference look like a virtual event, though it was held in person.
Variant
The same page with the laptop image replaced by a photo of a live conference audience.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- The new image matched the offer. Visitors could see at a glance that this was an in-person event.
- A crowd suggests a popular event worth attending, which can nudge people to look at registration.
- The laptop image may have set the wrong expectation and made some visitors lose interest.
Caveats: The metric was clicks to the registration page, not completed registrations. The data is from 2013 and was published by the testing vendor.
Who ran it
ExactTarget ran this test for SaaS digital marketing platform and published the results (VWO case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on ExactTarget →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we use a hero image that shows what attendees will actually experience, then more visitors will click through to register, because the image confirms what the event is.
- Primary metric
- Completed event registrations
- Guardrails
- Click-through to the registration page
- Registration form drop-off
- Page load time
- Who should test it
- SaaS companies and B2B marketers promoting conferences, webinars or other events. If your hero image already shows the real experience, expect a smaller effect.
Questions
What kind of image works best on an event landing page?
An image that shows the real event. Here a live crowd photo beat a laptop screen by 40.18% on clicks to registration.
Do more clicks mean more registrations?
Not always. This test only measured clicks to the registration page, so track completed registrations as your main metric.
Is a 2013 result still useful?
The principle that images should match the offer still holds.
The size of the lift may differ today, so test it on your own page.