# Two-step email signup and preference center: +120% submissions

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Lead form (Lead-gen)
- Elements: Form fields, Cta copy, Privacy
- Date shared: 2017
- Test run by: [Ferguson Enterprises](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/ferguson-enterprises/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/wholesale-distributor-increases-form-submissions-120-percent
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/ferguson-email-signup-preference-center-redesign/

Ferguson Enterprises rebuilt its email signup and preference center and saw form submissions rise 120% year over year. Ferguson, a large US distributor of plumbing supplies, ran the project and it was published as a MarketingSherpa case study. Several changes shipped together and the result is a year-over-year comparison, not a split test, so no single change can take the credit.

## Result

**+120% submissions**

- Form submissions: +120% year over year for the signup and preference center.
- Site visits from the preference center: +117%.
- Data quality improved too. Before, more than half of subscribers left the default answer in place, so the team could not trust it.
- Both figures compare one year with the previous one, so seasonality and traffic changes may play a part.

## Control

The signup and preference center repeated questions across two similar pages, preselected default answers and ended with a 'Complete Customer Profile' button.

## Variant

A short signup came first, then a preference center with questions based on the chosen industry. Defaults were removed, buttons used first-person copy ('Sign Me Up', 'Customize My Preferences') and a privacy notice was added.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- A short first step asks for the minimum, which lowers the effort needed to subscribe.
- Questions tailored to each industry feel relevant, so people are more willing to fill them in.
- First-person buttons and a privacy notice may reduce doubt at the moment of submitting an email address.

## Caveats

This is a before-and-after comparison, not an A/B test, and many changes shipped together, including a new opt-out page. Raw counts were not shared, and the data dates from 2017.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we split our email signup into a short first step and an optional, tailored preference step, then more people will submit the form, because the first step asks for less and the second feels relevant.
- Primary metric: Completed email signups
- Guardrail: Share of subscribers who complete the preference step
- Guardrail: Unsubscribe rate in the first 30 days
- Guardrail: Email click rate by segment
- Who should test it: Lead-gen and B2B businesses that serve several distinct customer types and want better segment data. If you have one audience and one newsletter, a preference center adds steps without much payoff.

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Credit: Ferguson Enterprises ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/ferguson-email-signup-preference-center-redesign/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.