# 'Try Now' vs 'Start Free Trial' button copy: -26% clickthrough

- Outcome: Lost
- Page type: Landing page (SaaS)
- Elements: Cta copy
- Test run by: [MECLABS](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/meclabs/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingexperiments.com/copywriting/cta-button-copy-reduce-clickthrough
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-meclabs-try-now-cta-copy/

Changing a banner button from 'Start Free Trial' to 'Try Now' cut clickthrough by 26%. MECLABS ran the test for a large global media company selling premium software to businesses, and published it on MarketingExperiments in 2014. It was one of five button phrases tested at the same time.

## Result

**-26% clickthrough**

- Clickthrough rate: -26% for "Try Now" against "Start Free Trial". This is a loss.
- In the same test, "Get Started Now" lifted clickthrough by more than 11% against "Start Free Trial".
- The metric is clicks on the button, not trial sign-ups or paid conversions.
- Sample size, duration and confidence level: not shared. The other two phrases tested were not named.

## Control

A banner along the top of the page had a button reading "Start Free Trial".

## Variant

The same banner and button, with the text changed to "Try Now".

## Why it likely lost (our reading)

- "Start Free Trial" says what you get and that it's free. "Try Now" drops both, so the value of clicking is less clear.
- Without the word "free", some visitors may have worried that clicking leads to a payment step.
- "Try" can sound tentative for business software, where buyers want to know what they're committing to.

## Caveats

The test measured clicks, not trial starts, and sample size, duration and confidence are not shared. It was a five-way test from around 2014.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we keep the offer and the word 'free' in our trial button copy, then more visitors will click because they know exactly what they'll get and that it costs nothing.
- Primary metric: Button clickthrough rate
- Guardrail: Trial starts per visitor
- Guardrail: Trial-to-paid conversion
- Guardrail: Sign-up form abandonment
- Who should test it: SaaS companies offering a free trial from a landing page or site banner. If you don't offer a free trial, the lesson is to name the real offer rather than copy this wording.

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Credit: MECLABS ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-meclabs-try-now-cta-copy/).
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.