Simpler Humana homepage banner with a bolder CTA: +433% clickthrough
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsHumana's simplified homepage banner lifted clickthrough into its marketing funnel by 433%.
Humana's digital test team ran the test, and it was published by MarketingExperiments after a MarketingSherpa Summit 2016 talk.
The image, headline, copy and CTA all changed together, so the gain comes from the bundle, not one element.
- Clickthrough into the marketing funnel rose 433%.
- Sample size, duration and confidence weren't shared.
- Only clickthrough was reported, not downstream enrollments or leads.
The change
New image, simpler funnel-stage copy and a bolder CTA in the banner.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
A rotating homepage banner showed a winter image of an older woman, dense copy and a call to action that didn't stand out.
Variant
The banner used a new summer image, a headline aimed at visitors early in their research, simpler copy and a more prominent CTA.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Visitors give a rotating banner only a few seconds, so less copy made the message easier to take in.
- A headline matched to early-stage visitors spoke to what they wanted at that point.
- A bolder CTA gave the eye a clear next step.
Caveats: Bundled test: the image, headline, copy and CTA changed together. Sample size and duration weren't shared, and only clickthrough was reported.
Who ran it
Humana ran this test and published the results (MarketingExperiments). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Humana →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we simplify our homepage banner copy, match the headline to early-stage visitors and make the CTA stand out, then more visitors will click into the funnel because the message is quicker to grasp.
- Primary metric
- Banner clickthrough rate into the funnel
- Guardrails
- Leads or quote starts further down the funnel
- Homepage bounce rate
- Who should test it
- Lead-gen businesses such as insurance, finance or health with busy homepage banners. It matters less if few visitors see or use the banner.
Questions
Do homepage carousels and banners still work?
They can, if each slide has one simple message and a clear button. Visitors give them very little time.
How do I tailor a banner headline to the funnel stage?
Write for what a first-time visitor wants to know, such as finding a plan, rather than detailed product terms they meet later.