# Two incentives (kit on page, book at checkout): -37% conversion

- Outcome: Lost
- Page type: Landing page (SaaS)
- Elements: Incentive
- Date shared: 2008-04
- Test run by: [MarketingExperiments](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/marketingexperiments/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingexperiments.com/value-proposition/finding-the-ideal-incentive-2
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/me-financial-research-combined-incentives/

Adding a second incentive did not help: the investment research kit on the offer page plus a best-selling book shown at checkout converted at 0.81%, against 1.28% for the book alone. MarketingExperiments (MECLABS) ran this 37-day A/B/C test for a financial research company. The single-book control did 58% better.

## Result

**-37% conversion**

- Conversion to sale: 1.28% (control) vs 0.81% (two incentives), so the control did 58% better. A loss for the variant.
- Sample: 12,424 vs 22,202 unique visitors, with 159 vs 180 sales. The variant had more sales only because it got far more traffic.
- The kit alone on the offer page did worse still, at 0.71%.

## Control

The offer page promised a free New York Times best-selling book as the sign-up incentive.

## Variant

The offer page promised a free investment research kit, and the best-selling book appeared as a second free gift only on the checkout page.

## Why it likely lost (our reading)

- The stronger gift, the book, was hidden until checkout. Visitors deciding on the offer page saw only the weaker kit.
- MarketingExperiments suggests the combo might have done better with both gifts on the offer page, or with the order reversed.
- Two gifts do not add up if the one shown first is harder to value.

## Caveats

Traffic was split unevenly across the three arms and no confidence level was shared. The test dates from 2008.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we add a second incentive to our main one, then more visitors will convert because the offer feels richer, provided the stronger gift is shown where the decision is made.
- Primary metric: Paid sign-up conversion rate from offer page visit
- Guardrail: Incentive cost per new customer
- Guardrail: Checkout abandonment rate
- Guardrail: Revenue per visitor
- Who should test it: SaaS and subscription businesses stacking bonuses on a sign-up offer. Test where each bonus appears, not just whether you offer it; skip stacking if one strong gift already works.

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Credit: MarketingExperiments ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/me-financial-research-combined-incentives/).
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.