# 'Join the conversation' comment button: +34% comments, not significant

- Outcome: Flat / inconclusive
- Page type: Other (Lead-gen)
- Elements: Cta copy
- Date shared: 2011-07
- Test run by: [MarketingExperiments](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/marketingexperiments/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingexperiments.com/a-b-testing/blog-comment-test
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/me-marketingexperiments-blog-comment-button-join-conversation/

Changing the MarketingExperiments blog comment button from 'Submit Comment' to 'Join the conversation' showed a 34% lift in comments, but only at 82.9% confidence. MarketingExperiments (MECLABS) ran and published the test. We list it as inconclusive, since the post itself says it found no significant difference at the 95% level it normally requires.

## Result

**+34% comments, not significant**

- Blog comments: +34.0% for 'Join the conversation', at an 82.9% confidence level.
- That is well below the 95% confidence MECLABS normally uses to make a decision, so the lift may be noise.
- The same test on the MarketingSherpa blog found no significant difference even at 80% confidence.
- Verdict: flat. MECLABS shipped the new copy anyway because it fit the brand and did not hurt.

## Control

The comment form ended with a standard button reading 'Submit Comment'.

## Variant

The same form with the button reading 'Join the conversation'.

## Why it likely came out this way (our reading)

- Copy that names a benefit can make an action feel more inviting than 'Submit'.
- Comment counts on a blog are low, so a 34% swing can come from a handful of extra comments.
- The weaker result on the sister blog suggests the effect, if real, is small.

## Caveats

The lift reached only 82.9% confidence, and comment counts, traffic and duration were not shared. The test is from 2011.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we replace 'Submit Comment' with copy that states the value of joining the discussion, then more readers will comment because the button frames commenting as taking part, not handing in.
- Primary metric: Comments per post view
- Guardrail: Share of comments removed as spam
- Guardrail: Comment quality
- Who should test it: Blogs and communities with steady comment volume. With only a few comments a week, plan for a long test or accept that you're testing for no harm.

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Credit: MarketingExperiments ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/me-marketingexperiments-blog-comment-button-join-conversation/).
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.