Latest / The Copywriting Podcast with Fexingo: Sales Letters, Headlines, and Persuasive Writing / How One Question Changed a Landing Page and Doubled Conversions
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this landing page from a B2B SaaS company—I won't name them, but it's a real A/B test from a few years back. The original version had a standard headline, three bullet points, a testimonial, and a big green button that said 'Get Started'. Luna: Classic formula. I'm guessing the variant wasn't a total rewrite. Lucas: Nope. They changed exactly one thing. Right above the button, they added a single dropdown menu with a question: 'What best describes your role?' Options were things like 'Marketing Manager', 'CEO / Founder', 'Freelancer', and 'Other'. That's it. Luna: And that doubled conversions? Lucas: Went from 3.2 percent to 6.7 percent. More than doubled. And this is a real test, not a hypothetical. Luna: Okay, that's fascinating. But why? I mean, adding friction usually hurts conversions. Asking someone to do an extra step before they even get to the offer—that feels backward. Lucas: Right, and that's the counterintuitive part. The standard wisdom is: remove every obstacle. But here, adding a qualifying question actually built trust. It signaled, 'We know not everyone is the same, and we want to tailor what comes next.' Luna: So it's about empathy, not friction. Lucas: Exactly. Plus, there's a commitment effect. Once someone selects an option, they've self-identified. They've mentally invested a tiny bit. Clicking the button after that feels consistent with the choice they just made. Luna: And you mentioned this is a B2B SaaS company. I bet the segmentation also helped with the next step—like, if you're a CEO, you get a demo; if you're a freelancer, you get a free trial. Lucas: That's exactly what they did. The page actually redirected to different flows based on the selection. So the question wasn't just for show—it was functional. And that made the whole experience feel smarter. Luna: You know, it reminds me of something I saw from a guest on another show. She talked about using a similar approach in email subject lines—like, instead of 'Our new feature is here', writing 'Are you a power user or a beginner?' and then segmenting the send. Lucas: Yeah, HubSpot actually tested that. They had a subject line that asked a question, and it boosted open rates by something like 17 percent. The key is that the question has to feel genuine—not rhetorical, not salesy. Luna: Before we go deeper, I want to loop in something that connects to this idea of asking instead of telling. If these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used in your own work—whether it's a headline tweak or a question on a landing page—we'd love to hear about it. And if you've found value in the show, you can support it over at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Keeps us ad-free and lets us keep digging into these specific tests. Lucas: Yeah, it's a big help. And we really do read every note. Now, back to that landing page—I want to talk about the psychology of the dropdown itself. Why a dropdown and not a radio button or a free-text field? Luna: I'd guess the dropdown feels low-effort. You're just scrolling and clicking. A free-text field would require typing, which is more friction. Lucas: Right. And radio buttons take up visual space. A dropdown keeps the page clean. But there's another layer: the options themselves. The company chose roles that are common in their target market—they didn't add too many, just four or five. That's important. Luna: Too many options and you get analysis paralysis. Too few and people feel like they don't fit. Lucas: Exactly. They also included 'Other' with a note—something like 'If your role isn't listed, select Other and we'll find the best fit.' That small touch prevents abandonment. Luna: So the lesson here isn't just 'add a question'. It's a specific structure: one simple, relevant question, with limited choices, that actually changes what happens next. Lucas: And I think the principle extends beyond landing pages. I've seen it work on checkout pages—like a dropdown asking 'How did you hear about us?' that also offers a discount code if they select a specific referral source. Luna: That's smart. You're collecting data and personalizing the offer at the same time. Lucas: Right. But here's the nuance: the question has to come before the commitment. Not after. If you ask after they've already clicked the button, it feels like a hurdle. Before, it feels like a handshake. Luna: So timing is everything. What about the wording of the question? Does 'What best describes your role?' work better than 'Tell us your role'? Lucas: There's some research on that. Questions that imply a single best answer tend to perform better than open-ended requests. 'What best describes' signals that there's a right answer—which reduces friction because people don't have to think as hard. Luna: And it also sounds more confident. Like, we know who you are, we just need you to confirm. Lucas: Yes. Compare that to 'Please select your role'—which feels more like a form, less like a conversation. The winning version was more human. Luna: I want to go back to the data. 3.2 percent to 6.7 percent—that's a lift of over 100 percent. Was this statistically significant? Did they run it long enough? Lucas: They ran it for two weeks, a little over 5,000 visitors per variant. The confidence level was above 99 percent. So yeah, it's solid. Luna: And did they replicate it? Like, try it on other pages or with different questions? Lucas: They did. They tested a similar question on their pricing page—'How many users are you planning for?'—and saw a comparable lift. Not quite double, but around 40 percent improvement. Luna: So the pattern holds, but the specific question matters. Lucas: Exactly. The question has to be relevant to the decision the user is making. On a pricing page, users are thinking about scale. So asking about number of users aligns with that mental model. Luna: And I'd bet the dropdown also acts as a filtering mechanism. If someone selects '50+ users', maybe they get a different pricing table or a demo request instead of a credit card form. Lucas: That's exactly what they did. And they saw a reduction in bounce rate on the pricing page, too. Because people who didn't fit their product—like someone selecting '1 user' when the product was built for teams—weren't wasting their time. Luna: So you're actually saving people from a bad experience. That's a win-win. Lucas: And this ties back to something we've touched on before: the best copy is often the copy that doesn't sell to the wrong person. A qualifying question upfront is a form of targeting. Luna: I think a lot of marketers are afraid to add steps because they think it'll kill conversions. But this shows that the right kind of friction can actually build trust. Lucas: Right. And the key word is 'right'. Adding a random question—like 'What's your favorite color?'—would tank performance. The question has to be relevant and useful to the user. Luna: So if someone wants to test this, what's the simplest way to start? Lucas: Pick one high-traffic landing page. Add one dropdown with three to five options that map to different post-click experiences. Run it for at least two weeks. And make sure you track not just clicks, but what happens after—are the right people converting? Luna: And if you don't have the ability to redirect to different flows, you can still collect the data and follow up via email. That's what we did with one of our old client funnels. Lucas: Yeah, that's a good fallback. The principle still works because the user has self-selected, and you can personalize your follow-up. Luna: I'm going to try this on our own subscribe page. We have a simple email capture—maybe adding 'What's your main interest?' with options like copywriting, SEO, email marketing, etc. Lucas: That's a perfect use case. You could even test it against a version with no question. I'd bet the conversion rate goes up, and the quality of subscribers improves. Luna: And it'll give us data on what our audience actually cares about, which is useful for content planning. Lucas: See, that's the beauty of this approach. It's not just a conversion tactic—it's also a research tool. You learn something about your audience every time someone makes a selection. Luna: Alright, so to wrap up: one question, before the button, relevant options, and a segmented follow-up. That's the formula. Lucas: And it's worth testing even if you think it won't work. The data might surprise you. Luna: Count me in. I'm setting up the test this week.