In this test, we aimed to better understand our client’s audience by experimenting with five headline variations on their thank you page. This type of testing is especially useful when audience preferences are unclear, as a result it helps reveal what kind of messaging resonates most.
Our client offers an online course on how to travel like a VIP on a low budget, and we wanted to identify how users prefer the offer to be framed: Is it the idea of luxury travel, the concept of financial freedom, or something else entirely that hooks them?
It’s also important to note that people originally signed up for a short challenge, not the full course we’re promoting on this page. So the offer they’re seeing now isn’t exactly what they opted in for.
Hypothesis
There’s a video on this page that communicates most of what we want to say. However, the headline is the first thing people see, often before they even play the video. That’s why we believe it’s one of the most influential elements on the page. It needs to clearly and compellingly communicate the offer in a tone that resonates with our audience.
While we followed general copywriting best practices—clarity, specificity, curiosity—we also knew the ultimate rule is this: Your audience decides what works. This test was designed to learn what they respond to.
Test Design
We tested five headline/subheadline combinations against a control group on the tripwire page.
Control Group
Headline: “Watch This Video To Accelerate Your Journey To VIP Travel And Financial Freedom In 2024!”
Subheadline: “(Without having to work a second job, start a business, or have a side hustle)”
Test Group 1
“Watch This Video To Accelerate Your Journey To VIP Travel And Financial Freedom In 2024!” Same headline as control with No subheadline
Test Group 2
Headline: “How Would You Like To Unlock Free Luxury Experiences—Not Just In Travel, But In Every Area Of Your Life?”
Subheadline: “Watch this quick video to find out how …”
Test Group 3
Headline: “Want To Know The Secrets To Living Like A VIP—Not Just In Travel, But In Every Area Of Your Life?”
Subheadline: “I’m revealing them to you in this short video”
Test Group 4
Headline: “There’s ONE Thing You Should Be Doing Right Now To Start Traveling Like A VIP Faster Than Everyone Else …”
Subheadline: “Watch this quick video to find out what it is …”
Test Group 5
Headline: “Here’s How To Speed Up Your Journey To VIP Travel In 2024!”
Subheadline: “If you’re serious about cutting your travel costs by up to 90% (or more), this is for you …”
Metrics & Duration
We tracked performance using two key metrics:
- Primary metric: Tripwire purchase success – Final conversion rate (actual course purchase)
- Secondary metric: Tripwire checkout visit – Measures how many proceeded to the checkout
Results
The test ran for 1 day with 6,853 users participating.
Test Group 2 emerged as the winning variant, outperforming all others across key metrics.
Conclusion
Each headline was crafted to appeal to a slightly different emotional angle:
- Some emphasized travel.
- Others linked travel with financial freedom.
- A few aimed to spark curiosity with open loops (“One thing you should be doing…”).
The win of Test Group 2 suggests a key insight:
Our audience is more engaged by the idea of life transformation and financial freedom; not just travel hacks.
Another possible reason this test group performed better is brand alignment. Our client’s personal brand is centered around financial freedom, and travel hacks are just one part of that broader message. The winning test headline aligns more closely with her overall brand, which may have contributed to its success.
This test didn’t just optimize one page, it gave us direction for future messaging across emails, ads, and landing pages.
It also reinforces a core A/B testing truth: You don’t run tests to get lucky. You run them to get smarter.
Read our step-by-step guides to understand how we ran A/B tests on WordPress, Shopify, and ClickFunnels.
Read this PostHog article to better understand how to design and run experiments effectively.
