We recently ran a CTA button A/B test on a client’s funnel that challenged one of the oldest assumptions in CRO: that you need flashy tricks to get people to click.
This particular client had a fairly optimized funnel; we had already run 30+ experiments on it. But one thing kept standing out to us: their audience didn’t seem to respond well to anything that felt “salesy.” In fact, every time we leaned into polished or aggressive marketing tactics, performance dipped. What worked? Content that felt honest, real, and human. They were smart. They wanted to be helped, not sold to.
That’s what led us to this idea:
What if the wobble animation on the CTA button [the little shake that says “click me!”, ClickFunnels fans might know it,] was actually doing more harm than good?
We figured removing it might make the whole page feel less like a sales pitch and more like a conversation.
Our Hypothesis
Removing the animation from the CTA button will help the page feel more authentic and trustworthy, which should lead to a higher opt-in rate.
Test Design
We structured a standard A/B test with two groups:
- Control: Saw the original CTA button with wobble animation.
- Test: Saw the same CTA button design and placement, but without the animation.
To implement this variation, we used a general-purpose script that targets the CTA button via its CSS selector. For users assigned to the test group, the script dynamically replaces the button’s class to remove the animation effect.
You can refer to this post for the exact script we use in these types of experiments.
Metrics Tracked
Our primary metric was the opt-in rate. We defined this based on whether users reached the next page—tracked as a page view in PostHog’s Data Management. This action served as the trigger for our conversion event and guided the setup of our primary metric.
Results
After 7 days and 1,974 total users, the test yielded statistically significant results:
| Conversion Rate | Delta | Win probability | |
| Control | 50.66 | Baseline | 2.91% |
| Test | 54.91 | +8.40 | 97.09% |
Our Perspective
For a long time, conversion optimization felt like a game of clever tricks… colors, animations, urgency timers. and sure, sometimes they do. But we’re seeing a different pattern emerge lately that trust beats tactics. In many cases, the harder you try to “market,” the more trust you lose. When people feel safe and respected, they convert. It’s not always about doing more. Sometimes it’s about subtracting the things that feel forced, and letting the experience speak for itself. People are tired of being sold to. What they actually want is to trust you.
And trust, as we’re learning, doesn’t come from clever effects or shiny buttons. It comes from realness. This test was just one more reminder: real wins come from building real trust.
If you’re curious how to set up a test like this, PostHog walks you through it in this guide.
For detailed instructions on running A/B tests on WordPress or Shopify, check out the links below:
How to Setup PostHog A/B Test on WordPress
How to Setup PostHog A/B Test on Shopify
