Every organization’s supporters are different – so how do you best communicate with yours?
The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) used A/B testing to find out what type of messages motivated their audience to action.
When LCV wanted to build their mobile list, they weren’t sure about the best way to encourage their supporters to sign up. So they divided their email list into three segments, and sent three separate calls to action.
One group was asked to text in their favorite presidential candidate. Another group was offered a free wallpaper for their mobile phone if they joined. A third group received a straightforward request to sign up.
LCV saw that the first two groups joined in dramatically greater numbers than the third. People were 7x likelier to text in their favorite candidate than just respond to the direct ask, and 5x likelier to go for the free wallpaper
That may seem intu
itive. People like for their opinions to be heard. And who doesn’t want free stuff?
However, we at Mobile Commons have actually seen other organizations have great success with the straightforward ask. LCV didn’t necessarily learn a rule that works for everybody. But they did learn about their users. Now they know that more than anything, their audience wants to have their opinions heard.
That kind of insight can help guide all their future communications moving forward. Moreover, they can also now reach out to each segment of their audience independently – so if they have more sweet wallpapers to distribute, they know exactly who wants them.
What You Can Learn from LCV
One of the reasons mobile messaging is so powerful is because it tracks every action your users take, making it simple to segment and target your audience. When you’re planning outreach to your supporters, consider testing a few different types of messages. That way, not only will you learn more about your audience, but then you can also segment your audience later.
More About the League of Conservation Voters
LCV has had success with mobile in the past – using it to get out the vote in a midterm election. Read about that initiative here.