In this post, we\u2019ll take a look at the pricing table for Visual Website Analyzer (or VWO).<\/p>\n
VWO is a A\/B testing tool, letting you conduct split tests without knowing\u00a0a line of code. The company is entirely bootstrapped, and is\u00a0highly successful in its\u00a0target market.<\/p>\n
They’ve managed to make more than\u00a0$7M in revenue<\/strong>. Evidently, they’re on the right track.<\/p>\n What can you\u00a0learn from the Visual Website Optimizer pricing table, that you can apply to your own<\/em> pricing charts?<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with lesson #1!<\/p>\n VWO uses two separate cards<\/em> in its pricing table.<\/p>\n The first card is further divided into two plans. Both share a common set of features, but vary on\u00a0the total monthly visitors it tracks.<\/p>\n The second card – highlighted with a yellow background<\/strong> – has a plan that is significantly more expensive. It is meant for enterprise customers.<\/p>\n It is important to understand why VWO does this. From the plans, it is clear that VWO’s\u00a0customers can be put\u00a0into two categories:<\/p>\n The first category of users want a simple tool that can help test on-page elements, and different landing pages. <\/strong><\/p>\n Security, advanced targeting, 24×7 phone support, and extensive on-boarding are not<\/em> <\/strong>a priority.<\/p>\n VWO highlights this user base in its plan description –<\/em><\/p>\n Users of the Enterprise plan, however, need more than just conventional split testing capabilities. These are businesses running hundreds of tests simultaneously, on heavily trafficked pages.<\/p>\n A 2% increase in conversion rate can mean millions<\/em> of dollars in extra annual revenue.<\/p>\n For such users, dedicated account managers, phone support, advanced segmentation and targeting are essential<\/strong> <\/em>features. Without it, VWO would be like any other optimization tool.<\/p>\n These features are clearly highlighted on the Enterprise plan card –<\/em><\/p>\n The key lesson:\u00a0choose a pricing table structure that meets your customer requirements. Never the other way around<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n VWO doesn’t make its\u00a0prospects compare features to figure out which\u00a0plan they should use. They\u00a0state the target audience for each plan outright:<\/strong><\/p>\n This reduces confusion while purchasing and makes buying decision easier. That’s a key focus in any CRO exercise.<\/p>\n VWO understands<\/em> its audience well. They\u00a0know that many\u00a0agencies use their\u00a0service\u00a0to manage multiple accounts.<\/p>\n So they have\u00a0has a separate section for such users<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a quick look at the VWO pricing page again:<\/p>\n Notice something?<\/p>\n The color blue is conspicuous by its absence. Except<\/em> for the CTA button.<\/p>\n This is a deliberate strategy to make the CTA stand out. Unlike orange or red, blue isn\u2019t a color that automatically draws attention.<\/p>\n It is, however, the color people associate with business<\/strong>.<\/p>\n As KISSMetrics notes, blue is the color of trust<\/a>, integrity and peace. Businesses use it because it tells potential customers that they can believe<\/em> in it.<\/p>\n That’s especially important considering color determines 62-90% of a customer\u2019s response to a product<\/a>).<\/p>\n A blue CTA, on an otherwise gray and beige page<\/em>, attracts attention. That the color itself\u00a0evokes trust, is the icing on top.<\/p>\n The CTA for the Enterprise plan, on the other hand, is green. Green is a natural choice for CTAs since it stands out on most pages, due to the von Restorff effect<\/a> (i.e. things that stand out are more memorable<\/strong>).<\/p>\n This is why it is commonly used in CTA buttons. Dell<\/a>, for example, uses green Add to Cart<\/em>\u00a0buttons:<\/p>\n Green is also a color you associate with money. Plus, it it pleasant against the\u00a0yellow used in the Enterprise plan.<\/p>\n The lesson:\u00a0use a color that people associate with \u2018business\u2019, or things that help build customer relations, in your CTA. <\/strong>Also ensure that it stands out from\u00a0the rest of the \u00a0page.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you landed on the VWO pricing page, your eyes would first be drawn to the yellow hued Enterprise plan.<\/em><\/p>\n That’s\u00a0not accidental.<\/p>\n VWO has deliberately used a different\u00a0color for the Enterprise plan. They want<\/em>\u00a0you to look at it first.<\/p>\n Although we are not privy to the actual data, we can postulate why:<\/p>\n Therefore both the highlighted plan’s background, and its CTA, have distinct colors<\/strong>. This draws attention to them before the other plans, which better fits VWO\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n Besides the page headline, the first thing you would look at on this page is the price<\/em>:<\/p>\n This may be\u00a0due to two reasons:<\/p>\n Here are the sizes for different elements on the pricing table:<\/p>\n As we can see, there is a nice gradation from 32px<\/em> to 16px<\/em> as we move down the page.<\/p>\n This creates a strong visual hierarchy that guides the eye from top to bottom<\/em><\/strong>. Visitors notice the price first, then the account limitations, then the features, and finally, the CTA.<\/p>\n By default VWO offers annual billing<\/em> with all its plans.<\/p>\n They\u00a0helpfully explain at the bottom, that you save \u201c17% by signing up for a year at a time\u201d.<\/p>\n The question is, why would a SaaS product offer a discount of 17%?<\/em><\/p>\n Here are two possible reasons:<\/p>\n Of course, the decision to use monthly or annual billing will vary from business to business. It works perfectly in VWO\u2019s case, but might not for some other businesses.<\/p>\n Basecamp, for example, saw a drop<\/em> in revenues after introducing annual billing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Listing features clearly is a\u00a0necessity for\u00a0pricing tables.<\/p>\n VWO does this by listing features in each plan with some visual flair through icons<\/em>:<\/p>\n This is a very different strategy from say, HubSpot<\/a>, which uses a\u00a0cards-style table to summarize the features, and a matrix-style layout to compare them across each plan.<\/p>\n HubSpot\u2019s strategy works when you have a lot of features, and they vary greatly across plans. <\/strong><\/p>\n In such a situation, being able to visualize<\/em> feature availability makes the buying decision easier<\/em>.<\/p>\n VWO, however, limits non-enterprise accounts by total number of visitors, not<\/em> features. It doesn\u2019t matter whether you take the Startup or the Business plan \u2013 you get all the features in both the plans.<\/p>\n Using a matrix-style layout would be silly in this case. Two of the three plans are essentially the same.<\/strong><\/p>\n For the plan that does<\/i> offer additional features \u2013 the Enterprise plan \u2013 VWO offers an additional feature list.<\/p>\n VWO also uses icons next to the feature list<\/strong>. This not only adds a burst of color to the page, but also makes it easier to visualize each feature.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to note that none of the icons are simply there to look pretty \u2013 they actually enhance the page usability<\/em>. Every icon has a distinct meaning, which you can grasp without any textual description.<\/p>\n As the Neilsen Norman Group points out, such icons can make your page more usable<\/a>.\u00a0Especially when your audience is from all across the globe.<\/p>\n In early July 2014, mobile internet traffic officially eclipsed desktop traffic<\/a>.<\/p>\n This means that a large section of your customers will be browsing your site on mobile devices<\/em>.<\/p>\n To cater to this customer base, you need a pricing table that looks good on smaller screens.<\/strong><\/p>\n VWO does this by making its pricing tables responsive. On smaller screens, the two cards stack on top of each other<\/em>, which makes for easy reading.<\/p>\n It is easy to make cards-style tables responsive, as compared to matrix-style layouts.<\/p>\n The latter is horizontal and is difficult to stack. Think about this when you make a layout decision. If a majority of your traffic is coming from mobile, choose cards over matrix-style.<\/strong><\/p>\n Your potential customers\u00a0can have\u00a0fears, uncertainties, and doubts<\/em> (FUDs),\u00a0about your product. It is the main reason they\u00a0don’t click Buy Now<\/em> on your pricing table.<\/p>\n Addressing FUDs can clearly have a strong impact on your conversion rate. Prospects are much more likely to buy from you when they can trust your product and your company.<\/strong><\/p>\n VWO manages to do this in three ways:<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 A. Showcase logos of some of your customers<\/b><\/p>\n VWO proudly says that it has over 3,900 customers and shows some of their logos<\/strong>. Not only do these logos add some visual flair to the page, but they are also instantly recognizable<\/em>.<\/p>\n This is a great example of using social proof to increase trust. Prospects see Microsoft, Dell and CBS, and instantly think, “if Microsoft found it to be good, it must<\/strong> be worth buying”.<\/em><\/p>\n In fact, in one case, voice-over marketplace Voices,\u00a0increased conversion rates by 400%<\/a>\u00a0just by\u00a0adding a row of customer logos.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 B.Showcase testimonials from clients<\/b><\/p>\n Testimonials are one of the most powerful<\/em> methods to foster trust, and improve conversion rates.<\/p>\n A testimonial from a recognized authority adds credibility\u00a0to any page. In one case study, Wikijob saw a\u00a034% higher conversion rate by simply adding quotes from customers<\/a>.<\/p>\n1. Choose a pricing structure that fits your customer requirements<\/h2>\n
![\"vwo](\"https:\/\/plugmatter.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/1.jpg\")
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<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n 2. Make it easy for prospects to choose a plan<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n3. Ensure that the CTA is easy to identify<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n4. Use color to highlight a specific plan<\/h2>\n
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5. Use typography to create visual hierarchy<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n6. Offer annual billing to improve revenue forecasts<\/b><\/h2>\n
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7. Make it easy to see features<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n8. Make your pricing tables responsive<\/h2>\n
9. Address FUDs through customer showcase, testimonials and FAQs<\/b><\/h2>\n
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