User reviews on paywall: Runtastic's A/B test

The bottom line

Replacing the promotional statement on Runtastic's paywall with a real user review and 5-star rating raised paid subscriptions by 44%. Social proof can lift upgrades more than promotional copy does.

Key takeaways

• A real user review with a 5-star rating beat the promotional statement on the paywall. The variant with social proof produced more paid subscriptions.
  • Result: a 44% increase in paid subscriptions.
• The test changed only one thing: the message shown on the paywall. This makes the review the likely cause of the gain.
  • The promotional statement was swapped out for the review and rating.
• The test was built on a social proof hypothesis. Runtastic expected other users' opinions to persuade people to upgrade.

The test

Runtastic replaced the promotional text on its paywall with a user review and a 5-star rating to see if it would raise subscriptions.

• The goal was to increase in-app membership upgrades.
  • The test ran on the paywall, in the "Paywall & free trial" category.
  • The hypothesis was that social proof would raise subscription rates.

The result

The user review variant increased paid subscriptions by 44%.

• Social proof outperformed the promotional statement.
  • The measured outcome was paid subscriptions.