A/B Testing a Subscription Price Increase and Sign-up CTA
A B2B SaaS company is considering two experiments: raising subscription prices and improving a sign-up page where the current CTA button is red and placed at the top. The team wants to test button color, red versus blue, and placement, top versus bottom.
Design the pricing test and the multivariate sign-up test.
Constraints & Assumptions
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Pricing experiments can create fairness, trust, and long-term LTV risks.
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A two-week window may be too short to observe churn and full customer value.
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For the CTA test, test color and placement as factors, not only separate pairwise tests.
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Define primary metrics and guardrails before launch.
Clarifying Questions to Ask
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Is the pricing change for new prospects only or existing customers too?
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What billing cycle, sales cycle, and conversion lag apply?
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Is the signup page traffic large enough for a 2x2 factorial test?
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What is the primary business objective: conversion, revenue, profit, or LTV?
Part 1 - Subscription Pricing Test
How would you evaluate a subscription price increase over two weeks? Should pricing be A/B-tested, and how would you decide if the new price is beneficial?
What This Part Should Cover
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Discuss whether A/B testing price is appropriate given ethics, customer trust, sales process, and long-term effects.
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If testing, limit to new prospects or eligible cohorts and randomize at account or company level.
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Measure conversion, revenue, expected profit, average contract value, sales-cycle progression, refund/complaint rates, and predicted LTV.
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Use longer-term holdouts, geo/cohort tests, conjoint, willingness-to-pay research, or phased rollout as alternatives.
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Decide using profit or LTV, not conversion alone.
Part 2 - Multivariate CTA Test
How would you structure and analyze a multivariate test for color and placement?
What This Part Should Cover
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Use a 2x2 factorial design: red/top, red/bottom, blue/top, blue/bottom.
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Randomize users or accounts consistently and avoid cross-device contamination.
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Estimate main effects and interaction effects for color and placement.
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Track click-through, signup completion, lead quality, downstream conversion, latency, accessibility, and bounce rate.
Follow-up Questions
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What if the price increase raises short-term revenue but lowers long-term retention?
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How would you avoid users discovering different prices?
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What if CTA clicks increase but paid conversions do not?