Sometimes, growth doesn’t come from big overhauls—it comes from a single, smart change.
At SEM Nexus, we’ve run hundreds of experiments across app funnels. We’ve redesigned onboarding flows, rebuilt monetization strategies, and launched massive multi-channel campaigns. But one of the most effective conversion wins we’ve ever seen came from something deceptively small: a single call-to-action (CTA) button.
After one minor adjustment—just 6 words changed, repositioned, and retested—we saw a 43% increase in conversion at a critical step of the user journey.
In this article, we’ll show you why that change worked, what it means for your app, and how to apply the same principles to your own conversion points—whether you’re driving installs, subscriptions, or sign-ups.
The Experiment: Same Flow, New Behavior
The client: a productivity app with strong install volume but a steep drop-off before account creation.
The challenge: users were bouncing at the final stage of onboarding—a screen asking them to create an account or sign in before exploring the product.
The original CTA button read:
“Create Account to Continue”
We ran a simple A/B test using Firebase Remote Config and Amplitude for behavior analytics. The variant CTA read:
“Continue and Personalize My App”
That’s it. No UX redesign. No extra incentives. Just a reframed CTA.
The result?
43% increase in onboarding completion rate
25% increase in Day 1 retention
12% higher activation rate (defined by completing first task)
Why did this work?
The Psychology Behind the Click
“Create Account” feels like a chore.
It’s administrative, impersonal, and suggests a delay in access.
“Continue and Personalize My App”, on the other hand, feels like progress. It uses action language (“Continue”) and highlights a user benefit (“Personalize My App”) instead of a product requirement.
This taps into a few key behavioral psychology principles:
Loss Aversion: Users don’t want to lose the personalization they feel is coming next.
Commitment Bias: They’ve already invested time in onboarding—they’re more likely to continue if it feels like a continuation, not a restart.
Self-Determination Theory: Framing the next step as “your app” reinforces autonomy and ownership.
Why Button Copy and Placement Matter
According to Wynter (a B2B messaging testing platform), users form impressions in less than 3 seconds. On mobile, it’s even faster. That means your button text, color, size, and placement are doing more work than you think.
In a 2024 UXCam benchmark study, apps with optimized CTA buttons had:
38% higher conversion rates
20% longer average session times
Significantly lower bounce on key screens
Don’t overlook the power of micro-copy.
How to Identify Your High-Leverage Button
You don’t need to A/B test every word in your UI. Instead, find the conversion chokepoints in your funnel:
Where do users drop off? (Use Mixpanel or Amplitude to track this.)
What screens ask users to make a decision? (e.g., sign up, upgrade, allow permissions)
Is the button action framed around your need or the user’s benefit?
Once you identify these moments, you can experiment with:
Action-first copy: “Start”, “Try”, “Explore”, “Continue”
Benefit language: “Unlock My Workout Plan”, “Start Tracking Sleep”, “Get My Report”
Urgency or curiosity: “Start Now”, “Show Me How”, “See My Results”
Test variations using tools like:
Firebase Remote Config (real-time variant testing)
SplitMetrics or Storemaven (for App Store CTA optimization)
Userpilot or Appcues (for onboarding and in-app flow testing)
Final Thought: The Small Stuff Drives the Big Wins
You don’t always need a new feature to boost conversions.
Sometimes, you just need the right words in the right place.
At SEM Nexus, we help mobile apps unlock their growth potential by zeroing in on high-impact optimizations—whether it’s full-funnel rework or a single button change that moves the needle.
Want to find your next 43% win?
Let’s test, learn, and scale. Visit SEM Nexus and schedule a strategy session today.