How The Buying Forces Framework Increased Human's Subscription Sales by over $200,000
Dietary Supplement Case Study: Optimizing Subscriptions Using Buyer Psychology
Executive Summary
Human N, a leading Inc. 5,000 nutritional supplement brand with over $65M in annual revenue, needed to optimize subscription conversions for their SuperBeets nitric oxide drink mix. Creative Thirst implemented strategic A/B testing using our proprietary Supplement Buying Forces Framework that addresses how customers make decisions when purchasing nutritional supplements. By tapping into the four key psychological drivers (Desire, Belief, Hope & Trust), the test resulted in a 23.53% increase in subscription sales over the control. Adding over $200,000 in subscription revenue and laying the foundation for significant improvements in customer lifetime value.
The Challenge
Human N, was sending traffic via TV ads to a landing page for their flagship product, SuperBeets. The page was already converting fairly well as visitors were already warmed up from the TV ads, but they needed to increase the subscription take rate and improve customer lifetime value.
Despite several internal attempts, Human N couldn't achieve significant improvements in subscription conversions. The challenge was difficult because the page was already optimized for sales conversion from previous tests. And visitors already had high motivation to buy from the TV ads, making substantial conversion improvements harder to achieve.
The Approach: The Buying Forces Framework
Creative Thirst applied our proprietary Supplement Buying Forces Framework, which is specifically designed for understanding how consumers purchase health supplements. Unlike other products, supplement buying decisions are heavily influenced by unique psychological factors.
Why? Because, people don't buy supplements the same way they buy other products.
Desire & Hope
Desire is what pushes the prospect towards your supplement. Desire is rooted in the problem the prospect wants to remove.
Desire can be:
- Functional: The tangible health benefits customers seek
- Emotional: How customers want to feel
- Social: How the product helps in social contexts
Hope is connected to the outcome the prospect wants.
Trust
Trust can be amplified by:
- Logic: The rational, evidence-based reasons to buy
- Credibility: Signals that reinforce reliability
Belief
Belief drives what the prospect is already doing. It pulls them toward their current reality.
Belief can be expressed through:
- Self Story: How the product aligns with personal identity
- Challenges: Addressing hurdles to commitment
The Test Implementation
Creative Thirst designed a test that added a new section to the landing page. This section strategically incorporated elements that addressed all four of the buying forces.
Leveraging Desire, Belief & Hope
The top portion of the new section explained:
- Why nitric oxide is critical to health and wellbeing
- How it helps dilate arteries and improve circulation
- The role of diet and exercise in natural nitric oxide production
- Why people over 40 need to be especially concerned about nitric oxide levels
- The importance of daily replenishment
Leveraging Trust
The bottom portion addressed trust by explaining:
- How the subscription program works in detail
- The benefits of maintaining a regular heart health routine
- Clear pricing and the value proposition of a subscription
- That subscribers remain in complete control of delivery schedules
- The risk-free guarantee provided with every order
Results
Increase in Subscription Sales
23.53% = Over $200,000
By implementing content that addressed all four buying forces, Creative Thirst was able to achieve a significant 23.53% increase in subscription sales. Achieving the goal and allowing the campaign to scale. Proving the effectiveness of the Buying Forces Framework.
Analysis: Why It Worked
The test was successful because it addressed the unique psychology of health supplement purchasers:
Addressing Desire & Hope
The content clearly articulated the functional benefits of nitric oxide and SuperBeets, connecting daily use to specific health outcomes that customers desire. By explaining how nitric oxide affects circulation, blood pressure, and heart health, it created a strong motivation to take action.
Building Trust
The detailed explanation of how the subscription program works removed uncertainty about recurring purchases. The "no surprises" approach and emphasis on customer control addressed common subscription hesitations, while the money-back guarantee reduced perceived risk.
Fostering Belief
By acknowledging the challenges of maintaining nitric oxide levels, especially for people over 40, the content connected with customers' self-perceptions and created a story about taking control of their health that resonated with their identity as proactive health consumers.
Logical Transition to Subscription
The content created a logical bridge between the need for daily nitric oxide replenishment and the convenience of a subscription. This made the subscription option feel like the natural solution to health, rather than just a business model.
Business Impact
- Revenue Increase: The 23.53% lift in subscription sales translated to significant additional revenue of over $200,000.
- Customer Lifetime Value: Each new subscriber represented substantially more revenue than a one-time purchaser.
- Consistent Revenue Stream: More subscribers meant more predictable revenue for Human N.
- Improved Marketing ROI: The same TV ad traffic now generates more subscription revenue, improving the return on ad spend.
Key Takeaways
- Supplement customers have unique psychological drivers that are different than traditional product marketing.
- Addressing all four buying forces (Desire, Belief, Hope, and Trust) is needed for unlocking the health buyer’s mind.
- Even with warmed-up traffic from TV ads, optimization focused on psychological factors can yield significant improvements.
- Transparent explanation of subscription benefits and mechanics reduces barriers to commitment.
- Educational content that connects daily use to health outcomes establishes the need for a subscription model.
About Creative Thirst
Creative Thirst helps dietary supplement, e-commerce companies maximize profitability. We take a revenue-focused optimization approach, not just getting more front-end sales or opt-ins, but looking at the entire sales funnel, including back-end sales, retention, and lifetime value.
It's less about tactics or technology, and more about enabling our clients to connect with their audience and grow their businesses.
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Check out Case Study #2 to see how we used the Commitment & Consistency principle to further achieve an additional 31.26% boost in subscription sales for Human N!
View Case Study #2