Win Report: How contextual messaging increased paid subscribers by 9%
(By the way, to get articles like this free in your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter.)
Published: October 2025
Win Reports help you grow your business by showing our methodology at work. Each Win Report showcases a real-world test, sharing the research, insights, and techniques that led to the win.
In the next 3 minutes, we’ll show you how adding an overlay to explain premium features increased paid subscribers by 9%.

Trusted by Airbnb, Pinterest, and Headspace, Mobbin enables subscribers to take inspiration from over 300,000 real screens and 24,000 real navigation flows.
Research: Selling value at the point of interest
We’d already run a successful test that added “Pro” badges next to Mobbin’s premium features. The badges worked well, making it clear which elements required a paid account.
Our customer research had also demonstrated how valuable these premium features were. In our interviews and user tests, Mobbin’s paying users consistently praised the depth of the design library, loving how “the abundance of content gave a 360° view,” and how they could “see whole user journeys within paid subscription apps.”
The challenge was… how could we communicate the value of Pro features at the moments that mattered most? In one sense, the Pro badges created a disconnect. Although users on free accounts discovered premium content at the exact moment they needed inspiration for their own designs, they had no quick way to understand what Pro would really unlock. To find out, they needed to stop what they were doing, locate Mobbin’s pricing page, and learn what Pro included—interrupting their flow (and potentially their interest).
The original page (or control)
The original page displayed a black “Pro” chip next to premium features (like “Flows”), but offered no explanation of what those features did or why they mattered.
The tested page (or variation)
For the variation, we turned to the principle of progressive disclosure—revealing the value of Pro features at the moment the users encountered them.
The new design added an overlay that appeared when users hovered over or clicked the “Pro” chip. The overlay included:
- An animated GIF showing the feature in action.
- A clear explanation of the Pro feature’s benefits.
- A button to Upgrade to Pro.
- A link to compare all Mobbin’s plans.
- A risk-reduction message: Change or cancel anytime.
Taken together, these elements gave free account users a path forward without pulling them away from their research.
Result: Paid subscribers increased by 9%
During the test, we observed a 9% increase in subscriptions to paid plans.
Perhaps more impressively, 21% of visitors triggered the overlay—much higher than we expected. This suggests users were actively seeking information about premium features at precisely the moment they encountered them. You might say we caught them at just the right flow-ment.
What next?
As usual, we added the test to our proprietary Wins Database, then looked for ways to apply its lessons to other parts of Mobbin’s business and then to other clients.
If you want us to grow your profits—quickly and efficiently—check if you qualify for a free one-on-one strategy session with one of our CRO consultants.
We’ll only work with you if we believe we can get amazing results together. Our success has come entirely from positive word of mouth, and we plan to keep it that way.
Thanks to Mobbin for letting us share these insights (and for being such a great team to work with).
How much did you like this article?
What’s your goal today?
1. Hire us to grow your company
We’ve generated hundreds of millions for our clients, using our unique CRE Methodology™. To discover how we can help grow your business:
- Read our case studies, client success stories, and video testimonials.
- Learn about us, and our unique values, beliefs and quirks.
- Visit our “Services” page to see the process by which we assess whether we’re a good fit for each other.
- Schedule your FREE website strategy session with one of our renowned experts.
Schedule your FREE strategy session
2. Learn how to do conversion
Download a free copy of our Amazon #1 best-selling book, Making Websites Win, recommended by Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Moz, Econsultancy, and many more industry leaders. You’ll also be subscribed to our email newsletter and notified whenever we publish new articles or have something interesting to share.
Browse hundreds of articles, containing an amazing number of useful tools and techniques. Many readers tell us they have doubled their sales by following the advice in these articles.
Download a free copy of our best-selling book
3. Join our team
If you want to join our team—or discover why our team members love working with us—then see our “Careers” page.
4. Contact us
We help businesses worldwide, so get in touch!
© 2025 Conversion Rate Experts Limited. All rights reserved.