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Marketing Academy · Field Work●Copywriting
All projects·From: CTA Copy That Converts
MiniHead-to-Head· 20 minutes

Draft A vs. Draft B: Scoring a CTA Head-to-Head

Rent the Runway

Objective: Score two competing CTA drafts against the VSF framework, then isolate the single-word pronoun swap that closes any remaining gap.

Rent the Runway's growth team is debating two CTA drafts for a subscription landing page redesign, and can't agree without a framework.

Score both drafts against VSF, pick a winner, and identify the one-word edit with the highest documented ROI.

Before you start

What you'll need

Free path (everything below is enough to finish)

Google Docs
FreeScore and compare the two CTA drafts side by side

Free, shareable, easy to leave scoring notes inline

The process

2 steps

Step 01 of 02

The VSF Framework

VSF scores a CTA on three axes: Value (what the user receives), Specificity (a named deliverable or number), and First Person (my vs. your).

Draft A says 'Reserve Your Spot'. Draft B says 'Reserve My 4-Piece Rental Box'. Score both 0-3 on VSF. Which wins and why?

Google Docs— Open the two-draft comparison doc and score each line against the VSF checklist.

Procedure

  1. List Draft A and Draft B side by side in a table
  2. Score each on Value (0-1), Specificity (0-1), First Person (0-1)
  3. Total each draft's VSF score
Sample output
Draft A: 'Reserve Your Spot' -- Value 0, Specificity 0, First Person 0 -- Total 0/3
Draft B: 'Reserve My 4-Piece Rental Box' -- Value 1, Specificity 1, First Person 1 -- Total 3/3

Healthy

Draft B sweeps all three VSF criteria and previews the exact deliverable.

Unhealthy

Picking Draft A because it 'sounds more professional' despite scoring 0/3.

What this means

A CTA that names the deliverable and uses first person will outperform a generic one in nearly every documented test.

So what do I do about it?

SymptomActionEffort
Two CTA drafts are being debated on gut feelScore both against the VSF checklist before choosing5 min
YouYou can do this yourself, no engineering access required.

Step 02 of 02

P, First Person

The ContentVerve/Unbounce test isolated pronoun as the single variable and found 'my' beat 'your' by 90% CTR.

If Draft B instead read 'Reserve Your 4-Piece Rental Box' (same value and specificity, just 'your' not 'my'), would you expect it to convert as well? What single edit closes the gap?

Google Docs— In the comparison doc, isolate the pronoun as the only changed variable.

Procedure

  1. Rewrite Draft B swapping 'my' for 'your', holding everything else constant
  2. Note that this isolates pronoun as the single test variable
  3. Flag the 'my' version as the one to ship based on the 90% CTR precedent
Sample output
Draft B-your: 'Reserve Your 4-Piece Rental Box'
Draft B-my: 'Reserve My 4-Piece Rental Box'  <- ship this one

Healthy

The team ships the 'my' version and treats the pronoun as a tested variable, not a style preference.

Unhealthy

Assuming 'your' and 'my' are interchangeable and picking whichever 'sounds right' to the writer.

What this means

First person is the single highest-ROI word swap documented in CTA testing; never leave it to preference.

So what do I do about it?

SymptomActionEffort
A CTA draft uses 'your' by defaultSwap to 'my' and treat it as a one-word test, not a style choice5 min
YouYou can do this yourself, no engineering access required.

Final deliverable

A scored VSF comparison of the two CTA drafts, with a recommendation and the single-word edit that closes any remaining gap.

See a reference example
Sample output
ThredUp CTA head-to-head (excerpt)

Draft A: 'Shop Now' -- VSF 0/3
Draft B: 'Get My Resale Picks' -- VSF 3/3
Recommendation: Ship Draft B.

Success criteria

You're done when you can:

  • Scores both drafts against all three VSF criteria
  • Correctly identifies the first-person swap as the highest-leverage single edit
  • Recommendation matches the higher-scoring draft