I think that depends on what kind of conversion you're after. If you just want to harvest email addresses, then sure. If you're looking for satisfied paying customers, this kind of trickery won't work.
If you build a button that promises something for free, you need to give something for free — free tier, 30 day trial, ebook, screencast, etc. Having visitors fill out an account form is not a gift to them, it's a gift to YOU.
The issue here is that I'm sharing findings from my own data. This is not me making stuff up. I have actually used this very same button text to increase conversions (up by .04% on a site with thousands of visitors). It was not used to harvest emails. A practice that simply does not work, unless you plan on sending Viagra ads. I don't do such things.
If you build a button that promises something for free, you need to give something for free — free tier, 30 day trial, ebook, screencast, etc. Having visitors fill out an account form is not a gift to them, it's a gift to YOU.
See, this is where you miss the point. The person is getting a free account. You might not think its something, but there are a lot of accounts out there for which you have to pay. Need to go to Costco? Hey, you have to pay for membership (an account), just to make sure you can enter the store. Free accounts may not be what they used to be (in your opinion), but they are still very valuable overall.
Now, of course you are not going to just give them an account. That would be a waste of a good lead. You will then follow up with another offer. Say, pay half-off your service price for the first month. And so on.
I know some of this stuff looks rather strange to people here. But the business world is very, very different from programming.
Thanks for your explanation. I think we have different definitions of what an 'account' is. For me, an account is in which a user shares his contact information (maybe also business & payment info). That in itself doesn't add value.
From your last comment, I gather that (to you) 'account' surmounts to 'access to the service or product'. If so, we agree.
When you apply for Costco membership, you get something in return: the chance to buy products for less than they would normally cost. I don't see how that translates to the example provided.
NB: I'm a publisher, marketer, editor, and designer. I develop software, but I'm not a programmer.
Does that actually work on B2B products that are in the hundreds or thousands dollar range every month? I don't think that cost is really an issue in that world if its delivering value at a large multiple, its more integration/implementation worry. Perhaps I'm wrong though.
No answer would be prudent without knowing and understanding more facts about the product you refer to. But do test them. I have tested things that looked like they would not work (and did).
Wow, that's really sleazy. I really hope nobody actually uses that idea.