How to Get Testimonials Before You Launch
April 20, 2015
Testimonials are money makers.
More often than not, if someone is trying to sell you something, they will feature at least one testimonial. You’ll see testimonials on landing pages, websites, advertising pages, and more.
So why do you want testimonials of your own?
They highlight that customers were beyond satisfied with your product or service
This lowers the barrier to entry, meaning if a potential customer had doubts before, they might not after reading a stellar review from someone else.
It looks less self-promotional
Sure, you can explain how amazing your product or service is until you’re blue in the face, but that doesn’t mean your audience will take your word for it. Anyone selling anything online is going to promote the benefits of their work. When someone else does it for you, that’s when people take notice.
It shows that you care about what your audience thinks
You don’t just create a product or service, leave it as is, and watch the money come rolling in. You want to include outside opinion to show your authority. It makes a big impact on the selling process.
Testing a new product or releasing a new service can be scary, especially if it’s your first time.
What if I told you I had a way to get high-quality testimonials before you publish your product or service?
I put together a non-icky step-by-step guide to help you along the way.
#1 Make a list of all the bloggers you want to reach out to
It would be smart to start with some of the well-known bloggers in your niche as they are figures your visitors will recognize. Having a big name behind your product or service speaks volumes about its quality.
You can also use social listening to create a list of bloggers who are interested in the subject of your product or service. People are always posting on social media about how they wish had more information or resources on a topic. Use this to your advantage and create a win-win scenario for you both.
Don’t forget your BBFFs (blog best friends forever)! They will often be more than willing to help out because they already support you in so many other ways. They will usually give the most glowing testimonials too. #bloglove
#2 Create and send an email to each blogger from your list
Your pitch should explain:
- What your product or service is
- Why that person should care
- Why you’ve chosen that person to give feedback (very important!)
Please take the time to personalize each email. It’s good to have a framework, but if you copy and paste the same response to everyone, it won’t lead to an endorsement. No group emails either. That’s just icky.
Remember, this is NOT a sales pitch. You are solely reaching out to offer them either a free (or very, very discounted) product or service in exchange for feedback.
IMPORTANT: Always lead by asking for feedback. If the feedback is more critical than positive, send a nice thank you email for their time but don’t ask for a testimonial since it most likely won’t lead to one. However, if the feedback is beyond positive and the blogger loved your product or service, this is the green light to ask if the blogger would feel comfortable writing a testimonial to recommend the product or service.
It’s good to know now that your effort may not result in a testimonial every time. A blogger may flat out say no from the get-go. This is okay. Keep reaching out and encourage bloggers that do take part in the process to be very honest. Make it a no pressure zone. Besides, you only want to feature authentic quotes from people who are happy to sing your praises.
#3 Follow up
Bloggers are beyond busy. We all get hundreds of requests and emails a week. Check in with the blogger to ask for their initial thoughts. Do this one week after a service and one to two weeks for a product. From there you can have a better timeline of when the blogger will be ready to send over their feedback.
This process is more of a marathon than a sprint. It may take some time and extra effort on your part, but the quality of testimonials you get will be incredible and it’ll help you smoothly launch your product or service.
