Testimonial Generator? What are you thinking?

Over the past day or two I’ve been seeing a lot of e-mails about something called “Testimonial Generator”.

I have a couple of big problems with this.

At first I thought it was being promoted because of the usual reasons: It’s shiny and new and has an affiliate program. The usual people will jump on board because of that alone. I’ve said it before – give something a fresh lick of paint and an attractive commission and it will be promoted all over the web.

But, come on – seriously guys – a Testimonial Generator? How wrong is that?

Many will simply shoot me down right here. Those that believe that a sale is a sale, and that anything that can get you profit is worthwhile. Those who say that Internet Marketing is really one big hoax anyway: a way to get money from the gullible who need to make money themselves.

Well – I don’t subscribe to that. By now you’ve probably seen and realised that the Internet Marketing world is stuck in a strange world of it’s own. Selling to the converted. But that’s “marketing” in it’s purest form. As the well known phrase goes, with the right skills you could sell sand to the Arabs. Or ice to the Eskimos. Or any number of race-based epithets.

But “testimonials” should be just that: A honest review of a product. Of course you would cherry-pick those reviews, and of course those reviews may be glowing just because the reviewer want’s their name, photo, and link on your salespage. So what’s the harm?

It’s because the whole idea of faking testimonials so obviously and charging for a product to do so just strikes me as wrong – in so many ways. First, if you absolutely had to fake a testimonial it’s easy enough to write it yourself. And don’t worry about people recognising your “voice” in the text – just write it from another viewpoint. Treat it as an role.

You don’t even need to do this in the first place. Simply asking for testimonials should work. Even offering free previews of your book/software/product in exchange for a testimonial will work. They’ll be biased – sure – but it’s still infinitely better than an automated one.

The real way to use testimonials to your advantage is to post the bad along with the good. One or two negative reviews – maybe even tailored to mention only a single point – would bring some credibility to your product. As long as they are outweighed by the positive ones. Believe me – if a potential customer wants to buy something they will use their inherent bias to only really notice the positive reviews anyway.

Names bring with them weight. The only truly effective testimonials are those from the respected people in your field. And you cannot fake that without a threat of lawsuit

Testimonials are only a small part of a salespage. From a customers point of view a salespage should detail how a product can benefit them, but from a marketers viewpoint it’s better to actively elicit that emotional response, that need. If you wear both hats (being both a buyer and seller) you need to be as honest as possible while still obtaining that sale or commission.

It can be a difficult balancing act, but it will pay out in the long term. Believe in what you promote.