Where is the BEST place to put TESTIMONIALS in a sales page?

[BJ Min]

Hi,

What is the best strategy or PLACE to
place your testimonials in your SALES page?

- at the bottom
- at the middle
- at the top
- throughout the entire sales page?

what have you had most success with in general?

[JohnMcCabe]

You have to find the best combination for your offer/market by testing.

As a starting point, I would look at spreading them throughout, and putting them in sidebars in the text. I got this from studying some of the control pieces from Clayton Makepeace. If you have a diverse supply of testimonials, covering a variety of angles, try putting them close to a related point in the copy.

For example, if one of your bullets for a software package is "easy to set up and use", and you have a testimonial that says "I'm usually a tech dummy, but I had this one running in under ten minutes without a hitch", you would put them near each other.

You might also want to test putting a powerful testimonial in a PS, as the last thing someone reads before leaving the page.

I hope this gives you at least a starting place...

[imblogger]

at the bottom

[samstephens]

If you're using a standard sales copy kind of sales page, then if you make a certain point, and you have a testimonial to back up that specific point, then it's good to put it right after your point.

For example:


We offer the widest range of fresh fruit delivered to your door!

"This is the best tasting and most fresh fruit I've ever bought through the mail" -- Fruit Eater, Example Web Page



Does that make sense?

cheers
Sam

[AndrewCavanagh]

A combination:

# 1: Put the testimonials that directly relate to bullets and benefits in your copy right next to those bullets and benefits (all through your copy).

# 2: All the extra testimonials at the end of the copy in a second or third P.S.

That allows you to add in any new testimonials you get and if your prospect scrolls to the end of your copy and sees 6-30 more testimonials that tends to build belief.


# 3: Edit your testimonials for length. Many testimonials ramble. You want to take out the meaty punchy part and use that while retaining the tone and meaning of the original testimonial.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

[windfall_results]

The most effective area to place a testimonial is what I will refer to as an "Anxiety Point"

This will be any place in your sales letter where the prospect may attempt to talk themselves out of eventually placing the order.

An example being...

Many people are still hesitant to place an order online. Therefore, you strategically place a testimonial near your Order Button(s).

"I have ordered widgets from John Doe for over four years now. Everytime I do, I am impressed by the way that John goes out of his way to make sure my order is fulfilled. This type of personal service is nearly impossible to find these days"

This type of testimonial presents a 'We care" type attitude and this will instill more confidence in the propsect. It also helps the prospect visualize the personal service they would receive, thereby giving them a stronger connection to the company. It is what John Reese referred to as Transparency.

Or you could utilize a testimonial from an authority figure (and by authority figure, I do mean a phoney from the IM world like the usual suspects who present testimonials on demand for products they likely never use).

An example from a real authority figure...

"Having been in law enforcement for over 20 years now, the job has really taken a toll on my body. For years now, I am suffered from aches and pains. Most recently, I developed a condition called plantar fasciitis, which has severely limited my ability to effectively do my job. Being a Sgt. in the Jonesville Police Department, I am constantly on the go and on my feet all day long. having plantar fasciitis caused me pain with each step I took. I thought I was going to be forced into a desk job, which I did not want".

"But then I discovered "wigit" and my pain has almost disappeared"...

On and on, you get the drift.

Anxiety points differ from market to market, however, most markets share common traits.

A good exercise to do is to go through your sales letter from the point of view of the cutomer. Whenever you hit a section that makes you stop and think "this does not credible", then place in a testiimonial. Read the section over again and see if it alleviates your "concerns".

If it does, then you are on the right track.

If you like, I could expand on this notion in another positing and go more indepth. I am just pressed for time at the moment.

[achaser]

I think you should put the FIRST testimonial at the very top of your sales letter, near the sub headline.

An then spread them throughout the "Anxiety Points" as mentioned by windfall.

[John Ritz]

Sam and Andrew are spot on. The definition of hype (from a copywriter's perspective) is any claim you make that you don't back up with proof.

Testimonials and case studies offer great proof. If you make a claim, and you have a testimonial that backs up your claim, what better place to put it than right next to the claim you are making?

You can see how I did this with sidebars at my Copywriter's Toolkit site, for one. I won't post a link here, but you can Google copywriters toolkit and find it easily enough.

Also, if you do look at that page, check out what I did with a certain testimonial right next to my guarantee. How many times have you seen that?

What better way to boost the fact that I honor and respect all refunds?

Cheers,

John

P.S. Sometimes where you place testimonials can hurt. You want them to keep reading, and when you insert a bunch of testies in the middle of your copy at the wrong spot, it can actually have a detrimental effect on your conversions. Why? Because they can act as barriers or "speed bumps" in your copy. You've sucked them into your copy, then you go ahead and give them an excuse to stop reading, because you've gone ahead and abruptly changed the subject.

[AndrewCavanagh]

Originally Posted by John Ritz

Sometimes where you place testimonials can hurt. You want them to keep reading, and when you insert a bunch of testies in the middle of your copy at the wrong spot, it can actually have a detrimental effect on your conversions. Why? Because they can act as barriers or "speed bumps" in your copy. You've sucked them into your copy, then you go ahead and give them an excuse to stop reading, because you've gone ahead and abruptly changed the subject.

This is a great point.

The flow of your copy is so vital.

That's why I suggested editing testimonials to make them short and punchy and putting the bulk of testimonials after your main copy.

Jamming in a bunch of testimonials without any thought to their placement is a very common mistake and it certainly can kill the flow of copy.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

[DavidO]

This is a really tough choice, something I've been testing on my site for the last two years. I don't think there's a hard and fast rule because it depends on the flow of your copy and the structure of the page.

I can tell you what hasn't worked well for me: sidebars, early in the page, and scattered through the page. What is finally working best for me is near the bottom of the page.

Funny thing though, since using clicktale and watching videos of visitor behavior I've noticed that testimonials are one of the most widely ignored parts of my sales page, no matter where they're put! That's especially true if they're long. Short and to the point is best.

[windfall_results]

Originally Posted by DavidO

This is a really tough choice, something I've been testing on my site for the last two years. I don't think there's a hard and fast rule because it depends on the flow of your copy and the structure of the page.

I can tell you what hasn't worked well for me: sidebars, early in the page, and scattered through the page. What is finally working best for me is near the bottom of the page.

Funny thing though, since using clicktale and watching videos of visitor behavior I've noticed that testimonials are one of the most widely ignored parts of my sales page, no matter where they're put! That's especially true if they're long. Short and to the point is best.

As always, I find the ideal length of testimonial depends upon on your market. In my niche, selling alternative health products in the $50 to $250 range, long and descriptive testimonials work best. How do I know? Well because customers tell me what made them purchase plus I ask them. A novel concept, asking people what made them purchase instead of solely relying on traffic analysis software.

If I purchasing an IM product, I too ignore testimonials for all intensive purposes. This is due to the fact that the same people post testimonials for practically every IM product that hits the market. It hardly gives me the perception of being an independent review.

If your target market is not oversaturated or within the IM field and if your target customer is a typical American consumer, then propsects will not likely have been exposed to thousands of sales letters and the tens of thousands of recycled testimonials they contain. If this is the case, they will likely respond better to testimonials and also rely on them more. This is especially true if the testimonial provides valuable insight and specific results.

Too many testimonials can obviously be hurtful if interfering with the flow of the copy.

In regards to sidebars, another interesting fact I have found in testing various our sales letters is that when I presented testimonials in a sidebar format that stretched from the top of the page down to the bottom (23 printed pages in total size), many of my actual customers did not truly read the testimonials. Many did, but not the majority. (Once again, I get people to reveal this in conversations).

However, they were still influential in their purchasing decision.

Just scanning the testimonials instilled enough confidence in their possible buying decision and subconsciously put their mind's at ease about making a potential purchase.

Even though prospects may not read the testimonials in this sidebar format, having them present is still helpful, at least in my field.

Overall, just make sure you do not present them in ways that interferes with the flow of your pitch but allows people to still view them and know they are there.

One technique I have been using lately is to incorporate a testimonial right into the sales text itself in a format similar to what is seen in press releases and in novels. A few one or two sentence quotes sprinkled around in some paragraphs to support claims I make. This format keeps the flow nice and does not serve as any type of "speed bump".

[ianstables]

Brett McFall (very successful Australian copywriter) states you need them after you've shown your benefits.

Reason being is after they decided they like what you're offering they start wondering if what you deliver is really true. So it makes sense that this is the time to answer the reader's question.

Regards Ian