Why are product testimonials are so powerful?
In yesterdays’s post I talked about making product testimonials FDA compliant (see that post here.) I had an interesting observation when I was reading Russell Bronson’s Expert Secrets book. (There is a free copy of an earlier version here, but the one I bought on Amazon for Kindle is much more complete. The section I am talking about is only available in the new version)
TEACHING YOUR FRAMEWORK
One of Russell’s basic ideas is to break processes into what he calls Frameworks. The frameworks are the top level steps involved in solving a problem. In Russell’s section on “Teaching Your Framework” he talked about his struggles to get people to listen to his training. He would lay out the steps involved in solving different problems and people didn’t seem to care. After years of frustration, he finally realized (when he exploded in front of a group of trainees) that the first step MUST BE explaining all of the pain. He needed to talk about what was involved in finding the system that worked. People really started listening after he started his presentations with how much pain, effort, and money went into failing over and over. Then he would talk about finally finding and developing the solution he was presenting.
As an aside, part of this section in the book was a lengthy description of how much it frustrated him when people just blew off explanations and training. He described the pain, time and money that he expended before find this secret. He found that he had to add the PAIN section at the beginning of his presentations. In other words he was doing exactly what he said he learned you had to do to be effective.
PRODUCT TESTIMONIALS
As I read through the testimonials I was modifying to be FDA compliant, I realized that the most powerful ones had one thing in common. They spent more time going through the backstory than they spent on describing the benefits. Talking at length about the different treatments, doctors, disappointments and despair really increased the power of the testimonial. It really enhanced the impact of the section about how a product really worked for them.
The steps Russell described fit perfectly with good testimonials.
- You need to share how the person earned or learned the solution – the backstory.
- The Strategy – what the person really wanted and was going to the doctors for.
- The Tactics – What they did that worked
- Social Proof – how it will work for others (the solution is not unique to the person writing the testimonial.
In our testimonials, the Strategy is probably buried in the backstory, but it needs to be there.
HOW MY OBSERVATION ON PRODUCT TESTIMONIALS IS USEFUL
In addition to just being interesting, this observation also gives us some guidance on helping people write their testimonial. These are people who want to share their testimonial, but don’t know what to say.
Until next time Have a Great Day! Oh Hale Yes
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This is an excellent post. You covered both topics very well.