I hate it when I see them - before I get a chance to even read what the pitch is about.

So I always put the testimonials at the end - or sometimes in sidebars 1/2 or so way through the piece.

But I might be wrong.

Has anyone "tested" it and if so what worked best?

Steve

Steve, I agree with you ... mostly. Testimonial headlines can be very effective. But otherwise, I'm with you - testimonials are best used to back up your claims, benefits, and features. Until someone knows what you're offering, why should they care about what other people think about it?

The last recommendation from Michel I heard was to never do that. I'm sure he'll correct me if I'm wrong.

Of course, there is the ol' testimonial headline. I don't recall using one myself.

I'm aware of at least one exception to that rule. The last version of Traffic Secrets started off (after the headline and deck copy) with over 100 "Success Stories" before going in to the actual sales letter.

I believe the reasoning was that after the initial launch, a large portion of traffic was from biz-op magazines and it was felt the case study format was needed to overcome skepticism. (Maybe Michel will chime in on that).

You can see it on the Success Doctor site, about 1/3 of the way down this page... http://www.successdoctor.com/services

Yep, Andy, I knew about that one too. It probably falls under the old, "You have to know the rules to know how to break the rules" thing.

The original web copy from October 2004 DID NOT start off with a ton of testies but with a ton of fascinations.

A few quick screen dumps of that letter are below.

Yeah, that's the point. The "ton of testies" approach was in response to the fact that the lead source had changed. When traffic was coming (I assume) from Reese's and his JV partners lists, the fascination lead was the better copy strategy. When the weight shifted from those sources to biz-opp magazine ads, it appears the decision was made to put the testimonials up front.

Like Bruce said, the exception proves the rule in this case.

Testies at the start of a salesletter have more to do with "greasing the proof".

For example, you're about to make a big claim in your headline, deck copy, or lead.

Here's an example of what I mean:

How To Beef Up Your Proof - Part 2 | A Prescription in Marketing

In this case, the testies are "warming them up" for what you're about to reveal.

I certainly didn't invent that. But it appears to work, in my (admittedly) limited tests.

Perhaps Michel or some others can weigh in on more definitive testing they've done, if they care to share their results.

But I learned that technique from Gary Halbert years ago.

Saw it again later (was it Schwartz? Or Hopkins? Can't recall at the moment)

So it's pretty established.

Now if I can just get those testies to mold to my copy!

EDIT: It was Schwartz! Geez, had to read my own blog comments to remember. Man, I'm getting old!

I agree with all of you.

The only time I really think it might be beneficial to do that is when say relaunching a course (kind of like Jeff Walker's PLF2) when people already know the gist of it and you now have 3rd party proof it works. When people already know what you're selling before they see your pitch. I'd still prefer to see case studies after the intro though.

If nothing else pick one testie and weave it into a story into the intro using it as your hook.

If I don't know what I'm reading about and see testies I usually stop before moving forward.