Can I fake users testimonials?
About to launch a new project of which I currently have no users.
As it has become a vital part of a landing page to have users testimonials, can use fake testimonials or wait for when I have users and then include their testimonials?
Please don't.
Of course you can - but you shouldn't.
I suspect that you already think this, but I think that would be a bad idea. If I can't reach-out to the people who left the reviews, I strongly doubt the veracity of any of the claims made by the product.
Thanks for your reply. I felt it would be a bad idea, just curious and wanted to know the thoughts of other founders.
Anything dishonest or misleading is a bad idea.
I think testimonials these days are on every landing page, that they've become less meaningful just by themselves.
As part of your early promotion of your product why not offer a discount for those who spread the word or can offer a testimonial?
Please Don't use that. Maybe you can give free account for fellow indiehacker for free,and ask for testimonial.
I definitely agree with the other comments here that faking reviews is a bad idea. That said, I like the approach that Patrick Griffith is using for Chat Thingy. Scroll to the bottom of the page: https://chatthingy.com/
Whoah thanks! That's awesome.
Also I'll add to the overall conversation with: In general, if I can't click through to their website or their Twitter handle or something then they don't mean anything to me. But that might just be me.
Testimonials and user reviews should only be placed when they're solid. They are like golden 🏅🎖badges of a good product market fit. But if you fake em they are like poison. ☠️
Don't risk your and your products' reputation and put in the effort to evaluate if your product delivers value instead of faking testimonials.
Fake it until you make it only applies to idea conceptualization, not market feedback.😅
All the best ✌🏻️
Noooo. Can you? Sure it's possible but you don't want to do that. If you'll fake testimonials, what else would you not tell the truth about?
Make getting testimonials a goal for your beta or project pre-launch. You should be asking for feedback and testimonials on your project.
Something you can do is write an example testimonial for someone to use as a template of what their testimonial can look like. This is how I've gotten testimonials from CTOs and VPs. You write it for them and they approve it by attaching their name and title. They don't have the time to write it but do have the time to say yes, I would say that.
The reason why testimonials are important is because it's another way of building social proof with your audience. They are more likely to believe what someone who is like them has to say about you than if you said it about yourself directly.
A theme of mine has always been "if you want someone to do something, make it as easy as possible for them." I hadn't thought of doing this with testimonials...great idea!
Thanks Vanessa, I'll make it a goal for my beta.
It's not vital, you can disable it if you don't have any. I personnally see these sections as fake - it's always 100 % positive.
I think there's a disconnect between us and "normal" people haha. I view them as fake, but I've never seen a marketing article or anything that suggests these are unimportant.
I basically ignore them and look at product features, which all the advice I've seen says is the exact opposite of how a visitor will look at a site offering.
You could ask to your friend/colleague/network to test your offer and see if they have a nice testimonial to offer you.
Like that It won't be (too) fake and you will have your first testimonial(s).
Just my point of view