Reviews provide social proof for your products.

But time is money. So simply asking for someone to review your business or service isn’t enough.

It’s effort. People are lazy… I know because I am one.

You have to offer them something instead. A reason to take time out of their day to do you a favour.

I use free iPhone contests…

The best tool I’ve found is to run a free post-purchase contest to win an iPhone 13.

For the cost of a cheap iPhone—£779 (approx. $970), I got just over 7,000 reviews.

That’s a cost of around £0.11 ($0.14) per verified buyer review.

Why an iPhone and not a ‘free product’?

I see many companies offering their products for free, devaluing their merchandise. It sends one of three signals to buyers:

1. Don’t buy it yet, because you could win it instead.

2. Don’t take any action, because if you already own it, you probably don’t need to win it.

3. Don’t take any action, because if they’re giving it away for free, it may not be worth owning.

Giving away something else valuable prompts action and doesn’t deter future potential buyers.