Creating evidence part I: Customer Reviews
Why customer reviews matter, their full funnel impact, and how to do it
Hi friends - When you receive this, I’ll be basking in the sun in Puerto Vallarta. Life is good. ☀️
Alright, so for the foreseeable future, we’re talking about marketing. Because too many startups do not start marketing soon enough! And their life would be so much easier if they did.
So far, we have covered -
Now, before I jump into Phase II…I need to take a moment to remind you that organic marketing takes time.
You need to commit to being consistent for at least 4-6 months before you should expect any meaningful results. And then you need to keep going.
I know…I’m the most impatient human, too. But I promise you, it will all be worth it. 🙏
Marketing Priorities by Stage
$0-1mm ARR
Phase II: Some revenue
Alright, so as we discussed, when you are super early, and you have no brand recognition, no clients, no revenue…building an audience that you can activate later is the way to go. And you can do this through thought leadership.
Once you have some clients, some users, and some revenue…it’s time to level up.
Show and tell
Your first customers are honestly kind of insane. They stepped out onto the proverbial plank and took a major risk on you.
They agreed to pay or partner with your baby ‘SaaS company’ - which is probably really a services company with a user interface. 👀
Kudos to you for convincing them to take the plunge. 🏊️
However, most prospects are not going to be such big risk takers…not so crazy.
They are going to look for evidence - evidence that someone else who looks like them worked with you and kind of (or really) liked it first.
Hopefully, after you’ve got a handful of those crazy first adopters, and you treated them like the VIPs they are, they love you.
Now it’s time to leverage their brand and voice to land your next cohort. And you do that through 1) Customer Reviews and 2) Case Studies.
Customer Reviews
According to Gartner, Customer Reviews are the #1 type of content B2B buyers reference in their decision-making process.
And of the five things listed below, it’s the ‘lowest effort’ thing you can do (relatively speaking).
I love the lowest effort + highest impact prioritization method for startups because I know you’ve got little money and little time.
And here’s what makes it even better…Gartner also reports that -
66% of software buyers say reviews significantly impact their purchase decision, and
85% say they trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation
AND…reviews support you across the entire funnel. Yep - they help with top-of-funnel discovery + middle/bottom-of-funnel conversions.
Prettyyyy compelling. So how do you do it?
Check out these resources -
If you like to read:
The Full Funnel Impact of Customer Reviews
If you like to listen/watch:
And next week, we’ll cover Case Studies! See ya there.
With love and gratitude -
If you want to learn more about working with me directly…
For B2B startups I serve as a Fractional GTM executive or advisor. Learn more about-
When you’re ready, let’s connect to discuss your specific growth goals and challenges.
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