How do you collect good reviews for a new product so you can use them as social proof later?

The timing thing is underrated. Asking for a review right after someone hits a result, not just "been using it for 2 weeks?" but the moment they actually solve something with it, that's when the words come naturally. We learned this the hard way after collecting a bunch of "great tool!" responses that were basically useless on a landing page.

The other thing that changed how we think about it: asking "what were you doing before, and what changed" instead of "can you leave a review?" You get actual before-and-after language, which is the only shape that persuades a new visitor who doesn't know you yet.

One thing I've learned is don't ask for reviews. Ask for outcomes.

Instead of "Would you leave us a review?", I prefer asking:

"What problem did this solve for you?" "What almost stopped you from trying it?" "Would you recommend it to someone in your position? Why?"

Those answers usually become far more authentic testimonials because they're rooted in a real story, not just a five star rating.

I'm also a big believer in capturing feedback early, even if it's just a DM, an email, or a spontaneous social post. Some of the most convincing social proof starts as an unprompted reaction.

Nika, have you found that screenshots from real conversations convert better than polished testimonials? I'd love to know which one has performed best for you.

I'm still new to this, but I think the best reviews come when people genuinely enjoy using the product.

If someone messages you saying they liked it or thanks you for solving a problem, that's probably the best time to politely ask if they'd be willing to leave a review. Making the process quick and easy also helps.

I also like the idea of collecting small testimonials first and then gradually building reviews on platforms like G2 or Trustpilot as your product grows. Authentic feedback feels much more valuable than trying to collect lots of reviews quickly.

Everyone here is arguing about when to ask and how to word it. I think the thing actually blocking it is the format.

Every suggestion in this thread, including the good ones, ends with your user typing something. Even "what were you doing before and what changed" lands in their inbox as homework. The people with the best stories are usually the least likely to write three paragraphs about your extension, because it's your marketing, not theirs.

Same person will happily talk for five minutes though. So ask them to say it rather than write it. A link they can talk into whenever suits them, no scheduling, and you do the writing up after. Then you're editing instead of begging.

For your case the DMs are already the shortlist. Those people talked about your tool unprompted in a chat box, which is the hard part done. Go back to those exact threads and ask them to expand on the line they already sent you.

(i build something in this space so discount accordingly)

The part most people skip is when the ask goes out. A review request works at the moment the product has just done the thing the person came for, not on a schedule a week later. Find that moment inside your own tool and ask there and nowhere else. The gap in response rate between those two timings is not small.

Two things worth sorting before you go near Trustpilot or G2. A Chrome Web Store review is not yours to reuse as a testimonial on a landing page without asking the person, so get a yes in writing while they are still warm. And the review that converts is specific rather than positive. Great tool does nothing. I stopped getting restricted after two weeks does the work, so if you prompt at all, prompt for the before and after instead of for praise.

I built a tool in the review space for local businesses, so the thing I would flag from that side is that reviews stop being a collection problem quite quickly and become a response problem. Once you are listed on those platforms the bad ones are permanent and public, and what readers actually judge you on is whether the owner replied and what they said. Decide your response policy before you open the profiles, not after the first one star.

I’d ask for a review immediately after the customer experiences a specific result, rather than after an arbitrary number of days. “Great product” is pleasant, but “this reduced our weekly reporting process from three hours to thirty minutes” is much more credible.

Following this one closely, because I haven't cracked it myself yet. Shopify app here, zero reviews so far, and I've been hesitant to just ask for one blindly because I don't want it to feel like a pop-up interruption.

The one thing I've landed on, even though I haven't shipped it yet: only ask right after a moment where the merchant actually saw the product work — not on install, not on a timer, but tied to a specific "this just worked for you" moment. My theory is that a review asked for right after genuine value lands reads completely differently than one asked for generically, but I don't have data yet to back that up.

Curious about the timing question specifically: for those of you who've gotten this right, was it about waiting for a specific action (like a first successful use), or more about elapsed time / number of sessions? And did you find people were honest even when the ask was well-timed, or does the "please review us" framing always feel a bit forced no matter when you ask?

You can ask customers to leave testimonials on your website. You then simply screenshot them and then post them on social media.