- The Commerce Lab
- Posts
- #115: Which is more effective: reviews, press, or celebrity endorsements?
#115: Which is more effective: reviews, press, or celebrity endorsements?
How one Gen-Z brand lifted conversions with social proof.
New to The Commerce Lab? This is a 1min insight based on our experiments with 8-and 9-figure brands. Join thousands of brand owners, operators, and marketers 📈 Subscribe here.
No. 115: Hey all,
Every product needs social proof.
From press to customer reviews, A-list endorsements, and accreditations, building trust is critical.
But which ones help drive the most conversions?
It depends. Figure out what your audience values most. Then, emphasize it over all else.
Here’s how.
In this issue:
This week’s win: Increase product desire with the most relevant social proof.
In the news: What customers need in exchange for loyalty.
Quick tips: How to shift attention away from price, and upsells that increase revenue.
But before we get into it, we have a fun live event coming up next week, check it out:
📅 UPCOMING EVENTS
The Product Page Conversion Formula (LIVE TRAINING)
How do you design and launch a product page guaranteed to convert new buyers?
What information is most important to different buyers? And how do you organize it?
If you want to increase your product page conversions, join us next week, on Thursday August 15th at 10:30am PT (1:30pm ET), for a free live training for all Commerce Lab readers.
In this free training, you’ll learn:
The anatomy of a successful, high converting product page
The exact layout and content to show for different verticals (cpg, fashion, apparel, beauty, health, etc)
A live teardown of popular brand product pages to show you what works and doesn’t.
Get all your product page questions answered in a live Q&A by our experts
This session is open to all Commerce Lab readers. We'll share the recording with everyone who registers.
WIN OF THE WEEK
Case in point:
An accessories brand moved celebrity endorsements higher and press mentions lower on their homepage for a 7.3% lift in conversions.

For this brand, celebrity images with direct product links were more powerful than press mentions.
Moving an “As seen in” section to the footer de-emphasized its importance.
Most of the time, the way people buy things isn’t logical. It’s emotional. This audience is asking:
Will my friends be jealous? Will this look cool in selfies? Is it Instagrammable? Is it worth it?
Using A-list celebrity endorsements over press mentions is a great strategy for some audiences, especially those that seek recognition and crave belonging.
⭐ Takeaway: Know thy customer! Promote the social proof they value most, and shift less relevant endorsements down.
🕙 WHAT’S BREWING
The 4 cart updates that led to millions in additional revenue for Lane 201.
📣 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
How to shift attention away from price.
Remove friction to increase impulse shopping.
These two upsells added 24% in revenue.
🎯 NEWS
Why customers need constant value in exchange for loyalty.
👀 LAST WEEK’S LETTER
#114: Here’s how to present “out-of-stock” items to lift conversions.
💡 TWEET OF THE WEEK
👊 STOUT SUCCESS

Want an awesome partner to optimize your site, too?
That's all for today.
If you enjoyed this, please consider forwarding it to a friend, founder, or fellow marketer.
And if you have any comments/questions, I'd love to hear them.
Until next time.
— Allen
![]() | Allen BurtBlue Stout |
Want to work together? Here are 3 ways I can help you:
If you liked this conversion win, see all previous wins here and read our collection of case studies here.
If you want shorter insights daily, follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Want to work with myself and our team? Reply or click here to schedule a call.