When you submit a burn you get two fields: who your ideal customer is, and what you want the reviewer to focus on. Most people leave them blank or write 'everyone' and 'general feedback.' Those burns are fine. The ones that change businesses are briefed.
Describe the person, not the demographic
'Women 25–44' is a targeting setting. 'A busy mom who's been meaning to fix her hydration habit and just saw us on Instagram' is a brief. The second one tells the reviewer what mindset to bring, which is what makes their narration useful.
Give them one job
'Try to buy the 32oz bottle in the color you'd actually want, and tell me when you'd have given up.' A concrete task produces a concrete recording. 'Look around and tell me what you think' produces a tour.
Tell them what you're worried about
If you suspect your pricing page is the problem, say so. Reviewers aren't biased by this — they'll still tell you if the pricing page is fine and the real issue is your header. But they'll make sure to spend time where you need eyes.
Ask one question at the end
'If you didn't buy, what's the one thing that would have changed your mind?' Every burn should end with the reviewer answering something like this on camera. It's usually the most valuable 20 seconds in the recording.
Then get out of the way
Don't over-script it. Five sentences is the sweet spot. Reviewers are good at this; your brief is there to point them, not to steer them.
- #how-to
Written by
Bobby Samai
Founder of BurnTest.io. Built and sold e-commerce brands before this; watched a few thousand strangers try to buy from websites since. About →
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