MitoQ: Growing conversions and embracing authenticity with Trustpilot

Born a decade ago as a skin product, the brand evolved into a powerful supplement, igniting rapid growth. A pivotal University of Colorado study unveiled its potential impact on cardiovascular cells, hinting at anti-aging benefits. Propelled by this scientific backing, the brand has soared ever since, conquering major markets like the US, Australia, Canada, and China.

MitoQ is known for its strong focus on scientific research in the health products industry. Building a reputation based on this research has been crucial for attracting and retaining customers, especially with so many companies lacking scientific backing in this field.

The MitoQ team turned to Trustpilot as a review source and set up BigCommerce as their e-commerce platform. Since MitoQ’s sales cycle is long (45 to 60 days) with multiple touchpoints, they tested each touchpoint individually with the addition of Trustpilot to see what would get the best click-through and engagement rates. Eventually, the team found the sweet spot where they were getting good results. 

With Trustpilot, MitoQ doubled its conversion rates and found a review tool that would not go against the regulatory advertising guidelines of its industry due to the platform's openness and transparency.

Driven by a digital transformation and prioritizing reputation in the competitive health supplement market, MitoQ partnered with Trustpilot for two key reasons. 

Firstly, Trustpilot's global reach and existing partnership with BigCommerce ensured a seamless integration and alignment with MitoQ’s desire for a compatible platform. 

“On the other side of things is how important reputation is to us as a business. As a health product, particularly in the vitamin or supplement category, you always run up against this. You've got the high end of town; you've got businesses like ours that are backed by rigorous science. We have clinical studies. We have human trials. We have a body of scientific research supporting the product and what it can do. 

At the other end of town, you've got businesses that don't. And that's a hard distinction to make in the consumer's mind because it all sits under one big umbrella category. So, for us to differentiate on reputation matters an awful lot to us,” says Shaun Price, Head of Customer Acquisition at MitoQ.

Secondly, Trustpilot's unfiltered reviews, coupled with their regulatory compliance, offered a crucial tool to differentiate themselves from less reputable brands and showcase the positive experiences of real consumers. By partnering with Trustpilot, this brand gained a trusted voice in the market and a valuable asset in its quest for customer-driven success.

“We recognized a kindred spirit in Trustpilot,” says Shaun.

Faced with the daunting task of achieving efficient growth in a cost-conscious market, MitoQ identified a clear path forward: internal optimization. 

The team realized that throwing more money at expensive advertising wouldn't yield sustainable results, considering ever-rising media costs. Instead, their focus shifted towards sharpening their core offering and refining their customer conversion funnel. Utilising compelling proof points became their secret weapon, allowing them to win over customers faster and more effectively, all within a leaner budget.

Proof points like reviews. “The most efficient method is consumer reviews or peer reviews because that's what people respond well to,” notes Shaun. 

Regarding internal learnings, Trustpilot offers MitoQ direct customer insights to optimise the product offering further and keep it customer-centric. For example, they could determine the quality of their packaging through the wealth of feedback provided via its Trustpilot profile. Whether the packaging was too excessive or didn’t follow sustainability standards, MitoQ gleaned this wealth of information directly from the horse's mouth. 

“So little things like that, that creative feedback loop that allows us to improve, grow, and be more efficient,” says Shaun. 

MitoQ partnered with Trustpilot to address their initial challenge: acquiring enough reviews for credibility. 

“So we set up the integration with BigCommerce, and then we now have Trustpilot sending out review requests; we tested a bunch of different intervals to see what was going to get the best click-through rates and engagement rates, and we found the sweet spot where we feel like we're getting a good amount of engagement,” says Shaun.  

Acknowledging the delayed impact of their product, MitoQ experimented with review timing, optimizing for both product and service experiences. This resulted in strong ratings, open rates, and a 3.5% conversion rate.

MitoQ further used Trustpilot's reputation by embedding Trustpilot widgets on their website for direct customer interaction. 

They incorporated Trustpilot links and customer reviews into their email marketing, while organic and paid social media campaigns actively promoted customer quotes and star ratings.

“We've already got a couple of our onboarding emails linked straight back to Trustpilot or specific reviews called out in the actual email,” says Shaun. 

This continuous optimization and multi-channel implementation solidified Trustpilot as a key driver of MitoQ's growth and reputation.

For the last five years, the primary focus for MitoQ has been expansion and penetration into the saturated supplement market in the United States, valued at USD 50.91 billion in 2022. 

Next for MitoQ is further expansion into the UK and European markets where Trustpilot has a significant presence, a detail Shaun says will be woven into the company’s expansion strategy. 

“I know that Trustpilot has huge penetration in the UK where nearly every second person recognizes it, and that's obviously what we envisioned for the brand, universally, to become a symbol of trust across the globe.”

MitoQ has also discovered a "magical moment" in their customer journey: the point where Trustpilot reviews doubled conversion rates. 

They identified this crucial touchpoint through a content-scoring approach and leveraged Trustpilot's unfiltered review system to capitalize on it. Shaun elaborates; 

“At first, we had challenges around whether we could even use a review platform because of the regulatory restrictions around advertising filtered ads. When we realised that Trustpilot gave us all the tools to be able to manage the reviews in a way that was not filtering, we were sold. Other platforms offer filtering, and in our industry, a filtered review is no longer legitimate as it compromises the customer’s and our integrity. Trustpilot offered the confluence of the customer journey and the ability to be authentic and unfiltered at that moment. Incredible.”

Trust matters in every industry, especially today. Companies that invest time and effort to earn a great reputation with their customers owe it to themselves (and future customers) to make that trustworthiness visible. 

If that sounds like you —  get in touch today. Trustpilot can help you improve on-page metrics, CTR, conversion rates, social engagement and more in a matter of weeks.

Take the first step and book a demo with an expert to learn more about Trustpilot here.