Testimonials are for sure one of the most crucial pieces of copy that you can attach to your site, sales letter, landing page, or any other form of marketing communication. What’s so beneficial about them?
They are very important because they give your potential customers one final push to purchase your service or product. According to some research, they are extremely effective when it comes to content marketing.
The whole point is to gather as many testimonials as possible and put them on your website to increase your sales. Still, what do we know about them? Are they the same as customer reviews? The answer is no! If you want to better comprehend this term, scroll below to find out more!
What Do We Know About Client Testimonials?
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Opt For Authentic Testimonials
It is easy to conclude that the more authentic and unique the testimonials are, the more trustworthy they become. The only issue here is how to recognize the authentic testimonial? Well, that’s relatively easy to see.
First and foremost, authentic testimonials usually contain both negative and positive reviews. A corporation that has only positive reviews may seem a bit suspicious because, let’s face it, no company is perfect.
On the other hand, what one individual perceives as negative, the other one may define as positive. Therefore, it doesn’t necessarily mean that negative is always actually negative. On the contrary.
Furthermore, testimonials that come with at least one photograph make the reader more involve and trust the review even more. There are a plethora of platforms that involve both a profile picture, along with a link to the social media account.
They are doing this to make the testimonial more credible. One of the most popular platforms of this kind is Spectoos.
They Humanize Your Brand
Everybody loves to read a good, effective story. It’s because our empathy, inquisitiveness towards other people is ingrained in our brains. That is one of the main reasons why so-called “client reviews” are so relevant and efficient. Namely, they provide readers with a raw, interest angle that allows them to relate to, connect and better comprehend the services and products before them.
Additionally, huge brands spend a bunch of money on appealing advertising campaigns to uncover the human side of their firm. Now, what they do not understand is the fact that they can accomplish the same outcome and spend less money by sourcing high-quality testimonials.
Perceive Testimonials Like Mirrors
We cannot stress enough how important it is to have top-notch, elaborate testimonials on your webpage if you want to attract high-quality consumers. Namely, a vague and somehow skimpy testimonial is a huge no-no.
Why is that? Well, it’s because it is going to attract customers that are not the type of people you want. They are probably not going to be reliable and perceive your products or services the way they are supposed to be perceived.
Hence, you need to aim only at high-quality testimonials that are going to provide you with a better target audience. So how can you achieve it? There are three elements that must be considered and we’re about to name them:
- Before (the client’s hesitation when it comes to purchasing) – This stage involves negative thoughts and emotions, doubts, and other issues that the consumer felt before they obtained your service or product.
- After (what the client has discovered after the purchase) – This stage includes the results your consumers got after employing your product or services and how they contributed to eliminating the negative feeling they’ve been experiencing.
- The experience (the emotional reaction) – This experience refers to the feelings of your client after he or she achieved the results they received from utilizing your services or products. Did they feel better, happier, more confident or knowledgeable?
All these elements must be part of the testimonials. Only then they will become more convincing and relatable to the readers and will somehow motivate them to try out both your services and products.
More Reasons To Have High-Quality Client Testimonials
They Can Explain The Benefits Of Your Services And Products
Consumer testimonials do not just help you to position your business in a positive, desirable, and reputable light but they are also perfect in explaining how useful your service and products can truly be.
Normally, a first-class consumer testimonial will contain what that individual wanted and needed and how your service and/or product satisfied their needs. For instance, if you have a law firm, then in one of the testimonials a client is going to explain how he/she was hurt in a car collision and how they needed legal assistance.
Then they will accentuate how precisely your services, experience, and skills were the ones that helped this person win their lawsuit and acquire a huge settlement. And that testimonial is going to definitely contribute to your reputation.
Opportunities To Learn
As we previously stated, testimonials are not always one hundred percent good and positive. Even when they have the best intentions, they are going to accentuate something that doesn’t seem right for you.
Still, it doesn’t mean that you should perceive it as something negative. On the contrary. Use that feedback as an opportunity to learn and change something about yourself, your company, or your service.
For example, you can always take some time to perform market research to see what are the things that you can work on, simply to improve yourself in every possible way. If you notice that your clients are constantly mentioning one thing they do not like, then it’s maybe a perfect moment to change it.
Testimonials Increase Conversions
According to some statistics, consumers who are interested in a review are almost sixty percent more likely to convert, and generally speaking, more than fifty reviews can generate approximately a five percent increase in conversion rates.
How does it sound? Does it appear to be tempting? Based on this, it is easy to see that the more positive, high-quality testimonials you receive from your consumers, the more likely it is that you will convert more.
Now, a lot of people think it’s quite difficult to get those testimonials. Well, that’s not necessarily the case. Namely, according to some research, almost eighty percent of reviews come from follow-up emails and almost seventy percent of customers have left some kind of review after being asked. This just goes to show that you have to invest a little bit of effort and be proactive to accomplish this.
Staff Appreciation
If you are currently a business owner, ask your clients to share their opinion in their testimonials about your employees. In the eyes of your client, you are going to look honorable and it is one of the best ways to show how much you appreciate others.
Showing staff compliments is generally always a great idea. Viz, the testimonials about your business also help with finding a perfect HR. Another great idea that just might be helpful is to ask your staff to rave about each other.
Moreover, they can do this at least once a week (if once per day is too much for them). Generally speaking, these types of so-called rave sessions are a good way to build moral and create inventive and interesting ideas.
How Can You Employ Testimonials?
On Your Site Homepage
The homepage is something that leaves the first impression on your viewers and potential customers. You can compare it with a shop window, hence, it’s of huge relevance to “dress it up” and enhance it as best as possible.
Now is not the time to be all nice and humble. On the contrary. You should place your testimonials right on the first page and make them look all cute and prominent so that people who visit your website know how amazing you are.
It’s worth mentioning that you only have a limited amount of time to keep your viewers interested. Approximately, around fifteen seconds, so make it count! High-quality testimonials can work wonders, believe it or not.
Social Media
It’s no secret that social media is an amazing place to perform some social proof. Most of us have a tendency to display a certain amount of what is widely known as “implicit egotism” which represents unconscious bias for things and people that remind us of ourselves.
The whole point is to share your testimonial on your social media profile that taps into the pain point of the people who follow you. Furthermore, you can employ social media to precisely uncover those pain points by supervising things such as topical discussion threads and hashtags.
If by any chance, you want to target a larger audience, you can do it by setting aside some cash and invest it in the paid ads that are going to help you boost your posts and testimonials and attract more people.
Product Service Page
The next step in the journey of your potential client is going to be precisely your service or product page. These are the places where they will be checking out everything you and your company have to offer.
They are the perfect places to showcase how outstanding and professional you really are by attaching a thorough, high-quality testimonial. Those clients who come across testimonials when browsing a company’s service or product, receive some kind of reassurance.
How come? It’s because, through testimonials that were written by real people, they receive a reminder that they are not the only ones who are interested in what you have to offer and testimonials can be perceived as a positive reinforcement that is going to bring your potential consumer to the finish line.
E-Mail Campaign
You do not have too many opportunities to showcase to your consumers how great your company and your services are. One of the best ways to do it is through email. An efficient way to motivate your consumers to engage and create rather meaningful feedback is to develop an email survey campaign.
You can accomplish that by developing a high-quality subject line and add the proper question. This way you will encourage your customers to state what they really think of your products and services and anything else you have to offer.
With this method, they will get an opportunity to highlight their thoughts, and at the same time, you will receive valuable insights, plus you will get a good reason to then share their opinions and thoughts in follow-up emails.
Moreover, it is always recommendable to ask your consumers for their feedback if you wish to accomplish the best possible results. According to some reports, for instance, a popular company Marks & Spencer saw an almost 430 percent increase in consumer feedback since putting consumer reviews functionality into their post-purchase mail campaigns.
Crowdfunding Campaign
If you are yearning to start a crowdfunding campaign in order to raise the necessary funds to bring your ideas to the market, you should add a couple of testimonials from previous users of your services and/or products.
The whole point of this is to establish a belief, trust, and confidence in your company. Therefore, it’s of huge relevance to include high-quality, reliable testimonials from people who are huge fans of your corporation.
It can either be a written testimonial, or even a video interview. Both of these things are extremely effective, and at the same time, with their help, you are going to provide potential consumers with additional legitimacy that is going to further back up your funding plea.
One of the best examples of this strategy is the company called Oculus. Nine years ago, they weren’t as popular as they are today. They were known for their virtual reality hardware. Back then, the firm’s founders blasted off a Kickstarter campaign to bring their headset titled Oculus Rift to the market.
Part of their strategy was to create a video that was filled with numerous testimonials from the software houses, as well as the industry influencers. Their plan worked perfectly! Namely, they managed to raise over two million US dollars via their campaign, plus Facebook purchased the business lock stock along with 2 smoking barrels for a staggering two billion US dollars!
Having a satisfied customer means everything, no matter how big or small your company is. As you can see, high-quality testimonials can lead to more interested consumers, so the relevance of testimonials can never be too overstated.