When making a purchasing decision, it’s the recommendations of others that have the greatest influence. Whether testimonials come from friends, peers or anonymous strangers, a word-of-mouth endorsement helps us form opinions. When it comes to marketing, testimonials offer a candid real-world perspective rather than marketing hype. Buyers’ confidence gets a boost when potential buyers see people like themselves have used and benefitted from a product or service.

Why testimonials are effective

Testimonials build trust with brands, offer unbiased opinions of how well your product or service works, and have the power to overcome skepticism in the minds of even the toughest prospects. Additionally, testimonials leverage social proof—a psychological phenomenon where people conform to the actions of others under the assumption that those actions are reflective of the correct behavior. Essentially, people adopt the actions of others in an attempt to conform. According to Nielsen research, “92% of people will trust a recommendation from a peer, and 70% of people will trust a recommendation from people they don’t even know.”

Obtaining and crafting testimonials

To get and obtain the best testimonials, develop a system for requesting and attracting the most powerful reviews. Here’s how:

• Follow up with recent customers while your product or services is fresh in their minds. This can be accomplished through automated email campaigns or personal contact.
• Approach your best customers individually. Not only will this generate great content, it will further strengthen their relationship with you and your brand.
• Ask the right questions. Don’t simply request a testimonial. Ask specific questions that guide your customers to write informative and inspirational testimonials. How much money and/or time did you save? What’s the greatest benefit you’ve achieved? What problems did our product or service solve? What do you like most about working with our company?

Once you have the customer’s comments, edit the testimonial so it is clear and free of grammatical and spelling errors. Be sure to send the revised version back to the customer for approval before publishing it. When using a testimonial in marketing materials always include the customer’s name, title, company and logo. Photographs and links to the customer’s website may be additional considerations.

Strategies for using testimonials effectively

Once you have testimonials to share with your target market, here are some ways to use them for maximum impact:

1. Blog. Whether as a sidebar to your existing blog or as a featured post, testimonials can attract the attention of outside visitors who land on your site through an external source or internal website link.
2. Case study. Develop testimonials into case studies, which take an in-depth look at what it is like to work with your company.
3. Website pages. Incorporate testimonials throughout your website, including on home, about us, contact, sliders and product-or service-specific pages. Be sure testimonials are updated frequently and are relevant to each page’s content.
4. In calls-to-action. When using outbound marketing, such as a newsletter or email campaign, including a testimonial next to the call-to-action button can give target audiences the trigger they need to overcome any initial objection.
5. Email campaigns. Build in testimonials as part of your campaigns to reinforce the value of the highlighted product or service and address common objections.
6. Print marketing materials. In today’s digital marketplace, print materials often take a backseat to more technological initiatives. However, testimonials are ideal additions to print materials including brochures, presentations and direct mail programs.
7. Social media posts. Testimonials can help boost clicks, drive website traffic and increase conversion rates. Post them individually or as part of an image for increased engagement.
8. Audio and video. Audio or video testimonials require a bit more work but can more personal and effective than text versions. Be sure the customer is prepared and comfortable recording. Also, be sure the testimonial is produced and edited professionally for maximum impact.

Proof is powerful

Most buyers would rather act on the referral from a friend or trusted source before making a purchasing decision. They want to know the product or service actually works before making the leap to buy. Engaging, glowing and fact-filled testimonials let prospects know you are worthy of their trust and investment. To get help with obtaining and leveraging your customer’s testimonials, contact Trade Press Services today.