Testimonials can be a very valuable marketing tool when used effectively. They add an important personal touch that can push unsure prospects to become clients.
People respond better to recommendations than to advertisements with no personal meaning behind them. Think about it, how often do you try a new restaurant or product because you overheard someone saying how good it is?
Every company thinks its product is great. Companies are always stating that they are the best at what they do. Since every business is doing the same thing, it helps to have something to personalize, reinforce and add credibility to your brands message and the benefits that go along with it.
Word of mouth is a very strong motivator. Testimonials are a great way to generate your own positive word of mouth by spreading the impressions of your satisfied customers. If used effectively, testimonials give potential customers real world examples about your business or product without feeling like they’re seeing a commercial.
Make the most of your testimonials with these 5 helpful tips:
1. Get To Specifics
People want to hear exactly how your company or product is going to help them. General statements about how your business saved them money isn’t as effective as hearing exactly how much someone saved. “I saved over $100 using this company.” vs. “I saved money using this company.”
Ask your customers to be as specific as possible when explaining why they love your business. What exactly did they get from using your business or product?
2. Keep It Natural
Overly edited and produced testimonials can come across fake. People respond better to things that speak their language and leaving in some minor speaking quirks can add believability and increase the personal touch. You want people to relate to your testimonial and letting people say things in their own words is the best method to accomplish this.
3. Reinforce Your Approach
You want to steer each testimonial towards your strongest selling points to really drive them home. If you’re focusing on your pricing, get testimonials about how much customers saved. If you’re focusing on how your business saves people time, get testimonials featuring people stating how much time they saved.
4. Names Matter
Add an important level of credibility to your testimonials by adding background information about the person, such as their name and where they’re from. People are less likely to question the sincerity if there is a name to associate with the statement. It helps prospects identify with the person giving the testimonial making it much more believable and trustworthy.
5. Get It On Video
Actually seeing the person making the testimonial really adds to its credibility. Creating a video testimonial allows people to put a face to the name, which boosts the personal touch and makes it instantly more effective.
Videos can easily be featured on your website and shared through YouTube, Facebook and other social media outlets. The internet continues to grow as a means to find information about products and businesses. Having your testimonials available online significantly increases the potential audience.
As incentive you can offer a link back to the clients website from the testimonial video as a thank you for giving their feedback.
Remember testimonials reflect the customer’s viewpoint of your business and can be a very valuable tool for effectively turning prospects into customers. Contact Netwave for more helpful tips on how you can use testimonials to help your business grow.
