There is no shortage of marketing techniques which have been devised over the years. SEO, guerilla marketing, cold calling, and TV commercials have all proven successful in attracting customers and converting sales.
But what about customer testimonials? Does testimonial advertising work in attracting new customers? In most cases, the answer is a bold and unflinching “YES!”.
Looking for more info on the matter? Then read on. We’re going to get into the specifics of customer testimonials.
How to Ask for Testimonials
Companies like Plumber SEO can tell you that the hardest part of testimonial marketing is obtaining legitimate testimonials in the first place. After all, this form of marketing is entirely dependent on your past customers.
While you can’t guarantee a testimonial from each of your customers, you can increase your chances of getting them by doing the following.
Make It Personal
The key to obtaining customer testimonials is to make the process personal. While sending out a robotically-toned mass email might result in you obtaining some testimonials, you’re likely to have a better success rate by reaching out to past clients individually.
Be informal, be friendly, and be natural. If you can do this, at least a few of your customers are bound to respond.
Follow Up
The second most important aspect of obtaining testimonials is following up. By following up a week after your first inquiry, you give your past clients a second chance to offer up their feelings about your products or services.
Don’t think that recipients of your inquiries are advertently ignoring you. Emails go unread, life gets busy, and people get sidetracked. Just drop them another line and see if they respond.
Ask About Your Products or Services
While any testimonial is better than no testimonial, the best testimonials are those which are detailed. How do you get detailed testimonials? By asking specific questions about your products or services.
Ask what your customers use your products for. Ask how they benefit from them. Ask how they compare to other products of their kind.
By asking questions such as these, you’re bound to get some useful quotes.
Make Sure It’s Specific
Quotes such as “It’s amazing” are nice, but they aren’t going to make a big difference in terms of persuasion. Why? Because they’re unspecific, and could generally be used for products of all kinds, regardless of how useful or useless they are.
When obtaining testimonials from customers, the key is to get something specific. Three information-filled sentences are much better than two generic words.
Displaying Testimonials
You’ve done it. You’ve obtained high-quality testimonials from a handful of your past clients. Now all that’s left to do is to display them.
The question is: how? We’re going to get into the specifics below.
Show a Picture
If you really want testimonials to make a difference, you need to convey the fact that they’re coming from real people. One of the best ways to do this is by utilizing photographs of the quoted individuals.
Buyers are much more apt to trust a testimonial if it’s connected to a specific person.
Include Customer Information
Including customer information is a wise practice as well. Not only should you include the quoted individual’s name, but his or her age, his or her website, and his or her business name (if applicable).
Describe the Customer
Another way to make a testimonial feel more personal is by describing the customer who is quoted. For instance, if your relationship with the quoted individual is a business one, you could label him or her as his or her job position (ex. Assistant Manager – Thatherton Fuels).
If your relationship is a buyer-seller one, you could label the quoted individual as a first-time customer, 3-year customer, etc.
Displaying Testimonial Advertising
You have testimonials. You know how to display them. The only question now is: where do you display them?
The following formats are generally the best options for displaying customer testimonials.
Blog Posts
If your website keeps a blog (and it should), you would be wise to drop testimonials onto your blog page. Keeping testimonials on the sidebar of your blog page will make them visible to web users who stumble upon your blog by chance.
With any luck, these individuals will see the testimonials on your page, become intrigued by them, and eventually utilize your services.
CTAs
When it comes to content on your website, CTAs, or Calls to Action should be everywhere. Not only should they pop up on your “home”, “about,” and “contact” pages, but at the bottom of your blog posts as well.
While CTAs themselves are designed to sell, you can spice them up a bit by inserting testimonials beside them. In doing so, you connect positive, real-life experiences with the purchase of one of your products or services. In other words, you strike up a buying mindset in potential customers.
Product Pages
Product pages are the prime spots for customer testimonials. By placing product-specific testimonials next to the products on your site, you directly show the value of your products to potential customers.
If your potential customers are made aware of the value of your products, they will be more apt to buy them.
Case Studies
One last marketing device in which to place customer testimonials is the case study. Case studies are themselves just big testimonials, expounding on the ways in which your products or services benefited one of your customers or clients.
Dropping client quotes throughout your case studies will provide them with plentiful social proof, demonstrating to potential customers what they have to gain by investing in your products or services.
Find More Advertising Tips Now!
The fact of the matter is that testimonial advertising works. Consumers are always on the search for social proof, and testimonials provide it to them. If you haven’t already, you’re advised to obtain some testimonials as soon as possible.
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