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Did you ever try to count on the marketing claims you made on your website? Did you notice how many times you described your business as easy, smart, reliable, effective and a trusted solution? Are there dozens of claims? Ten? Twenty? Or more?
Now try this: Open your website and count the number of times you reinforced these claims with solid evidences. Count how many data points, statistics, case studies and testimonials you have added to support these claims. Are there so many of these? Five? Zero?
Possibly, there are not a lot. Well the point is “Every marketing claim should be well supported by an honest evidence.” And customer testimonials in this way are the easiest and the most effective evidence for your website to be trustworthy.
Here you’ll have detailed insights about customer testimonials. This article will answer your so many questions such as why customer testimonials are important, what questions you should ask, how a customer testimonial should be written and some great testimonial example for business.
So let’s start our learning!
Why customer testimonials are effective?
It’s the tendency of customers that they trust their fellow customers more than the business owner. That is why adding customer testimonials to a website is effective. Even stats says that inclusion of customer testimonials can improve a business conversion rate by 34%.
Great testimonials not only strengthens people’s belief in your product and services but it also proves legitimacy of your brand. Website testimonials acts as the social proof for your business. Basically, there are two kinds of social proofs one is client testimonials and second is data and statistics. Well both are good at their places to build a compelling website but start with testimonials.
Don’t mix the concept of website testimonials with endorsement. While a testimonial is an authentic review from a client or a customer, An endorsement is typically a well known influencer offering their public support to a brand.
How to get Testimonials?
You can either ask your customers for feedback or can note their reviews as they flow past. The first approach is better and second one is easy.
Asking for testimonials:
Begin with your super fans. Identify your happiest clients and customers and I am sure they won’t mind your request for testimonials. Here is an example email to request for a testimonial from your valuable prospects!
Note: If you add something to your website without the approval of the person you are attributing it to, it’s fake. It’s illegal too. But yes, if the person gives approval and makes some edits to your draft then it is real and legitimate also.
So did they say Yes? Great! Now it’s your turn to say Thanks. And don’t write a short email this time. Go overboard on gratitude and if possible also attach a handwritten note, make LinkedIn recommendation and anything that is totally unexpected but beneficial for your customer.
Stay vigilant for Testimonials!
Eventually, Testimonials or feedback happen everyday in various forms. Or at least we get some footprints. It’s the responsibility of a marketer to know how to spot these footprints. Here are some examples of what a footprint can look like:
- Grateful email messages: welldone guyz! You did a fantastic job!
- Social media love: You guyz are amazing! Keep up the good work!
- Handwritten thank you notes: I just wanted to let you know that It’s been great working with you!
- Gushing in-person gratitude: You’ve been so great, is there anything I can do for you?
The key thing is to observe these effective spots that you receive time to time. So keep noting them and ask the sender if they won’t mind using their words for your website.
In addition of these you can also ask some questions from your prospects to draft convincing testimonials. Let’s have a look!
- What hurdles did you face while buying this product?
- How did you find our products?
- What features did you like the most in our product?
- Can you name three main benefits of our product?
- Would you recommend our product any further?
- Is there anything else you want to add?
So now when you have their words in hand, you need an expert to write them. The grace of testimonials entirely depends upon the person who is writing it. Here are some tips that can help you in writing persuasive customer testimonials.
Keep it short!
People usually don’t prefer to read a long story, they easily get bored of them. Don’t fix the word limit for your testimonials making them look like fake but yes don’t stretch them too long. I would suggest mix up the length and keep it short.
A simple testimonial example can look like this:
Demonstrate a benefit!
Testimonials are meant to showcase how your service improved a client’s life. They are aimed to display your potential clients who are pleased with your product and services. Hence to get a convincing testimonial, you can ask your prospects why they wanted to hire you, what was the obstacles they were struggling with and how you have helped them.
See the below client testimonial:
Make use of pictures!
Undeniably, photos make a fact and statement more believable. So use a face and a name to your lead testimonials rather than simply putting a text on the page. Many people practice the use of short video testimonials of customers on their website and a photo of client can make it more convincing.
Look at the below example of testimonial!
Keep it direct!
Try to put the most impactful statement at the beginning. If your customer doesn’t provide it in that way then edit it and fill it with the most convincing words, So when people read just few words, they get the meaning quickly. Here is an example testimonial which is shorter and without some extra words at the beginning.
Keep it authentic!
When you say it, it is marketing. But when they say it, it is authentic. When you write something about your business, people know it. And you can’t help it. But when your audience says it, it is kind of candid even blunt also. No matter how expert you are in your niche, it is hard to write a copy as authentic as your customer can.
See the below example:
Special Note: Don’t limit your testimonials to your testimonial page or home page, in fact spread them throughout your website so that wherever your visitor lands, he or she can know about your excellent services.
So take the most out of your customer reviews and feedbacks and let me know if you have some unique ways you’ve used while writing testimonials that worked for you.
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