One of the most underutilised tools for marketing your business and generating leads is client testimonials. Testimonials are an excellent way to show customers who use your product or service exactly what you did for them. They are a great way to build trust and credibility for your brand. However, creating a powerful testimonial is not as easy or simple as you might think. You need to be very strategic with your approach, but also make sure you don’t sacrifice the quality of your testimonial. This article is your ultimate guide to everything you need to know about client testimonials.
What are Client Testimonials?
Client testimonials are honest endorsements that your clients give about your product or service. These are usually short anecdotes about the positive experience that they have had when working with your company.
These testimonials usually contain positive feedback from satisfied clients and also include a recommendation to avail of your brand’s offerings. Great testimonials normally talk about how you solved a problem for the specific client.
4 Benefits of Client Testimonials
1. They build credibility and trust
If a customer doesn’t know anyone who has purchased your product, the next best thing for them is to look at testimonials. Customers will trust testimonials just as much as recommendations from friends and family.
This is because these testimonials are made by fellow customers as well. When they see someone similar to them having a positive experience, they will trust the featured customer is sharing about your business.
Client testimonials do a great job of making sure that your company is trustworthy and credible. This is because it showcases actual customers talking positively about you.
2. Client testimonials provide valuable word-of-mouth marketing
Client testimonials can be classified as similar to word-of-mouth marketing in many ways. Learning that a product or service is excellent from people you trust gives you the utmost confidence to try it out for yourself.
Testimonials provide authentic feedback from customers to show that what you are offering is not just great, but it is also impactful enough for them to let other people know as well.
Every customer who is satisfied with your offerings will essentially act as brand advocates for you and talk about your brand positively. You will get all of this marketing that will help you win over more customers without any additional expense.
3. They create a deeper connection with your customers
What makes client testimonials so effective is that it allows you to create a deeper connection with your customers. This is because these testimonials are usually written in everyday language with any corporate tone or terms used.
Testimonials are honest and natural and are a true reflection of how much a client appreciates the product or service that you have provided for them. This gives you the chance to feel emotionally connected with them now and even in the long-run.
4. Client testimonials help you with increasing conversions for your business
Client testimonials have a direct impact on the growth and return on investment of your business. 98% of people check for reviews of local businesses and 89% of consumers are more likely to choose a company that frequently interacts with all types of reviews.
Testimonials are the perfect blend of letting customers know more about your product and showcasing the important features that will solve their problems. Both of these factors combined into a great narrative and story can impress your audience emotionally as well.
5 Different Types of Client Testimonials
1. Written testimonials
Written testimonials are the most common type of client testimonials that your business can gather. This is where clients provide written feedback about the experience that they had with your product or service.
You can collect written testimonials through different ways like surveys, feedback forms, and even through emails as well.
2. Online and social media testimonials
Online and social media testimonials are those that can be gathered and seen mostly through online platforms. Clients can leave these reviews and ratings that will be publicly seen on your social media page and on your business profiles.
Encouraging your clients to leave positive reviews on platforms like Google, Amazon, and Facebook is great for building your social proof. When customers check your online presence and see a lot of positive testimonials, they will be more likely to try out your offerings.
3. Influencer testimonials
Influencer testimonials are reviews from celebrities or industry experts who have used your product. This endorsement holds a lot of weight since they are well-known in their industry.
These reviews are extremely valuable because these influencers will usually have an audience of their own. When customers see an expert like them loving your product, they will be a lot more open to purchasing your product as well.
4. Case studies
Case studies are a more in-depth analysis of a client’s experience with your offering. They are usually written by companies to show how their services solved a customer’s problem.
Case studies will include interviews with the client, an abundance of quantitative data and metrics, and comparisons with their performance before and after working with the client.
5. Video testimonials
Video testimonials are when your client speaks about their positive experience in a video. Unlike other reviews, these experiences are directly shared in front of a camera.
These testimonials can be the most effective type since they provide a more personal and engaging way to share customer stories. When clients see someone proudly sharing their stories in a video, they will feel more secure and confident when choosing your brand.
4 Best Practices for Obtaining Client Testimonials
1. Identify the best time to ask clients about their experience with your company
You will first need to determine the best time to ask clients for a testimonial so that it is more likely for them to give you a positive one. Asking for a testimonial at the wrong time can lead to a negative impression and review even if you both had positive experiences with each other.
Some of the best moments to ask for testimonials can include when they repurchase your product, when they mention you on social media, or after they have had success with using your product or service.
2. Make it as easy as possible for your clients to create testimonials
You should make sure that the testimonial process will be easy and fast for your clients. Having any point of inconvenience or relay will ultimately discourage clients who may have been open to providing positive reviews for your company.
One way of doing this is by providing a testimonial template and immediately letting them know how long it will take for them to accomplish it. This puts their mind at ease and allows them to figure out how long their testimonials can be.
3. Offer worthwhile rewards for those that post testimonials
While you would want to have clients to give testimonials for your company on their own accord, the reality is that some of these are motivated by rewards and incentives. Making sure their effort is worth their time will encourage them to put in a great testimonial for your company.
Rewards can include coupon codes, discounts, raffle entries, gift cards, free items, and a lot more depending on the nature of the business. Make sure that you immediately and explicitly state that you are offering rewards to clients that give their testimonials.
4. Respond to all types of reviews in a prompt manner
One of the best ways to make sure that you obtain more testimonials from clients is by making sure you respond to every testimonial that is posted about your company. Clients will be more encouraged to create a testimonial when they see that your company always acknowledges and replies to the reviews.
Make sure that your replies sound natural and personalised for each specific testimonial. They should be worded uniquely so no one thinks that you are sending automated responses.
When clients see that you do your best to respond to all types of reviews, it shows that you truly care about improving your business and what your customers think about you. This can be what pushes them to write a testimonial to let people know what positive experiences they had with you.
3 Ways to Use Client Testimonials Effectively
1. Include testimonials and reviews on your product pages
Testimonials can be that final push that any client or customer needs before availing of your offerings. Placing written testimonials on product pages is a great way for people to see what other fellow customers have said about your product.
This is effective for building credibility and trust since other people are providing this positive information to the public.
The more information you can provide through these testimonials, the easier it is for a customer to make an informed purchasing decision on your product page.
2. Feature different types of customers for your testimonials
While you may have a specific target audience, it would be great to add variety in the clients that you are featuring in your testimonials. Different types of clients with positive testimonials can help you reach an even wider audience.
If each testimonial comes from the same type of people, it can look less credible because of the lack of diversity and relatability.
When people look for testimonials, they will search for customers with similar backgrounds so that they can find out if your product is perfect for someone of their profile. Catering to different audiences means that your product is for everyone.
3. Emphasise your video testimonials on all relevant platforms
Video testimonials are one of the most powerful and valuable testimonial types that your company can create. To maximise their effectiveness, you should place them in all of your relevant platforms and pages.
This means posting them on video platforms like YouTube and Vimeo as well as social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. More exposure for video testimonials will not just help you reach more people, but it can also improve the SEO rankings of your website and social media pages.
Watching testimonials can have a stronger emotional impact compared to just reading them. When people see how happy your clients are while sharing their stories, they are more likely to want to experience that with you as well.
Hopefully this guide gives you everything you need to know about client testimonials. When you gather a lot of varied types of testimonials, you will be able to build a lot of credibility that your clients will acknowledge and appreciate. This leads them to being more inclined to choose you over your competitors.
If you need any help with creating testimonial videos, our team at Convinceo can definitely help you out.
Convinceo can help you create effective and impactful testimonials for your company. You can check out the pricing for our on-site and remote testimonial services by clicking here.
