A cornerstone of word-of-mouth marketing, credible testimonials allow customers to sing your or your services’ praises, thereby generating trustworthiness in your brand and tipping wavering prospects into regular clients.
Follow these helpful tips to gather and use enthusiastic testimonials to your advantage.
Do the legwork. Gathering testimonials is a numbers game. Take the time to master the process by asking for testimonials regularly. Generally, a small percentage of happy customers will comply, so politely keep at it!
Make it easy. Help your customers by including feedback forms in any final documentation. Draft testimonials or include a testimonial form on your own website. This makes it easy for them to fill out and give their glowing endorsement. Aid them further by providing a set of questions and encourage specificity through examples of improvements, successes, and good work.
Honesty is always the best policy. Try not to overedit your testimonials. Idiosyncrasies in grammar and language demonstrate to the reader that the testimonials are real. It’s best not to manufacture a testimonial, as people can easily distinguish a fake from a mile away. If a testimonial includes any objections or worries, address them to signal to future customers that they are groundless.
Thank your customers. While it’s not good practice to financially incentivize your testimonials, you can thank customers publicly on your social media channels or in newsletters. Social channels also offer recommendation services that send out requests for testimonials. Be sure to add a personal touch with a detailed message about what you’d like them to emphasize, as automated messages may come across as annoying spam.
Follow up and share! Once you’ve received and finalized your testimonial, send it back to your client for approval, informing them of its purpose and where you’ll be displaying it. Get this approval in writing to avoid future disputes. Once this is done, don’t be shy! Share your winning testimonial on your website and social channels and in emails, marketing materials, and perhaps even presentations.