How To Build Your Reputation With User Testimonials And Reviews
Are you stuck in a cycle of doing what you’ve always done to attract customers, only to get the exact same disappointing results? Most business owners don’t need to be told that finding new ways of generating new business can be hard. Just trying to keep your business afloat takes a lot of time, money and energy, and sometimes this can feel like it’s just not worth the effort.
In today’s web-based and social media-driven economy, ignoring what consumers may be saying online about your business could be a costly mistake!
Don’t ignore what your customers may be saying online about your business!
You are also doing your business a great disservice if you are not promoting the positive things your clients are saying about your products, solutions, client support, training, etc. Testimonials, user reviews, and case studies are effective when it comes to helping you promote and market your products and services online and should be used in your content marketing.
In this article, we’ll show you how to improve your sales using standout user testimonials.
Client Reviews And Testimonials
P.T. Barnum, legendary American showman, once said that “Nothing draws a crowd quite like a crowd.”
P.T. Barnum obviously understood the power of “social proof”. Social proof-based content is a powerful way of getting your business promoted effectively. Quoting genuine reviews and testimonials directly from satisfied customers is existing customers are far more persuasive for drawing new customers, clients or users than anything you can say about your own products or services.
There is an untapped source of opportunities for generating new business that most small businesses just aren’t utilizing, or utilizing correctly … user testimonials and reviews!
Consumer reviews and customer testimonials are a powerful way to build credibility for your services or products.
Studies conducted by leading marketing firms all point to the same conclusion: user reviews and testimonials help decrease doubts potential customers may have about some products or services, help users select products and help increase sales.
Below are just some of the statistics available to support this:
- According to research findings by eVoc Insights, an organization known for researching and measuring user experience, “In general, 63% of users indicate they are more likely to purchase from a site if it has ratings and customer reviews.”
- According to Reevoo.com, customer reviews play a significant role in creating an average 18% uplift in sales and 50 or more reviews per product can result in a 4.6% increase in conversion rates.
- Web site visitors who interact with both user reviews and customer questions and answers are 105% more likely to purchase while visiting and spend 11% more than visitors who don’t interact with UGC. (Bazaarvoice, Conversation Index, Q2 2011).
- Consumer reviews are significantly more trusted (nearly 12 times more) than descriptions that come from manufacturers, according to a survey of US internet users by online video review site EXPO. (eMarketer, February 2010).
(Above figures sourced from eConsultancy.com)
Adding User Reviews And Testimonials – Online Reputation Management
Clearly, you should be adding testimonials and reviews from very happy clients to your site.
Customer testimonials and reviews, however, can work both ways and impact your business both positively or negatively.
You see, people may not be saying bad things about your services directly to you, but they could have posted damaging words on a forum about a bad encounter they’ve just had with one of your staff and this could be doing far more damage to your business than all the good work you’ve been putting into building it.
This is where online reputation management becomes important to your online success.
Misconceptions about online reputation management, such as the process being too complicated or too time-consuming (or the belief that you really don’t need to worry about it) may be seriously harming your business without you even realizing it.
See this article to learn more about a simple plugin for WordPress users that can help to avoid the escalation of negative reviews about your business, products or services through effective user review management:
Tips On How To Create Meaningful Client Testimonials
Testimonials, user reviews, and case studies are effective when it comes to helping you promote and market your products and services online and should be added to your content. When you quote responses from customers in your content, you:
- Show prospects exactly with similar problems and pains how your products and services can help them.
- Help prospects identify and address their objections.
- Help prospects connect with their motivations and aspirations and facilitate the sales process.
Here are some practical tips on creating customer testimonials:
- Don’t over edit: You should try using your customer’s actual words as much as you can. Leaving little grammatical errors and misspelled words in the content helps preserve your testimonials’ authenticity.
- Use photos: Research shows that using images of people’s faces draws the most attention of visitors browsing a web page. Adding photos of your clients next to their testimonials and reviews can help increase visitor engagement with your site’s content.
- Tell a powerful story: Stories are so much more effective and memorable than providing mere facts and statistics. Being able to present a customer’s horror story and how your solution saved the day will make a far longer-lasting impression on those reading your content than presenting generic statements about how “excellent” the customer support has been and giving “two thumbs up” product recommendations that everyone has heard a “million times” before.
- Keep it in context: It’s good to add testimonials in your site copy where it best makes sense to place them, and where they can most effectively help you sell your point. For example, think about the impact you will have on your visitor’s perception if you were to display a testimonial about what a “bargain” price your solution retails for before posting your product pricing information, or testimonials about problems you’ve helped your clients solve before discussing the benefits of your services, or testimonials where customers are genuinely thrilled about your customer service when offering a money-back guarantee or providing content that helps your readers overcome their objections.
- Quantify your information: Which of the following statements do you think is more powerful: “XYZ solution was directly responsible for increasing our bottom line by $15,832 in the previous financial quarter,” or “XYZ solution definitely helped us grow our sales?” If possible, publish testimonials containing quantifiable data, like how much your solution helped to increase their profits or reduce their costs by in specific percentages or amounts, how many hours of work you have helped them save, how many new leads or new clients they were able to generate, what kind of things are they able to do or experience now that they couldn’t do before, etc.
- Use different customer testimonials on your site: Although this can be a little difficult when you are just starting out or have very few clients, it’s best to avoid using the same testimonial throughout your website. Depending on your business, you could try to obtain more client testimonials by offering limited review copies of your product, or a special launch discount for clients in exchange for an honest review and permission to publish it if you decide to use it.
- Appeal to your target audience: As every infomercial featuring a celebrity endorsement, subject expert or “busy mom” knows, if you know who your ideal customer is, providing testimonials from people who your prospects can relate to is a really powerful motivator and influencer. People want to see and buy from “better versions” of themselves, so make sure to include testimonials targeted to your ideal customers.
- Reprint testimonials across different platforms. If you get a great comment on your Facebook page praising your solution, ask them for permission to reprint the comment or post on your blog.
- Only use real client testimonials. Most people can see through sites that employ copywriters to write content. Outsourcing content is fine, but your prospects need to see that the testimonials you provide on your site are genuine. Don’t compromise your credibility with a false testimonial.
How To Get Testimonials From Your Clients
Ask
Getting a testimonial from a satisfied client can be as simple as just asking for it.
Follow these tips for requesting testimonials:
- Contact clients after 30 days with an email reminder for a testimonial if you did not obtain one after completing your service.
- Add a field for testimonials in client surveys.
- Take out your phone when you next meet with a client or hand over a completed job and if they are delighted with the results, ask them if they would be happy to record a very brief video testimonial/feedback interview. If they agree, while recording your video, describe to your viewers what you have done for the client and make sure to record the client’s positive reactions and feedback.
- Make it easy and write it for them. When clients send you positive written feedback that contains snippets of useful testimonial material interspersed with the rest of their message, grab the best sections (only use what they have written – don’t put words into their mouth), and use these to create a testimonial, then contact your client and ask them for permission to quote them on your site. Explain that you have already prepared something to save them time and invite them to change what you have written however they see fit before replying with their approval.
Offer To Publish A Link Back To The Source Wherever You Quote Their Testimonial
Offer to post a link back to their website in exchange for their testimonial. This is often enough of an incentive for clients to provide you with a testimonial. It also makes the implicit statement to visitors that your testimonials are real and can be verified.
Include A Testimonial Request In Your Auto Responder/Newsletter Messages
If you have a list of subscribers, include requests for a testimonial in a periodic newsletter message. This should be done as soon as your clients have had a chance to use your product, service or solution. Use words like “I need a quick favor” in your email subject and make the point of your email or message specifically about asking them for feedback, a testimonial, or a review of your services.
Use LinkedIn
The LinkedIn “Recommendations” feature helps you request testimonials from other members for your profile. The process for requesting and providing recommendations is quite simple and user-friendly and the person providing the recommendation receives a link to their profile. If you get a recommendation on LinkedIn, ask their permission to reprint it on your website (tip: offer to publish a link back to their website or profile in exchange).
Create A Customer Testimonials Section On Your Site
Create a new page on your website for testimonials and add a “more customer testimonials …” link pointing to this section throughout your site.
Tip: You can measure how effective testimonials are by how long visitors stay on the section of your pages or posts where you have added your testimonial content. ”Heatmapping” technology is a great way to measuring visitor behaviour on your site.
We have written an article about adding heatmaps to your sites to understand visitor behavior here:
Useful Testimonial Plugins
If you use WordPress, you can use a plugin to display testimonials. Some plugins also let you add a form to your pages where users can submit testimonials.
Once your testimonial plugin is installed and set up (with instructions for using the testimonials submission form – if available), you then send clients to your “Testimonials” page.
Here are some plugins you can check out:
Easy Testimonials
Easy Testimonials is an easy-to-use free plugin that lets you add customer testimonials to your sidebar as a widget, or embed testimonials into a Page or Post using a shortcode. The plugin also lets you add a list of all testimonials or output a random testimonial, and include images with testimonials, which can be used to add a photo of the testimonial author, their company logo, etc.
Easy Testimonials also provides users with a “pro” version that offers additional features and developer support.
Visit this site to download and use this plugin:
Testimonials Widget
Testimonials Widget is a free plugin that lets you add random or selected portfolios, reviews, quotes, or text with videos or images on your site. You can insert testimonials content using a shortcode, theme functions, or widgets with category and tag selections and specify different display options such as random or specific ordering.
Testimonials Widget makes loads more features available via a premium version, including built-in options for improved search engine results and technical support.
Go here to download and use this plugin:
Testimonials WordPress Plugin
This premium plugin offers many great features right out of the box, including:
- Responsive design that resizes to display correctly on any device or browser.
- Display your testimonials in a widget or as slideshows, sliders, grid layout, list layout, etc. using a shortcode
- Styling options (display image at the top, bottom, or side of testimonials, display testimonial in a speech bubble, customize font and background colors, font types and more.
To download the plugin, visit this site:
To learn how to add testimonials in WordPress, see the tutorial below:
In Conclusion …
User reviews and testimonials are powerful sources of content that can help your business add credibility, build authority, improve online reputation, and grow your sales funnel. Always ask for feedback, reviews, and testimonials from existing clients, and start publishing these on your site.
Resources
For additional resources about creating engaging clients testimonials refer to the articles below:
- Ecommerce Consumer Reviews: Why You Need Them And How To Use Them
- How To Create Captivating Customer Testimonials
- 5 Tips For Knockout Testimonials
- Make Customer Testimonials Meaningful
- 7 Simple But Powerful Customer Testimonial Examples You Can Steal
- Your 5-Minute Guide To Writing an Amazing LinkedIn Recommendation
- How To Get Great LinkedIn Recommendations
We also recommend subscribing to our Free Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive a comprehensive series of training emails with easy-to-digest information and practical tips that will teach exactly how to drive more traffic to your site, save money creating useful content for your visitors and grow your business online using content marketing strategies. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also 100% FREE!
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