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 results? Most small business owners don’t need to be told that finding new ways of generating new business can be confusing, frustrating and hard. Just trying to remain in business takes up a lot of your time, money and energy, and sometimes this can feel like it’s just not worth the effort.

In today’s digital, mobile and social-driven economy, ignoring what users may be saying online about your business could be a costly mistake!

Don’t ignore what consumers may be saying online about your business!

By the same token, you are also doing your business a great disservice if you don’t publish the positive things your customers say about your products or services. User reviews, testimonials, and case studies are effective ways of helping you market your products and services online and should be included in your content marketing strategy.

In this article, you will learn how to improve your conversions with compelling customer testimonials.

Customer Reviews

Legendary businessman and showman Phineas Taylor (Aka “P.T.”) Barnum once stated that “Nothing draws a crowd quite like a crowd.”

P.T. Barnum understood the power of “social proof”. Social proof-driven content is a powerful and effective way of getting your business promoted. Quoting testimonials and reviews directly from satisfied customers is existing customers are far more persuasive for attracting new customers, clients or users than anything you say about your own products or services.

There is a source of untapped business growth potential that most businesses simply do not utilize, or utilize correctly … customer reviews and testimonials!

Customer testimonials and reviews are effective for building credibility for your products or services.

Studies conducted by many leading companies all point to the same conclusion: testimonials and user reviews help reduce doubts potential customers may have about buying particular products, help users select products and help increase the number of sales.

Here are just some of the stats available to support this:

• According to research 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 consumer reviews.”
• According to Reevoo.com, customer reviews can produce an average 18% uplift in sales and 50 or more consumer reviews per product can translate into a 4.6% increase in conversion rates.
• Website visitors who interact with both customer 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 user-generated content (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 – Managing Online Reputation

Adding positive reviews to your site from clients who are delighted with the results they’ve obtained by using your products or services is important for growing your business online and creating a solid online reputation.

Customer reviews and testimonials, however, are like double-edged swords; they can affect your business both negatively and positively.

You see, people may not be saying bad things about your business, products or services directly to you, but they could have posted negative comments on Facebook, or a forum or discussion thread about an unpleasant encounter they’ve just had with one of your sales or customer support representatives 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 an important aspect of your business success.

Misconceptions about engaging in online reputation management practices, such as the process being too complicated or too time-consuming (or the belief that you just don’t need to worry about it) could be harming your business without you even realizing this.

See this article to learn more about a simple tool for WordPress users that can help to avoid the escalation of negative reviews about your business, products or services through effective customer review management:

• Managing Your Online Reputation Easily With Power Online Reviews Plugin For WordPress

Improving Your Sales With Engaging Client Testimonials – Useful Tips

Testimonials, user reviews, and case studies are persuasive when it comes to helping you market and promote your products and services online and should be included in your content marketing strategy. When you quote your own customer responses in your content, you:

• Show others exactly what pains and problems your products and services can solve for them and how easily it can do this.
• Help prospects identify and address their objections.
• Help prospects connect with their aspirations and motivations and facilitate moving them closer to a decision to purchase.

Below are some practical tips on improving your sales conversions with captivating testimonials:

• Avoid over-editing: You should try using your customer’s actual words as much as you can. Leave little grammatical or spelling errors in the content. This helps to keep things ‘real’.
• Use photos: Images of people’s faces draw the most attention to your content. Adding client photos next to their testimonials and reviews will help your visitors and potential prospects take notice of your site’s content.
• Tell a story: Stories are far more effective and captivating than just providing statistical facts. Being able to present a customer’s horror story and how your solution came to the rescue will make a more lasting impression on those reading your content than presenting generalized statements about excellent service and giving “two thumbs up” product recommendations that all of us have 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 to sell your point. Think about the impact you can create on your visitor’s perception by adding a testimonial about what a “bargain” price your solution retails for before posting your product or service pricing information, or testimonials about problems you’ve helped clients solve before discussing the benefits of your products, or testimonials where customers are truly ecstatic about your customer service when offering guarantees or providing content designed to help your readers overcome their objections.
• Quantify your information: Which of the following statements do you think is more powerful… “Since using your XYZ services, we have seen an additional profit growth of $27,582 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 market share or reduce their costs by in specific percentages or amounts, how many hours they have saved, 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.
• Avoid using the same client testimonial repeatedly throughout your site: Although this can be somewhat difficult when you are just starting out or don’t have many clients, try to avoid displaying the same testimonial everywhere on your site. Depending on the nature of your business, you could try to obtain more testimonials by offering limited review copies of your product, or a special 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 best customer is, providing testimonials from people who your prospects can relate to can be a powerful motivator and influencer. People want to see and buy from “better versions” of themselves, so make sure to include testimonials that speak directly to your best audience demographic.
• Reprint testimonials across different platforms. If someone posts fantastic feedback on your Facebook page praising your products or services, send them a message asking permission to reprint the comment or post on your site.
• Only use real testimonials. Prospective clients need to believe that the testimonials you provide on your site are genuine. Don’t destroy your reputation with false testimonials.

How To Get Testimonials From Your Clients

Ask For Testimonials

Getting a testimonial from a satisfied customer can be as simple as just asking for it.

Here are some useful tips for soliciting testimonials:

• Make it a part of your business processes to contact clients after a specific period of time, e.g. 60 days with an email request for a testimonial if you did not obtain one after completing a service.
• Include a text box for entering testimonials in client surveys.
• Pull out your phone next time you meet with a client or hand over a completed project and if they are delighted with your services, ask them if they wouldn’t mind recording a very quick video testimonial/feedback interview. During your video, explain to your viewers what you have done for the client and try to capture their positive reactions and responses.
• Make it easy and write it for them. If 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 given you – never put words into their mouth), and use these to create a testimonial, then contact the client and ask them for permission to quote them on your site. Explain that you have done this to help them save time and invite them to modify what you have written however they see fit before replying with their approval.

Offer To Post A Link To The Source

Offer to add a link back to their site in exchange for their testimonial. This is often enough of an incentive for clients to provide a testimonial. It also makes the implicit statement to visitors that your testimonials are not fake and can be verified.

Include A Testimonial Request In Your Auto Responder/Newsletter Messages

If you have a list of subscribers, include a request for a testimonial in one of your newsletter messages. Preferably, this should be done after your customers have had a chance to assess the effect of using your solution. Use words like “I need your help” in the subject of your message and make the point of your email or message specifically about asking them to provide feedback, a testimonial, or a product review.

Use LinkedIn

The LinkedIn “Recommendations” feature allows you to obtain testimonials from other members that become part of your profile. With LinkedIn, 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 positive recommendation on LinkedIn, ask their permission to reprint it on your website (once again, you can offer to add a link back to their website or profile in exchange).

Create A Client Testimonials Section

Create a new page for customer testimonials and add a “read more testimonials …” link to this section wherever you add single testimonials on your site.

Tip: You can measure the effectiveness of your user testimonials by how long visitors remain on the section of your pages or posts where you have added the testimonial content. ”Heatmapping” technology is a great way to understanding what visitors are doing on your pages.

We have written an article about adding heatmaps to your site to predict visitor behavior here:

• Spy On Your WordPress Site Visitors With Analytics Software – HeatMapTracker Review

Using Testimonial Plugins

If you use WordPress, you can use a plugin to add, edit and display testimonials. Some plugins also allow you to 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 users to your “Testimonials” page.

Check out the plugins below:

Easy Testimonials

Easy Testimonials is a free WordPress plugin that lets you add client testimonials to the sidebar as a widget, or embed testimonials into a Page or Post using a shortcode. The plugin also lets you insert a list of all testimonials or output a random testimonial, and include an image with each testimonial, which can be used for adding a photo of the testimonial author, their company logo, etc.

The plugin also comes with a “pro” version with additional features and technical support.

To download and use the plugin, go here:

• Easy Testimonials – WordPress Testimonials Plugin

Testimonials Widget

Testimonials Widget is a free WordPress plugin that lets you randomly slide or list selected portfolios, reviews, quotes, or text with videos or images on your pages and posts. You can insert client testimonials via a shortcode, theme functions, or widgets with category and tag selections and specify different display options such as random or specific ordering.

The Testimonials Widget plugin provides additional features via a premium version, including built-in options SEO functionality and developer support.

Visit this site to download this plugin:

• Testimonials Widget

Testimonials WordPress Plugin

This is a premium plugin that provides many great features right out of the box, including:

• Responsive design that resizes for correct display on any device or browser.
• Options to display your testimonials in a widget or as sliders, slideshows, list layout, grid layout, etc. by adding a shortcode
• Styling options (display image at the top, bottom, or side of testimonials, display testimonials in a speech bubble, customized font and background colours, font types and more.

Visit this site to download and use this plugin:

• Testimonials WordPress Plugin

To learn how to add testimonials in WordPress, see the tutorial below:

• How To Add Testimonials In WordPress

In Summary …

User reviews and testimonials are great sources of content that help your business in terms of adding credibility, building authority, improving online reputation, and growing your sales funnel. Always ask for feedback, reviews, and testimonials from existing clients or customers, and start publishing these on your website or blog.

Additional Info

The articles below are a great source of information on creating engaging clients testimonials and were also used when researching information for sections of this article:

• 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 actionable information that will show you how to drive more traffic to your site, save money creating useful content that will add value to 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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