How To Build Your Reputation With User Testimonials And Reviews

Are you stuck doing what you’ve always done to attract customers, and getting the exact same disappointing results? Most small business owners don’t need to be told that trying to generate new business can be hard. Just trying to stay in business takes a lot of your time, money and energy, and sometimes this can feel like it’s just not worth the effort.

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

Ignoring what customers may be saying online about your business could be a costly mistake!

By the same token, you could be doing your business a disservice if you are not boosting the positive things your customers are saying about your services and products. User reviews, testimonials, and case studies are effective ways of helping you market your products and services online and should be an integral part of your content.

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

Testimonials And Consumer Reviews

P.T. Barnum, legendary showman and successful promoter, is often quoted as having said that “Nothing draws a crowd quite like a crowd.”

P.T. Barnum understood the power of “social proof”. Using social proof as content is a powerful way of getting your business promoted effectively. Reviews from satisfied users are far more persuasive when it comes to attracting new clients, customers or users than anything you have to say about your own products or services.

There is clearly a source of untapped business growth potential that most small businesses simply do not utilize, or utilize correctly … consumer reviews!

Customer testimonials and consumer reviews are a fantastic way to build credibility for your services or products.

Research conducted by leading marketing companies all point to the same conclusion: user reviews and testimonials help reduce doubts potential customers may have about buying products or services, help with product selection and help increase sales.

Below are just some findings that 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 web site if it has ratings and user reviews.”
• According to Reevoo.com, reviews play a significant role in creating an average 18% uplift in sales and 50 or more customer reviews per product can mean a 4.6% increase in conversion rates.
• Website visitors who interact with both 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).

(Source: eConsultancy.com)

Adding User Reviews And Testimonials – Managing Online Reputation

You should be adding great testimonials and reviews from really happy customers to your site.

Customer testimonials and reviews, however, are like double-edged swords; they can impact your business both positive and negative ways.

People may not be saying bad things about your services directly to your face, but they could have posted updates on Facebook or a discussion thread about a bad encounter they’ve just had with one of your representatives and this could be costing you business.

This is where online reputation management becomes important to your success.

Misconceptions about managing your reputation online, such as the process being too complicated or too time-consuming (or the belief that you just don’t need it) may be hurting your business without you even being aware of it.

See this article to learn more about a simple yet effective WordPress plugin that allows you to legally and ethically manage customer reviews:

• Now You Can Manage Negative User Feedback In WordPress With Power Online Reviews

Creating Knockout Client Testimonials – Useful Tips

User reviews, testimonials, and case studies are powerful when it comes to helping you market your products and services online and should be used in your content marketing strategy. When you quote responses from clients in your content, you:

• Show other users exactly with similar problems and pains what your products and services can do for them.
• Help visitors identify and address their objections.
• Help potential customers connect with their motivations and aspirations and facilitate moving them closer to a decision to purchase.

Below are some tips on how to create testimonials:

• Don’t over edit: You should try using the actual words used by your customers as much as you can. Leave grammatical or spelling errors in the content. This helps keep your testimonials ‘real’.
• Use real photos: Research shows that using images of people’s faces will draw the attention of visitors on a web page. Adding client photos next to their testimonials and reviews can help your visitors and potential prospects take notice of your content.
• Tell a story: Stories are much more powerful and captivating than simply providing statistical facts. 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 excellent service and giving “two thumbs up” product recommendations that everyone has heard a “million times” before.
• Use it in context: Add testimonials to your site copy where it best makes sense to place them, and where you believe these can most effectively help to sell your point. For example, think about the impact you can create on your visitor’s mind if you were to insert a testimonial about what a “bargain” price your solution sells for before posting your pricing information, or testimonials about problems you’ve helped clients solve before discussing the benefits of your products, or testimonials where customers are truly thrilled about your customer service when offering guarantees or providing content that helps your readers overcome their objections.
• Quantify the information: Which of the following statements do you think your prospects would consider to be more powerful… “Since using your XYZ services, we we were able to grow our profits by an additional $77,579 in the previous fiscal year,” or “XYZ solution has helped us grow our business?” If possible, ask clients to specify quantifiable results when submitting testimonials, like how much your solution helped to increase their profits or reduce their costs by in specific percentages or amounts, how many hours you have helped them save, how many new leads or new clients they were able to generate during a specific financial period, what kind of things are they able to do or experience now that they couldn’t do before, etc.
• Avoid using the same customer testimonial throughout your site: Although this can be a little difficult when you are just starting out or have very few clients, try to avoid using the same testimonial repeatedly throughout your site’s pages. Depending on your business, you could try to obtain more customer 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 choose to use it.
• Appeal to your best customer: As every infomercial featuring a celebrity endorsement, subject expert or “busy mom” knows, if you know who your target audience is, providing testimonials from people who your prospects can relate to can be 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 across different platforms. If someone posts great feedback on your Facebook wall praising your customer service, ask them for permission to reprint the comment or post on your site.
• Never use fake client testimonials. Many people can tell if you are employing copy writers to write your content. Outsourcing content is fine, but your potential clients need to see that the testimonials provided on your site are real. Don’t compromise your integrity or reputation with ”made up” testimonials.

How To Get Testimonials From Clients

Just Ask

Getting a testimonial from a happy client can be as simple as just asking for it.

Follow these useful guidelines for soliciting testimonials from clients:

• Make it a part of your business processes to contact clients after a specific period of time, e.g. 60 days with an email reminder for a testimonial if you have not obtained one immediately after performing a service.
• Include a field for entering testimonials in all client satisfaction surveys.
• Take out your phone when you next meet with clients or hand over a finished job and if they are delighted with the results, ask them if they wouldn’t mind recording a brief video testimonial/feedback interview. During your video, explain to your viewers what you have done for the client and try to capture your client’s positive reactions and responses.
• Make it easy 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 – don’t put words into their mouth), and use these to create a testimonial, then contact the client and ask them for permission to use it. Explain that you have already prepared something to help them save 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 Publish Their Testimonial

Offer to publish 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 real and can be verified.

Add A Testimonial Request To Your Auto Responder/Newsletter Messages

If you have a subscriber list, include a request for a testimonial in one of your newsletter broadcasts. This should be done after your clients have had a chance to assess the results of using 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 customers for feedback, a testimonial, or a review.

Use LinkedIn

The LinkedIn “Recommendations” feature helps you solicit testimonials for your account. The process for requesting and providing recommendations is quite simple and user-friendly and the person who provides the recommendation receives a link to their profile. If you get a recommendation on LinkedIn, ask their permission to reprint it on your site (once again, you can offer to publish a link back to their website in exchange).

Create A Client Testimonials Section

Create a “Testimonials” page and add a “more customer testimonials …” link to your main testimonials section whenever you have added single testimonials on your content sections.

Useful Tip: You can measure the effectiveness of testimonials by how long visitors stay on the section of your pages or posts where you have added your testimonial content. A great tool for monitoring what visitors are doing on your site are “heatmaps”.

We have written an article about adding heatmaps to your site to observe visitor behaviour here:

• How To Predict User Behavior On Your WordPress Site Using Analytics Software – HeatMapTracker Review

Testimonial Plugins

If your site or blog is powered by WordPress, you can use a plugin to display testimonials. Some plugins also allow you to add forms to your pages inviting users to submit reviews and testimonials.

Once your testimonial plugin is installed and set up (with instructions for adding testimonials via the submission form – if available), you then refer users to your “Testimonials” section.

Below are some plugins you can check out:

Easy Testimonials

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

Easy Testimonials also provides users with a “pro” version that offers additional features and technical support.

For more information about using this plugin, go here:

• Easy Testimonials

Testimonials Widget

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

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

Visit this site for more information about using the plugin:

• Testimonials Widget

Testimonials WordPress Plugin

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

• Responsive design that resizes for displaying correctly on any device or browser.
• Display options for your testimonials in a widget or as sliders, slideshows, list layout, grid layout, etc. using a shortcode
• Styling options (display image on top, bottom, or side of testimonials, display testimonial in a speech bubble, customized font and background colors, font types and more.

Go here to download and use this plugin:

• Testimonials Plugin

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

• How To Add Testimonials In WordPress

In Summary …

Testimonials and user reviews 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 your clients, and publish positive content about your business on your web site.

Resources

For additional resources about creating effective testimonials see these articles:

• 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 website, 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 completely FREE!

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