Building Your Reputation With Testimonials And User Reviews
Are you stuck doing what you’ve always done to attract and retain customers, only to get the exact same results? Most small business owners don’t need to be told that generating new business can be quite hard. Just trying to remain in business requires 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 economy, ignoring what your customers may be saying online about your business could be a costly mistake!
Ignoring what clients may be saying online about your business could be a costly mistake!
You may also be doing your business a great disservice if you don’t publish the positive things your customers say about your products or services. Testimonials, user reviews, and case studies are persuasive when it comes to marketing your products and services online and should be added to your content marketing.
In this article, you’ll discover tips for converting more visitors into prospects with effective client testimonials.
Testimonials And Client Reviews
P.T. Barnum, legendary American showman and businessman, once said that “Nothing draws a crowd quite like a crowd.”
P.T. Barnum obviously understood the power of “social proof”. Social proof-driven content is a powerful and effective way of getting your business promoted. Reviews from your existing users are far more persuasive when it comes to attracting new customers than anything you can say about your own products or services.
There is clearly a source of untapped opportunities for generating new business that most small businesses just aren’t utilizing, or utilizing correctly … reviews from happy users!
Customer testimonials and customer reviews are a terrific way to build credibility for your services and products.
Marketing studies conducted by many leading research companies all seem to lead to the same conclusion: testimonials and user reviews help to eliminate doubts potential customers may have about purchasing products, help users select products and increases sales.
Below are just some of the findings available to support this:
- According to research by eVoc Insights, a company 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 reviews.”
- According to Reevoo.com, consumer reviews produce an average 18% uplift in sales and 50 or more customer reviews per product can translate into a 4.6% increase in conversion rates.
- 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 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).
(Source: eConsultancy.com)
Adding Client Reviews – Managing Online Reputation
You should be adding testimonials and reviews from happy clients who have experienced positive results with your business to your website.
Customer reviews and customer testimonials, however, are like double-edged swords; they can impact your business both negative and positive ways.
You see, people may not be saying bad things about your products directly to your face, but they could post updates on Facebook about an unpleasant experience they’ve just had with your services 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 a vitally important aspect of your business 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 it) could be harming your business without you even being aware of this.
See this article to learn more about a tool for WordPress users that allows you to legally and ethically manage customer reviews:
Tips On How To Create Customer Testimonials
User reviews, testimonials, and case studies are persuasive when it comes to helping you promote and market your products and services online and should be an integral part of your content. When you include responses from customers 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 potential customers identify their objections and address these.
- Help prospects connect with their aspirations and motivations and facilitate the sales process.
Below are some tips on how to create meaningful testimonials:
- Avoid over-editing: Try using your customer’s actual words as much as possible. Leaving grammatical errors and misspellings in the content helps preserve the authenticity of your testimonials.
- Use real photos: Marketing tests show that using images of people’s faces draws the attention of visitors browsing a web page. Adding photos of your clients next to their testimonials and reviews can help your visitors and potential prospects take notice of your content.
- Tell a story: Stories are far more effective and captivating than simply providing facts and statistics. The ability to present a customer’s horror story and how your solution came to the rescue will make a longer-lasting impression on those reading your content than presenting generic statements about how “excellent” your support has been and giving “two thumbs up” service recommendations that everyone has heard a “million times” before.
- Keep it in context: Add customer testimonials to your site copy where it makes the most sense to place them, and where you believe these can most effectively help you sell your point. For example, think about the impact you can create on your visitor’s perception by adding a testimonial about what a “bargain” price your solution sells for before posting your product or service pricing information, or testimonials about problems you’ve helped your clients solve before presenting the benefits of your services, or testimonials where customers are genuinely ecstatic about your customer service when offering a money-back guarantee or addressing objections.
- Quantify your information: Which of the following statements is more powerful: “As a direct result of using your XYZ software, our profits have grown by $36,101 during the last fiscal year,” or “XYZ solution has helped us grow our sales?” Whenever possible, ask clients to specify quantifiable results when submitting testimonials, like how much your solution helped to increase their market share or reduce their costs in specific percentages or amounts, how many hours they have saved, how many new leads or new clients they were able to generate in a recent financial quarter, what kind of things are they able to do or experience now that they couldn’t do before, etc.
- Vary the customer testimonials on your site: Although this can be a little difficult when you are just starting out and don’t have many clients, try to avoid displaying the same testimonial throughout your site’s pages. Depending on the type of business you run, you could try to obtain more testimonials by offering limited review copies of your product, or a special discount for existing 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 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 ideal customers.
- Reprint content across different platforms. If you get a great comment on your Facebook wall praising your business, contact them privately asking for their permission to reprint the comment or post on your site.
- Never use fake testimonials. Your prospects need to see that the testimonials provided on your site are genuine. Don’t compromise your credibility or reputation with a false testimonial.
How To Get Testimonials From Your Customers
Always Ask For Testimonials
Getting a testimonial from a satisfied client can be as simple as just asking for it.
Follow these tips for soliciting testimonials:
- Make it a part of your business processes to contact clients after 60 days with an email request for a testimonial if you have not obtained one after performing a service.
- Include a field for testimonials in all your client satisfaction surveys.
- Pull out your phone next time you meet with a client or hand over a finished job and if they are delighted with the results, ask them if they would be happy to record a quick video testimonial/feedback interview. During your video, explain to viewers what you have done for the client and make sure to record their positive reactions and responses.
- Make it easy and write the testimonial for them. When clients send you a positive email thanking you for a great service that contains snippets of useful testimonial material interspersed with the rest of their message, grab the juiciest 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 let them know they are completely free to modify what you have written however they like before replying with their approval.
Offer To Post A Link To The Source
Offer to publish a link to their website in exchange for their testimonial. This is a great incentive for clients to provide you with 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 subscriber list, include requests for a testimonial in one of your newsletter messages. Preferably, this should be done as soon as your customers have had a chance to assess the results of using your product, service or solution. Use words like “I need your help” in the subject of your email and make the point of your email or message specifically about asking subscribers to provide feedback, a testimonial, or a review of your services.
Use LinkedIn
The LinkedIn “Recommendations” feature helps you solicit testimonials from other members for your account. The process for requesting and providing recommendations is 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 (tip: offer to publish a link back to their website in exchange).
Create A Client Testimonials Section
Create a “Testimonials” page and place a “more testimonials …” link pointing to this section whenever you add new testimonials on your content sections.
Practical Tip: You can measure the effectiveness of 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 measuring what visitors are doing on your pages.
We have written an article about a heatmap software you can add to your site to track visitor behavior here:
WordPress Testimonial Plugins
If you use WordPress, you can use a plugin to add and display testimonials. Some plugins also allow you to add forms to your pages inviting users to submit reviews and testimonials.
Once your plugin is installed and set up (remember to provide simple instructions for using the testimonials submission form – if available), you can then refer customers to your “Testimonials” page.
Check out the plugins below:
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 Easy Testimonials plugin also lets you add a list of all testimonials or output a random testimonial, and include images with testimonials, which is great to add a photo of the testimonial author, a logo, etc.
The plugin also provides a “pro” version with additional features and plugin support.
To download the plugin, visit this site:
Testimonials Widget
Testimonials Widget is a free WordPress plugin that lets you add random or selected portfolios, quotes, reviews, or text with images or videos on your pages and posts. You can insert testimonials using a shortcode, theme functions, or widgets with category and tag selections and have multiple display options such as random or specific ordering.
The Testimonials Widget plugin has plenty of additional features available via a premium version, including built-in options SEO functionality and plugin support.
To learn more about this plugin, go here:
Testimonials WordPress Plugin
This is a premium plugin that offers plenty of great features right out of the box, including:
- Responsive design that resizes for correct display on any device or browser.
- Display options for your testimonials in a widget or as sliders, slideshows, grid layout, list layout, etc. via a shortcode
- Styling options (display image on top, bottom, or side of testimonials, display testimonials in a speech bubble, customize font and background colors, font types and more.
Visit this site to learn more about the plugin:
To learn how to add testimonials in WordPress, see the tutorial below:
In Conclusion …
Customer reviews and testimonials are great sources of content that can help your business add credibility, build authority, improve online reputation, and grow your sales funnel. Always ask for testimonials, reviews, and feedback from your clients, and start publishing these on your site.
Additional Info
For additional resources on creating engaging testimonials refer to these useful 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 easy-to-digest information that will show exactly how to drive more traffic to your website or blog, save money creating useful content that will add value to your site visitors and grow your business online using content marketing. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also 100% FREE!
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