How To Build Your Reputation With Testimonials And User 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 trying to generate new business can be very hard. Just trying to stay in business requires a lot of your time, money and energy, and sometimes this can feel like it’s just not worth the effort.
In today’s web-based and social-driven economy, you simply can’t afford to ignore the effect of online consumer behavior, especially if they are posting comments about your business.
Don’t ignore what users may be saying online about your business!
You could be doing your business a great disservice if you are not boosting the positive things your customers are saying about your products and services. User reviews, testimonials, and case studies are effective ways of helping you promote and market your products and services online and should be included as part of your content marketing.
In this article, you will learn all you need to know to achieve better results online using awesome user testimonials.
Testimonials And Consumer Reviews
P.T. Barnum, the great, legendary showman and businessman, once said that “Nothing draws a crowd quite like a crowd.”
P.T. Barnum obviously understood the power of “social proof”. Using social proof as content is a powerful way of getting your business promoted effectively. Quoting genuine testimonials from satisfied clients is existing users are far more persuasive when it comes to drawing new clients than anything you can say about your own products or services.
There is an untapped source of business growth potential that most small businesses simply do not utilize, or utilize correctly … testimonials and reviews from their previous users!
User reviews and testimonials are a powerful way to build credibility for your services or products.
Studies conducted by many marketing firms all seem to point to the same conclusion: adding testimonials and user reviews to your site eliminates doubts potential customers may have about purchasing your product, helps with product selection and increases sales.
Here are just some of the statistics available to support this:
- According to a study by eVoc Insights, a company that researches and measures user experience, “In general, 63% of users indicate they are more likely to purchase from a web site if it has ratings and consumer reviews.”
- According to Reevoo.com, consumer reviews are responsible for producing an average 18% uplift in sales and 50 or more user reviews per product can result in 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).
- Customer 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 And Testimonials – Managing Online Reputation
Clearly, you should be adding reviews and testimonials from satisfied clients who have experienced positive results with your business to your site.
Customer testimonials and user reviews, however, can work both ways and impact your business both positively and negatively.
You see, people may not be saying bad things about your products directly to you, but they could post updates on Facebook or a discussion thread about a bad encounter they’ve just had with one of your sales or customer support representatives and this could be costing you business.
This is where online reputation management becomes vital to your online 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 seriously causing damage to your business without you even being aware of this.
See this article to learn more about a simple tool for WordPress users that can help to avoid the escalation of problem reviews about your products through effective user review management:
Improving Your Sales With Effective Client Testimonials – Useful Tips
User reviews, testimonials, and case studies are persuasive ways of marketing your products and services online and should be included as part of your content marketing. When you include your own user responses in your content, you:
- Show potential customers exactly what problems and pains your products and services can help to solve for them and how easily it can do this.
- Help your 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 creating standout client testimonials:
- Don’t over edit: Try to use your customer’s actual words as much as possible. Leaving grammatical errors and misspelt words in the content helps preserve your testimonials’ authenticity.
- Use photos: Images of people’s faces draw attention to your content. 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 powerful 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 more lasting impression on those reading your content than using generic statements about excellent customer service and giving “two thumbs up” product recommendations that everyone has heard a “million times” before.
- Use it in context: It’s good to 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 if you were to insert a testimonial about what a “bargain” price your solution retails for before posting pricing information, or testimonials about problems you’ve helped clients solve before talking about the benefits of your products, or testimonials where clients are truly thrilled about your customer service before offering a risk-free guarantee or addressing objections.
- Quantify your information: Which of the following statements do you think is more powerful: “Since using your services, we have noticed an additional net profit increase of $13,156 in the previous financial quarter,” or “XYZ product has helped us grow our sales?” Whenever possible, publish testimonials containing quantifiable results, like how much your solution helped to increase their profits or reduce their costs 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 business quarter, what kind of things are they able to do or experience now that they couldn’t do before, etc.
- Vary the client testimonials throughout your site: Although this can be a little difficult when you are just starting out and have very few clients, try to avoid displaying the same testimonial throughout your site. Depending on the type of business you run, 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 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 aspire to become can be a very 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 content across different platforms. If someone publishes a great comment on your Facebook page praising your products or services, ask them permission to reprint the content on your blog.
- Only use real client testimonials. Prospective clients need to believe that the testimonials provided on your site are genuine. Don’t destroy your credibility with ”made up” testimonials.
How To Get Testimonials From Customers
Always Ask For Testimonials
Getting a testimonial from a happy client can be as simple as just asking for it.
Follow these tips for requesting testimonials from clients:
- Contact your customers after 14 days with an email request for a testimonial if you did not obtain one after completing your service.
- Add a text box for entering testimonials in your client satisfaction surveys.
- Pull out your phone when you next visit clients or hand over a completed job and if they are delighted with your services, ask them if they would be happy to record a short video testimonial/feedback interview. While recording the video, explain to your viewers what you have done for the client and record the client’s positive reactions and feedback.
- Make it easy for them. Whenever a client sends 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 – never put words into their mouth), and shape these into 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 help them save time and invite them to edit what you have written however they see fit before replying with their approval.
Offer To Publish A Link Back To The Source
Offer to post a link back to their site in exchange for their testimonial. This is often enough of an incentive to get clients to provide a testimonial. It also makes an 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 requests for a testimonial in one of your autoresponder messages. Preferably, this should be timed to reach subscribers just after your clients have had a chance to experience your products. 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 honest feedback, a testimonial, or a product review.
Use LinkedIn
The LinkedIn “Recommendations” feature is a great way to obtain testimonials that become part of your account. With LinkedIn, the process for requesting and providing recommendations is user-friendly and the person providing the recommendation receives a link to their profile. If you get a recommendation on LinkedIn, ask for permission to reprint it on your website (once again, you can offer to publish a link back to their profile in exchange).
Create A Customer Testimonials Page
Create a “Testimonials” page and place a “more client testimonials …” link pointing to your main testimonials page whenever you display new testimonials on your content sections.
Useful Tip: You can measure how useful client testimonials are by how long visitors stay on the section of your pages or posts where you have added your testimonial content. A great tool for understanding what visitors are doing on your pages are “heatmaps”.
We have written an article about adding heatmaps to your sites to measure visitor behavior here:
WordPress Plugins
If you use WordPress, you can use a plugin to add, edit and display testimonials. Some plugins also allow you to add forms to your pages where users can submit testimonials.
Once your testimonial plugin is installed and set up (make sure to provide simple instructions for adding testimonials via the submission form – if available), you can then send customers to your “Testimonials” page.
Below are some great WordPress testimonial plugins you can check out:
Easy Testimonials
Easy Testimonials is a free plugin that lets you add testimonials to your sidebar as a widget, or embed testimonials into a Page or Post using a shortcode. Easy Testimonials also lets you add a list of all your testimonials or output a random testimonial, and include an image with each testimonial, which you can use for adding a photo of the testimonial author, their logo, etc.
The plugin also comes with a “pro” version with additional features and developer support.
To download and use the plugin, visit this site:
Testimonials Widget
Testimonials Widget is a free WordPress plugin that lets you randomly slide or list selected portfolios, reviews, quotes, or text with images or videos on your website. You can insert testimonials content using a shortcode, theme functions, or widgets with category and tag selections and have multiple display options such as random or specific ordering.
The plugin provides extra features via a premium version, including built-in options SEO functionality and developer support.
To download and use the plugin, go here:
Testimonials WordPress Plugin
This premium plugin provides a range of great features right out of the box, including:
- Responsive design that resizes to display correctly on any device or browser.
- Display options for your testimonials in a widget or as sliders, slideshows, 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, customized font and background colours, font types and more.
To download the plugin, go here:
To learn how to add testimonials in WordPress, see the tutorial below:
In Conclusion …
Customer reviews and client testimonials are powerful sources of content that can help your business in terms of adding credibility, building authority, improving online reputation, and growing your sales funnel. Always ask for testimonials, reviews, and feedback from existing customers, and start publishing these on your website or blog.
Resources
For additional sources of information and resources on creating engaging testimonials read 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 actionable information that will show exactly how to drive more traffic to your web site, save money creating useful content that will add value to your site visitors and grow your business online using content. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also 100% FREE!
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