Build Your Reputation With Testimonials And User Reviews

Are you stuck doing what you’ve always done to attract and retain new customers, only to get the exact same disappointing results? As most small business owners know, that finding effective ways to generate new business can be confusing, time-consuming and really difficult. Just trying to keep your business afloat 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 online 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 may also be doing your business a disservice if you don’t publish the positive things your clients say about your services or products. Testimonials, user reviews, and case studies are persuasive when it comes to marketing your products and services online and should be included as part of your content marketing strategy.

In this article, you’ll discover all you need to know to get better results online with powerful user testimonials.

Testimonials And Customer Reviews

P.T. Barnum, legendary American businessman and 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. Genuine testimonials quoted directly from satisfied clients are far more persuasive when it comes to drawing new clients, customers or users than anything you can say about your own products or services.

There is a source of untapped opportunities for generating new business that most small businesses simply do not utilize, or utilize correctly … user reviews!

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

Studies conducted by marketing research companies all point to the same conclusion: adding user reviews and testimonials to your sales pages decreases doubts potential customers may have about purchasing certain products or services, helps users select products and helps increase sales conversions.

Below are just some findings that support this:

• According to research by eVoc Insights, an organization 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 reviews.”
• According to Reevoo.com, user reviews play a significant role in creating an average 18% uplift in sales and 50 or more reviews per product can translate into a 4.6% increase in conversion rates.
• Site 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 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).

(The figures above were sourced from eConsultancy.com)

Adding Customer Reviews And Testimonials – Managing Online Reputation

Clearly, you should be adding positive reviews from existing clients who have experienced positive results with your business to your site.

User reviews and testimonials, 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 business, products or services directly to you, but they could post negative comments on Facebook, or a forum or discussion group about a bad experience they’ve just had with your business 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 vitally important to your business success.

Misconceptions about engaging in online reputation management practices, such as being too complicated or too time-consuming (or the belief that you really don’t need it) could be hurting your business without you even being aware of it.

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

• Manage Poor Customer Reviews With Power Online Reviews Plugin For WordPress

Tips On Improving Your Conversions With Meaningful Testimonials

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

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

Here are some useful tips on creating knockout testimonials:

• Don’t over edit: You should try using the actual words used by your customers as much as possible. Leaving grammatical errors and misspelled words in the content helps to keep it ‘real’.
• Use photos of real people: Research shows that using images of people’s faces will draw the most attention of visitors browsing a web page. Adding photos of your clients next to their testimonials and reviews will help your visitors and potential prospects take notice of your content.
• Use the power of storytelling: 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 saved the day will make a far longer-lasting impression on those reading your content than using generic statements about how “excellent” your service has been and giving “two thumbs up” product recommendations that everyone has heard a “million times” before.
• Use it in context: It’s good to add testimonials in your site copy where it makes the most sense to place them, and where you believe these can most effectively help sell your point. Think about the impact you can create on your visitor’s mind by adding a testimonial about what a “bargain” price your solution sells for before posting your service 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 before offering a risk-free guarantee or providing content designed to help your readers overcome their objections.
• Quantify your information: Which of the following statements is more powerful: “Since installing your XYZ product, we have noticed an additional net profit growth of $59,445 in the previous financial quarter,” or “XYZ solution helped us grow our business?” If possible, publish testimonials containing quantifiable results, like how much your solution helped to increase their sales 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 in a recent 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 don’t have many clients, it’s best to avoid displaying the same testimonial repeatedly throughout your site’s pages. 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 discount for clients in exchange for an honest review and permission to publish it if you choose 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 target audience is, providing testimonials from people who your prospects aspire to become is a very 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 across different platforms. If someone posts great feedback on your Facebook wall praising your commitment to customer satisfaction, contact them privately asking for permission to reprint the comment or post on your blog.
• Don’t use fake client testimonials. Most people can see through sites that employ copywriters to write content. Outsourcing content is fine, but prospective customers need to believe that the testimonials displayed on your site are genuine. Don’t compromise your credibility or reputation with a false testimonial.

How To Get Client Testimonials

Ask For Testimonials

If you have just completed performing a service, or a customer says they are really happy with your product or service, ask them for a testimonial.

Here are some useful tips for requesting testimonials from customers:

• Make a point of contacting customers after 14 days with an email request for a testimonial if you did not obtain one immediately after performing a service.
• Include a text box for entering testimonials in all your client satisfaction surveys.
• Pull out your phone next time you visit clients or hand over a finished project and if they are delighted with the results, ask them if they wouldn’t mind recording a brief video testimonial/feedback interview. During the video, describe to viewers what you have done for the client and make sure to record their positive reactions and feedback.
• Make it easy for them. When clients send you a positive email thanking you for a great job 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 publish it. Explain that you have done this to help them save time and let them know they are completely free to change what you have written however they see fit before replying with their approval.

Offer To Post A Link Back To The Source

Offer to post a link back to their site in exchange for their testimonial. This is a great incentive to get 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 a request for a testimonial in one of your newsletter broadcasts. This should be timed to reach subscribers just after your clients have had a chance to use your product, service or solution. Use words like “I need your help” in your email subject and make the point of your email or message specifically about asking users for honest feedback, a testimonial, or a product review.

Use LinkedIn

The LinkedIn “Recommendations” feature helps you obtain 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 positive recommendation on LinkedIn, ask for permission to reprint it on your site (and offer to publish a link back to their website in exchange).

Create A Customer Testimonials Section

Create a “Testimonials” page and add a “more customer testimonials …” link to this page whenever you are displaying new testimonials on your content sections.

Practical Tip: You can measure how effective client 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 understanding what visitors are doing on your site.

We have written an article about a heatmap software you can add to your site to track visitor behaviour here:

• Monitoring Visitor Behavior On Your WordPress Site Using Analytics Software – HeatMap Tracker Review

Testimonial Plugins For WordPress

If you use WordPress, you can use a plugin to add and display testimonials. Some plugins also let you add a form to your pages inviting users to submit reviews and testimonials.

Once your plugin is installed and set up (make sure to provide simple instructions for adding testimonials via the submission form – if available), all you have to do is refer customers to your “Testimonials” section.

Check out the testimonial plugins below:

Easy Testimonials

Easy Testimonials is an easy-to-use free plugin that lets you add testimonials to the sidebar as a widget, or embed testimonials into posts and pages using a shortcode. Easy Testimonials also lets you publish a list of all your 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, a business logo, etc.

The Easy Testimonials plugin also provides a “pro” version with additional features and plugin support.

To download and use this plugin, visit this site:

• Easy Testimonials

Testimonials Widget

Testimonials Widget is a free WordPress plugin that lets you randomly slide or list selected portfolios, quotes, reviews, 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 have multiple display options such as random or specific ordering.

The Testimonials Widget plugin makes plenty of additional features available via a premium version, including built-in options for improved search engine results and technical support.

Visit this site to learn more about using this plugin:

• Testimonials Widget

Testimonials WordPress Plugin

This premium WP plugin provides many 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 slideshows, sliders, list layout, grid layout, etc. by adding a shortcode
• Styling options (display image on top, bottom, or side of testimonials, display testimonial in a speech bubble, customized font and background colours, font types and more.

Visit this site 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 Conclusion …

Customer reviews and client testimonials are great 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.

Resources

For additional information on creating effective clients testimonials see 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 regular training emails with actionable information and practical tips that will teach exactly how to drive more traffic to your website, save money creating high-quality content for 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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