Building 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 disappointing results? Most small business owners don’t need to be told that finding effective ways of generating new customers can be quite difficult. Just trying to keep your business afloat 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 digital, mobile and social-driven economy, ignoring what users may be saying online about your business could be a costly mistake!
Ignoring what users may be saying online about your business could be a costly mistake!
You may also be doing your business a great disservice if you are not boosting the positive things your clients say about your services or products. User reviews, testimonials, and case studies are effective when it comes to helping you market your products and services online and should be included as part of your content marketing strategy.
In this article, you’ll learn how to improve your visitor-to-sales conversions with sales boosting user testimonials.
Testimonials And Customer Reviews
Legendary American showman and businessman P.T. Barnum is often quoted as having 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 promoting your business. Quoting genuine reviews from satisfied clients is satisfied clients are far more persuasive when it comes to attracting new customers than anything you can say about your own products or services.
There is an untapped source of business growth potential that most businesses simply do not utilize, or utilize correctly … client reviews and testimonials!
Customer testimonials and reviews are great for building credibility for your products and services.
Research conducted by leading marketing companies all seem to point to the same inevitable conclusion: adding reviews and customer testimonials to your sales information pages helps decrease doubts potential customers may have about particular products or services, helps users select products and increases sales conversions.
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 consumer reviews.”
- According to Reevoo.com, consumer reviews play a significant role in creating an average 18% uplift in sales and 50 or more consumer reviews per product can result in a 4.6% increase in conversion rates.
- Web site visitors who interact with both consumer 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 Customer Reviews – Managing Online Reputation
Adding testimonials and reviews to your site from existing clients is important for helping you grow your business and creating a solid online reputation.
Reviews and testimonials, however, are like double-edged swords; they can affect your business both in a positive and negative manner.
People may not be saying bad things about your services directly to you, but they could post updates on Facebook, or a forum or discussion group about an unpleasant experience they’ve just had using your products and this could be costing you business.
This is where online reputation management becomes a vital aspect of your business success.
Misconceptions about managing your reputation online, 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 this.
See this article to learn more about a plugin for WordPress users that can help you avoid the escalation of problem reviews about your business, products or services through effective user review management:
How To Create Knockout Testimonials – Useful Tips
User reviews, testimonials, and case studies are persuasive when it comes to marketing your products and services online and should be an integral part of your content marketing. When you quote responses from users in your content, you:
- Show other users exactly with similar problems and pains what your products and services can do for them.
- Help prospects identify their objections and address these.
- Help prospects connect with their motivations and aspirations and facilitate the sales process.
Below are some practical tips on how to create customer testimonials:
- Don’t over edit: Try to use your customer’s actual words as much as you can. Leaving little grammatical errors and misspelled words in the content helps preserve your testimonials’ authenticity.
- Use photos: Research shows that using images of people’s faces draws the most attention of visitors on a web page. Adding photos of your clients next to their testimonials and reviews can help increase visitor engagement with your site’s content.
- Tell a story: Stories are far more powerful and memorable than providing mere 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 generic statements about how “excellent” your customer support has been and giving “two thumbs up” product recommendations that all of us have heard a “million times” before.
- Use it in context: Add customer testimonials to your web content where it best makes sense to place them, and where you believe these can most effectively help to sell your point. Think about the impact you will have 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 clients solve before talking about the benefits of your services, or testimonials where clients are truly ecstatic about your support before offering guarantees or providing content that helps your readers overcome their objections.
- Quantify your information: Which of the following statements is more powerful… “Since installing your XYZ solution, we have noticed our profits increase by $27,628 in the previous financial quarter,” or “XYZ software 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 sales or reduce their costs by in specific percentages or amounts, how many hours of work they have saved, how many new leads or new clients they were able to generate in a recent financial period, what kind of things are they able to do or experience now that they couldn’t do before, etc.
- Vary the client testimonials on your site: Although this can be somewhat difficult when you are just starting out or have very few clients, try to avoid using the same testimonial repeatedly throughout your site. Depending on the nature of your business, 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 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 target audience is, providing testimonials from people who your prospects can relate to can be an extremely powerful motivator and influencer. People want to see and buy from “better versions” of themselves, so make sure to include testimonials that appeal directly to your best audience demographic.
- Reprint across different platforms. If you get fantastic feedback on your Facebook page praising your customer service, send them a message asking for their permission to reprint the comment or post on your blog.
- Only use real testimonials. Most people can tell if you are employing copywriters to create your content. Outsourcing content is fine, but prospective customers need to believe that the testimonials provided on your site are genuine. Don’t compromise your credibility with ”made up” testimonials.
How To Get Client Testimonials
Always Ask For Testimonials
Getting a testimonial from a satisfied client can be as simple as just asking for it.
Follow these tips for requesting testimonials from your customers:
- Contact your customers after 90 days with an email reminder for a testimonial if you have not obtained one immediately after completing a service.
- Add a field for testimonials in client satisfaction surveys.
- Take out your phone next time you meet with a client or hand over a finished project and if they are delighted with the results, ask them if they would be happy to record a very brief video testimonial/feedback interview. If they agree, while recording your video, describe 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. Whenever clients send you positive written feedback 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 quote them on your site. Explain that you have already prepared something to help them save time and invite them to modify what you have written however they like before replying with their approval.
Offer To Post A Link To Their Site Wherever You Quote Their Testimonial
Offer to add a link back to their website in exchange for their testimonial. This is often enough of an 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 Testimonial Requests In Your Auto Responder/Newsletter Messages
If you have a subscriber list, include requests for a testimonial in a regularly-spaced auto responder broadcast. This should be done after your clients have had a chance to use 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 clients for honest 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. The process for requesting and providing recommendations is 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 website (once again, you can offer to add a link back to their profile in exchange).
Create A Testimonials Page
Create a “Testimonials” page and place a “read more customer testimonials …” link pointing to your main testimonials page throughout your site.
Tip: You can measure how effective 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 observing what visitors are doing on your pages.
We have written an article about adding heatmaps to your sites to understand visitor behaviour here:
Useful Testimonial Plugins For WordPress
If your site or blog is powered by WordPress, you can use a plugin to add, edit and display testimonials. Some plugins also allow you to add a form to your pages inviting users to submit feedback and 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 refer users to your “Testimonials” section.
Below are a few useful testimonial plugins you can check out:
Easy Testimonials
Easy Testimonials is a free WordPress plugin that lets you add testimonials to the sidebar as a widget, or embed testimonials into a Page or Post using a shortcode. Easy Testimonials also lets you publish a list of all testimonials or output a random testimonial, and include images with testimonials, which you can use to add a photo of the testimonial author, their logo, etc.
Easy Testimonials also can be upgraded to a “pro” version that has additional features and developer support.
To download this plugin, visit this site:
Testimonials Widget
Testimonials Widget is a free WP plugin that lets you add random or selected portfolios, quotes, reviews, or text with videos or images on your posts and pages. 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.
The Testimonials Widget plugin comes with additional features via a premium version, including built-in functions for better search engine results and plugin support.
To download this plugin, go here:
Testimonials WordPress Plugin
This is a premium plugin that provides plenty of great features right out of the box, including:
- Responsive design that resizes for correct display on any device or browser.
- Display your testimonials in a widget or as slideshows, sliders, list layout, grid layout, etc. via a shortcode
- Styling options (display image on top, bottom, or side of the testimonial, display testimonial in a speech bubble, customize font and background colors, font types and more.
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
To learn how to add testimonials in WordPress, see the tutorial below:
In Summary …
Client testimonials and customer reviews 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 your clients or customers, and publish positive content about your business on your web site.
Additional Info
The articles below provide useful information on creating engaging customer 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 easy-to-digest information that will show you how to drive more traffic to your website or blog, save money creating useful content that will add value to your visitors and grow your business online using content. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!
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