How To Build Your Reputation With Testimonials And User Reviews
Are you stuck doing what you’ve always done to attract and retain customers, and getting the exact same disappointing results? Most business owners don’t need to be told that finding effective ways to generate new business can be very difficult. Just trying to keep your business afloat takes a lot of time, money and energy, and sometimes this can feel like it’s just not worth the effort.
In today’s digital and social media-driven economy, you just can’t ignore the significance 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 may also be doing your business a disservice if you don’t publish the positive things your clients are saying about your products or services. 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.
In this article, you’ll learn tips for converting more visitors into qualified leads using knockout client testimonials.
Consumer Reviews And Testimonials
The great American showman and successful promoter Phineas Taylor P.T. Barnum is often quoted as having stated that “Nothing draws a crowd quite like a crowd.”
P.T. Barnum understood the power of “social proof”. Social proof-based content is a powerful and effective way of getting your business promoted. Genuine testimonials and reviews from 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 an untapped source of business growth potential that most small businesses simply do not utilize, or utilize correctly … reviews and testimonials from their satisfied customers!
User reviews and testimonials are a powerful way to build credibility for your services or products.
Studies conducted by leading companies all seem to lead to the same conclusion: adding testimonials and reviews to your sales information pages helps decrease doubts potential customers may have about purchasing your product, helps users select products and helps increase sales.
Below are just some statistics that support this:
- According to a study 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 consumer reviews.”
- According to Reevoo.com, customer reviews can result in an average 18% uplift in sales and 50 or more consumer reviews per product can translate into 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 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).
(Above figures sourced from eConsultancy.com)
Adding Customer Testimonials And Reviews – Managing Online Reputation
Clearly, you should be adding great testimonials and reviews from existing clients who have experienced positive results with your business to your site.
Customer testimonials and reviews, however, are like double-edged swords; they can impact your business both positively or negatively.
People may not be saying bad things about your business directly to your face, but they could be posting disparaging remarks on Facebook, or a discussion group or forum about an unpleasant encounter they’ve just had with one of your sales or customer support representatives 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 online 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 to worry about it) could be seriously hurting your business without you even being aware of this.
See this article to learn more about a WordPress plugin that can help to avoid the escalation of negative reviews about your services through effective customer review management:
Creating Testimonials – Useful Tips
Testimonials, user reviews, and case studies are persuasive when it comes to helping you market your products and services online and should be added to your content marketing strategy. When you quote your own client responses in your content, you:
- Show other users exactly what problems and pains your products and services can help solve for them and how easily this can be done.
- Help potential customers identify and address their objections.
- Help potential customers connect with their motivations and this facilitates the sales process.
Below are some practical tips on creating compelling testimonials:
- Don’t over edit: Try to use the actual words used by your customers as much as you can. Leaving grammatical errors and misspelled words in the content helps to keep it ‘real’.
- Use photos: Images of people’s faces draw attention 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 powerful story: Stories are much more powerful and memorable than providing mere statistical facts. 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: It’s good to add testimonials in your site copy where it makes the most sense to place them, and where they 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 pricing information, or testimonials about problems you’ve helped clients solve before presenting the benefits of your services, or testimonials where customers are truly thrilled about your customer service before offering guarantees or addressing objections.
- Quantify the information: Which of the following statements do you think your prospects would find more powerful… “Since installing XYZ software, our sales have grown by $73,588 in the last financial quarter,” or “XYZ solution has helped us grow our sales?” Whenever possible, publish testimonials containing quantifiable data, 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, what kind of things are they able to do or experience now that they couldn’t do before, etc.
- Avoid using the same client testimonial repeatedly throughout your site: Although this can be a little difficult if you are just starting out and have very few clients, try to avoid using the same testimonial throughout your web pages. Depending on the nature of your business, 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 decide to use it.
- Appeal to your ideal 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 that speak directly to your best audience demographic.
- Reprint across different platforms. If someone posts great feedback on your Facebook page praising your solution, send them a message asking for permission to reprint the content on your blog.
- Only use genuine client testimonials. Your potential customers need to believe that the testimonials provided on your site are real. Don’t destroy your reputation with false testimonials.
How To Get Testimonials From Your Customers
Always Ask For Testimonials
Getting a testimonial from a happy customer can be as simple as just asking for it.
Here are some tips for soliciting testimonials:
- Make a point of contacting clients after 30 days with an email request for a testimonial if you did not obtain one after performing a service.
- Include a text box for testimonials in client surveys.
- Pull 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 wouldn’t mind recording a very quick video testimonial/feedback interview. During the video, explain to viewers what you have done for your client and make sure to record the client’s positive reactions and feedback.
- Make it easy and write the testimonial for them. If a client sends 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 use it. Explain that you have already prepared something to save them time and invite them to change what you have written however they like before replying with their approval.
Offer To Post A Link To The Source
Offer to post a link back to their website in exchange for their testimonial. This is often enough of an incentive to get clients providing you with a testimonial. It also makes the implicit statement to visitors that your testimonials are real and can be verified.
Add Testimonial Requests To Your Auto Responder/Newsletter Messages
If you have a list of subscribers, include requests for a testimonial in one of your newsletter mailouts. This should be done after your customers have had a chance to measure the impact of using your products. Use words like “I need your help” in your email subject and make the point of your email or message specifically about asking customers for honest feedback, a testimonial, or a review.
Use LinkedIn
The LinkedIn “Recommendations” feature is a great way to request testimonials for your profile. The process for requesting and providing recommendations is simple and user-friendly and the person providing the recommendation gets a link to their profile. If you get a recommendation on LinkedIn, ask their permission to reprint it on your website (tip: offer to publish a link back to their website or profile in exchange).
Create A Testimonials Page
Create a “Testimonials” page and place a “more customer testimonials …” link to your main testimonials section throughout your site.
Useful Tip: You can measure how effective client testimonials are by how long visitors remain on the section of your pages or posts where you have added the testimonial content. A great tool for understanding visitor behaviour on your pages are “heatmaps”.
We have written an article about adding heatmaps to your sites to measure visitor behaviour here:
Testimonial Plugins For WordPress
If you use WordPress, you can use a plugin to display testimonials. Some plugins also let you add forms to your pages where users can submit reviews and testimonials.
Once your plugin is installed and set up (with instructions for adding testimonials via the submission form – if available), all you have to do is refer clients to your “Testimonials” section.
Here are some great plugins you can check out:
Easy Testimonials
Easy Testimonials is a free WordPress plugin that lets you add user testimonials to the sidebar as a widget, or embed them into your pages and posts using a shortcode. The plugin also lets you publish a list of all testimonials or output a random testimonial, and include images with testimonials, which can be used to add a photo of the testimonial author, a business logo, etc.
Easy Testimonials also provides a “pro” version that has additional features and developer support.
To download and use this plugin, go here:
Testimonials Widget
Testimonials Widget is a free WP plugin that lets you randomly slide or list selected portfolios, reviews, quotes, or text with videos or images on your blog. 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 plugin makes plenty of additional features available via a premium version, including built-in functions for better search engine results and technical support.
Visit this site to learn more about using this plugin:
Testimonials WordPress Plugin
This premium plugin offers plenty of great features right out of the box, including:
- Responsive design that resizes for correct display on any device or browser.
- Options to display your testimonials in a widget or as sliders, slideshows, grid layout, list layout, etc. via a shortcode
- Styling options (display image at the 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 download and use the plugin:
To learn how to add testimonials in WordPress, see the tutorial below:
In Summary …
Client 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 existing customers or clients, and publish positive content about your business on your web site.
Additional Info
The articles below are a great source of information about creating effective testimonials and were helpful in providing research and 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 and practical tips that will show you how to drive more traffic to your web site, save money creating useful content for 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!
***
***
"Your training is the best in the world! It is simple, yet detailed, direct, understandable, memorable, and complete." Andrea Adams, FinancialJourney.org