Build 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? As most small business owners know, that finding new ways of generating new business can be difficult. Just trying to remain in business takes up a lot of 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, you simply can’t afford to ignore the impact of online consumer behavior, especially if they are posting negative comments about your business.
Ignoring what your customers may be saying online about your business could be a costly mistake!
By the same token, you could be doing your business a disservice if you don’t publish the positive things your clients say about your products or services. Testimonials, user reviews, and case studies are effective when it comes to marketing your products and services online and should be used throughout your content.
In this article, you will learn how to convert more visitors into qualified leads using more effective client testimonials.
Testimonials And Consumer Reviews
Legendary American showman 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-based content is a powerful way of getting your business promoted effectively. Genuine testimonials quoted directly from existing customers are far more persuasive when it comes to drawing new customers than anything you have to say about your own products or services.
There is an untapped source of opportunities for generating new business that most businesses just aren’t utilizing, or utilizing correctly … reviews and testimonials from their previous clients!
Customer reviews and testimonials are effective for building credibility for your business.
Studies conducted by many leading marketing firms all seem to point to the same inevitable conclusion: testimonials and user reviews help decrease doubts potential customers may have about your product, help users select products and help increase the number of product sales.
Below are just some statistics that support this:
- According to a study 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, user reviews result in an average 18% uplift in sales and 50 or more user 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).
- 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).
(Above figures sourced from eConsultancy.com)
Adding User Reviews And Testimonials – Managing Online Reputation
Clearly, you should be adding great reviews and testimonials from satisfied customers to your website.
Customer testimonials and reviews, however, can work both ways and impact your business both in a negative or positive manner.
You see, 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 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 vital aspect of your 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 to worry about it) could be hurting your business without you even being aware of this.
See this article to learn more about a simple WordPress plugin that lets you legally and ethically manage customer feedback:
Tips On Improving Your Conversions With Testimonials
Testimonials, user reviews, and case studies are effective when it comes to helping you market and promote your products and services online and should be included in your content marketing. When you include responses from clients in your content, you:
- Show potential customers exactly what problems and pains your products and services can solve for them and how easily this can be done.
- Help visitors identify and address their objections.
- Help prospects connect with their motivations and aspirations and facilitate the sales process.
Here are some practical tips on improving your conversions with testimonials:
- Don’t over edit: Try to use your customer’s actual words as much as you can. Leave little grammatical or spelling errors in the content. This helps to keep it ‘real’.
- Use photos of real people: Images of people’s faces draw attention to your content. Adding photos of your clients next to their testimonials and reviews will help increase visitor engagement with your content.
- Tell a powerful story: Stories are far more powerful and captivating than simply providing facts and statistics. 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.
- Keep it in context: It’s good to add testimonials in your site copy where it best makes sense to place them, and where you believe these can most effectively help sell your point. For example, think about the impact you will have on your visitor’s mind if you were to insert a testimonial about what a “bargain” price your solution can be purchased for before posting your pricing information, or testimonials about problems you’ve helped clients solve before talking about the benefits of your products, or testimonials where customers are truly ecstatic about your support before offering a money-back guarantee or addressing objections.
- Quantify your information: Which of the following statements do you think is more powerful: “As a direct result of using your XYZ services, we have noticed an additional net profit growth of $24,812 in the previous fiscal year,” or “XYZ software definitely helped us grow our sales?” If possible, publish testimonials containing quantifiable data, like how much your solution helped to increase their market share or reduce their costs by in specific percentages or amounts, how many hours they have saved, how many new leads or new clients they were able to generate during a specific financial period, what kind of things are they able to do or experience now that they couldn’t do before, etc.
- Avoid using the same testimonial repeatedly throughout your site: Although this can be somewhat difficult if you are just starting out and don’t have many clients, try to avoid displaying the same testimonial repeatedly throughout your site. 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 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 targeted to your best audience demographic.
- Reprint across different platforms. If you get a great comment on your Facebook wall praising your business, contact them privately asking for permission to reprint the comment or post on your blog.
- Don’t use fake client testimonials. Many people can see through sites that employ copywriters to write their content. Outsourcing content is fine, but your prospects need to believe that the testimonials you provide on your site are genuine. Don’t destroy your reputation with a false testimonial.
How To Get Testimonials
Just Ask
If you have just completed a service for someone, or a customer says they are really happy with your product or service, ask them for a testimonial.
Follow these tips for requesting testimonials:
- Make a point of contacting clients after 14 days with an email request for a testimonial if you have not obtained one immediately after completing your service.
- Add a field for testimonials in client satisfaction 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 would be happy to record a very quick video testimonial/feedback interview. While recording the video, explain to viewers what you have done for the client and try to record the client’s positive reactions and responses.
- 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 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 save them time and let them know they are completely free to edit 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 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 A Testimonial Request To Your Auto Responder/Newsletter Messages
If you have a subscriber list, include requests for a testimonial in a regularly-spaced newsletter broadcast. Preferably, this should be done after your customers have had a chance to assess the results of using your products or services. 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 clients to provide honest feedback, a testimonial, or a product review.
Use LinkedIn
The LinkedIn “Recommendations” feature is a great way to request testimonials from other members for your account. The process for requesting and providing recommendations is quite user-friendly and the person who provides the recommendation gets a link to their profile. If you get a positive recommendation on LinkedIn, ask for permission to reprint it on your website (you can offer to publish a link back to their website in exchange).
Create A Customer Testimonials Page On Your Site
Create a “Testimonials” page and place a “read more testimonials …” link pointing to your main testimonials section throughout your site.
Practical Tip: You can measure the effectiveness of user testimonials by how long visitors remain on the section of your pages or posts where you have added your testimonial content. ”Heatmapping” technology is a great way to monitoring visitor behaviour on your site.
We have written an article about a heatmap analytics software you can add to your site to observe visitor behaviour here:
Useful WordPress Plugins
If you use WordPress, you can use a plugin to add, edit and display testimonials. Some plugins also allow you to add a form to your pages where users can submit feedback and testimonials.
Once your testimonial plugin is installed and set up (with instructions for adding testimonials via the submission form – if available), you then send clients to your “Testimonials” section.
Check out the plugins below:
Easy Testimonials
Easy Testimonials is a free plugin that lets you add user testimonials to your sidebar as a widget, or embed testimonials into posts and pages using a shortcode. Easy Testimonials also lets you add a list of all 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, a logo, etc.
The Easy Testimonials plugin also provides users with a “pro” version with additional features and developer support.
Go here to download and use the plugin:
Testimonials Widget
Testimonials Widget is a free plugin that lets you add random or 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.
Testimonials Widget has plenty of additional features available via a premium version, including built-in options SEO functionality and developer support.
Visit this site to learn more about using the plugin:
Testimonials WordPress Plugin
This is a premium plugin that provides many great features right out of the box, including:
- Responsive design that resizes to display correctly on any device or browser.
- Options to display your testimonials in a widget or as slideshows, sliders, grid layout, list layout, etc. using a shortcode
- Styling options (display image at the top, bottom, or side of testimonials, display testimonials in a speech bubble, customize font and background colours, font types and more.
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
To learn how to add testimonials in WordPress, see the tutorial below:
In Summary …
Testimonials and user reviews 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 publish positive content about your business on your website or blog.
Resources
The articles below provide useful information on creating engaging clients testimonials and were also 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
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