One of the oldest rules of marketing, online or off, is that people aren’t as concerned about what you tell them as they are what other people tell them about you. In other words, they don’t believe you as much as they do a disinterested third party, usually a former customer or client.
That’s changing on the Internet, at least to a certain degree. Why? Because the strikingly high percentage of anonymous and generic reviews and recommendations that are being added to new websites makes it hard to trust marketers and business owners. If anything, having too many positive words from someone who may or may not actually exist can seem like a drawback to potential buyers.
The bottom line is that customer testimonials still carry a lot of weight, but only if you use them correctly. Here are three good tips to help you get started, gather more positive testimonials, and make the most of them:
Use full names and job titles. Obviously, this isn’t something that every one of your past clients or customers is going to agree to. But so long as you aren’t posting their contact information – and assuming that the risk of your competitors targeting these people directly to steal them away isn’t that severe – then see if you can get testimonials with names and job titles attached. They are a lot more verifiable that way, which is why potential buyers know you aren’t likely to fake or embellish them.
Ask for recommendations that are specific. Just as buyers are wary of generic names attached to testimonials, so are they suspicious of praise that sounds like it could have been attached to anyone for any kind of product, or any kind of work. Ask your buyers to go beyond saying things like, “Great work!” and include details about how they were helped specifically by buying from you, or about a time when you went above and beyond your responsibilities. The result will be a lot more specific, and carry a lot more marketing impact.
Tie social media into your testimonial strategy. These recommendations are good, but recommendations from others that we know, like, and trust are much better. That’s why social media sites and testimonials were practically made for one another. The more of your customers you can get to publicly back you up on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and elsewhere, the more impact each of those recommendations and testimonials is going to have.
Need help getting more from your online business strategy? Call our team today to set up a free consultation, or to simply see what past clients are saying about our great work.
