How to make the most of your customers’ testimonials

Testimonials prove to potential customers that you are good at what you do because other customers are happy. The more (quality) testimonials you have, the stronger this point comes across.

How do you know that that your testimonials are telling your prospects what they need to hear to make them customers? And how do you put these testimonials in front of your prospects in a natural way?

The content of your testimonials

Model your testimonials with your prospects in mind. Be clear about the demographic and persona of your ultimate prospect and ask questions when gathering content from your customers that will address their current and pertinent points of pain, or overwhelming desires. You want your potential customers to taste the possibility of freedom from a troublesome problem or soar with excitement about what could be achieved.

Use testimonials that demonstrate a transformation rather than just kind words about your services. Show the difference you can make to your customers lives. Your prospects are looking to see testimonials that they can relate to. They want to hear stories that show others like them being successful.

Most importantly, never fake it. You want your prospects to see that your customers genuinely believe that you and your work are awesome. Authenticity sells.

The format and medium

The format of the testimonial has flourished with the rise of digital media. The written text, while still having its place, has been surpassed by much more exciting ways to communicate with your audiences. Here are just a few ideas to spark your imagination:

• Quote testimonials are short and sweet and great for incorporating into landing pages, short content, or tweets. They can be gathered easily and rapidly because they take no time at all to write. Incorporate a short quote testimonial into your visual advertising – vehicle wraps, business cards, fridge magnets, the possibilities are endless!
• Short video testimonials, while harder to get than quote testimonials, are so much more personal and feel far more authentic. Use them in social media, on the home page of your website, or on a testimonials page, or embed video into automated nurture emails. You Tube is a medium that has become so familiar, and is also great for driving traffic if you use it correctly. You can even embed a short video testimonial into a multimedia quote to really make an impact!
• Interview testimonials go the extra mile when you want to provide more specifics around the work that was done well and what made your customer so happy. They are unscripted and natural and thus highly believable and authentic. Publish an audio interview testimonial as a podcast, or a post a video on your website blog or on facebook.
• Photo testimonials draw on the fact that a picture can speak a thousand words. Post a before and after collage photo on Instagram to show what can be achieved. Create a story about how you do things better with a work in progress photo and put it up on your website gallery page, or tweet it… #workinghard.

Let your prospects discover for themselves, through the success of your other customers, that they need to call you – now!