Testimonials can turn even your most skeptical visitors into action-takers.
They can help you go from zero to hero in seconds.
Testimonials can boost your authority and tip the scale to convince others to subscribe, click, visit or even buy.
And, how’s this for an impressive stat:
“Ninety-two percent of consumers around the world say they trust earned media, such as word-of-mouth and recommendations from friends and family, above all other forms of advertising” –Nielson
We Know the Benefits, Why Don’t We Ask For Them?
In my experience, the number one reason people don’t get (or use) testimonials is because they don’t have a system to do so. And when they do ask customers, they rarely follow-up or offer an easy way to provide the feedback.
I’ve found that most businesses only ask or request them when they have a big marketing project coming up, like the launch of a new website or campaign.
In my opinion, that’s too late.
Collecting feedback and testimonials should be part of your on-going marketing system. It shouldn’t be a one-off campaign when there’s a project deadline due.
Build a Testimonial & Feedback System
I encourage my clients to build this process into their customer welcome and fulfillment campaigns. It’s ultra-easy to implement and I’ll walk you through the steps of creating it in Infusionsoft, but you can use any marketing automation tool to get the same results.
- Create a fulfillment and customer welcome campaign if you don’t already have one. You know, the type of campaign that wraps your arms around your customers in a big bear-hug-kind-of-way. Don’t have one yet? Check out our Automated Referral Engine Campaign here.
- Within the follow-up process, include links to a special webform that collects feedback on the product or service. Store that feedback in an Infusionsoft custom field, so you always have it saved against their contact record.
- (Optional, since I know this can persuade customers to leave inauthentic feedback) Incentivize your customers to provide feedback. I’ve seen some offer bonuses, discounts on future product, special webinar access, etc.
- On your webform that collects feedback, use the following questions:
- Can we use your comments as a testimonial in our marketing material?
- If so, can we use your LinkedIn, Gravatar or other Online Profile image?
Notice how the campaign above was really a ‘feedback’ campaign. What we’re really doing is gathering feedback so we can improve, but we’re also using the positive comments as testimonials. You know; two birds, one stone.
I go into a lot more detail on all of this in an explainer video. You can request it by entering your name and email at the bottom in the red box.
Start Using Testimonials on More Than Just Your ‘Testimonials Page’
So what do you do when all those testimonials start rolling in?
Having a dedicated testimonials page on your site is great, but it’s not enough. Testimonials should be used at every step of the buyer journey and be related to that step, if at all possible.
For example, if you have a landing page with a free offer for capturing leads, you should certainly have a testimonial that talks about that free offer specifically. Same with your exit-intent pop-up offer.
Here are few examples of marketing assets where you could (and should) put testimonials in the context of their offer:
- opt-in forms/pop ups
- landing pages
- emails
- webinars
- blog posts
- social media posts
Example Testimonials from real clients 🙂
This wouldn’t be a complete summary without a testimonial of my own:
“I like Brett’s skill set and his approach. Great attitude and he gets things done!”
– Trip Dunman
“Takes a real interest in understanding the business model and how to improve it”
– Alfredo Lozano
