Customer Testimonials: How To Collect Them, And Why They Are Critical To Your Business
When people consider buying an item from a store, many shoppers base their final decision on customer testimonials. Oftentimes, reading what other customers have said about their personal experiences with a company’s product has the power to sway prospects to believe that they’re spending their money wisely.
Convincing prospective customers to buy can be difficult for new businesses because they haven’t been around long enough to collect enough positive testimonials to impact buying decisions. This is also true for established businesses that have never published any customer reviews. To make matters worse, customers sometimes won’t take the time to leave a review unless they are dissatisfied with the item and/or the business. This is the reason why it’s essential to learn how to entice happy customers into providing testimonials that illustrate positive experiences.
Testimonials Have the Power to Enrich Your Business’ Reputation and Sales Numbers
Your business will flourish when you use the following tips to gather testimonials.
Tap Into Your Company’s Social Media
Sometimes it’s not necessary to entice customers to leave a review. Facebook and LinkedIn are treasure troves of unsolicited testimonials because people are more than happy to tell the world about their experiences.
When you find positive testimonials on your social media pages, simply take a screen shot and paste the image to your website’s testimonial page. However, be smart by steering clear of controversy. This is accomplished by publicly thanking the author for their review by responding to the post and requesting permission to publish their words on your company’s website. You should also ask how they’d like their name to appear or if they’d prefer to remain anonymous.
Directories are a Gold Mine for Local Businesses
Testimonials are like nuggets of gold and local search directories such as Yelp, Google Business Profiles, and Merchant Circle are excellent places to dig for positive (and negative) customer reviews. As you’re checking through these sites, screenshot the positive results, then post them to the testimonial page of your website with a link to the original quote. Just remember to stay professional by asking permission from the post’s author.
Pro Tip: Don’t make the mistake of ignoring negative testimonials. Reply to them and offer to rectify the situation. The customer will be impressed that you’re taking responsibility and may reward you by updating their review. When a negative testimonial becomes a positive one, your business’ rating will improve tremendously, and prospects will see that your company has outstanding customer service.
Video Testimonials Will Make You a Star!
The most persuasive testimonials come in the form of videos. As the person is speaking to the camera about a great experience they’ve had, there’s a genuine honesty that’s communicated through their eyes and body language that can be very convincing to prospective customers.
Acquiring video testimonials can be tricky. Start scouring your social media and local directories for positive reviews. When you find some, reach out to the commenters to see if they’re willing to create a short video detailing their experience. You’ll be surprised to discover that most satisfied customers will happily oblige. Once you receive their video, upload it to your company’s testimonial page and YouTube account.
Not only do video testimonials influence prospects to buy, but they’re easy to share, so loyal customers become enthusiastic marketers!
Offer a Reward and Get Rewarded!
When repeat customers don’t leave reviews, loosen their lips with an offer they can’t refuse. This is accomplished by offering them an incentive such as a discount code in exchange for their testimonial. This savvy marketing technique will generate consistent customer reviews, so you can fill your website’s testimonial page and even rotate the feedback monthly to keep the page fresh.
While rewarding customers is a great way to gather testimonials, never imply that a five-star review is necessary to receive the incentive. This will come back to bite you and your business’ reputation may never recover as you’ll lose the trust of every customer once word gets around.
Benefit Your Business by “Spying”
While you can’t be everywhere all the time, setting up notifications with Google Alerts and BrandMentions will help you stay in the know about who’s talking about your business.
When a customer mentions your company on the internet, you’ll receive an email alert. You can then visit the blog, video, or social media feed to check out the comment. If you want to feature the accolade on your testimonial page, reach out to the customer. Most will be happy to accommodate your request.
Customer Testimonials Make Every Business Shine!
Once your website’s testimonial page is filled with complimentary reviews, it will be a marketing powerhouse! You can give each testimonial more strength by including links to the original comments. You can also make your marketing more impactful by peppering your blogs, videos, and newsletters with strategically placed testimonials.
Once you start using testimonials to prove your products and/or services are the best in the industry, fence sitting prospects will become loyal customers!
If you’re ready to attract customers with authentic customer reviews, Higgins Marketing Group can help. Contact us for a pressure-free chat about how we can increase your conversion rate with a dynamic testimonial page!
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