Testimonial Marketing

Marketing with Customer Testimonials

Why are customer testimonials such a popular promotional tool for small businesses? Because they get results. If you're not marketing with customer testimonials in your business, you should be. Here's how to get started.

Maybe simplicity is the reason customer testimonials are so effective.

As a consumer, what could be simple than reading about someone else's experience with a product or service before making your own purchasing decision? From a business owner's perspective, customer testimonials are just as easy. Collecting and passing along rave reviews about your products is a no-brainer.

The Benefits of Customer Testimonials

Customer testimonials offer several unique benefits for a small business. For starters, prospective customers tend to trust the authentic, firsthand reports of other customers. Good customer testimonials have an inherently objective quality about them. Their third-party perspectives are often enough to convert undecided prospects into satisfied customers.

Collecting Testimonials

There is no magic formula for collecting customer testimonials apart from simply asking customers to write a paragraph or two on your behalf. Short and specific testimonials get more results than long, generic ones, and as a rule you should highlight testimonials that feature quantifiable results. Dramatic results are fine, but believability is also important.

How to Use Testimonials

Customer testimonials have multiple uses in a small business:

  • Advertising. You will obviously want to feature customer testimonials in you're your advertising. Ads that include short, well-written testimonials convey a sense of authenticity to consumers and encourage them to take a closer look at your products.
  • Customer comment pages. Many businesses have a page on their website dedicated to customer testimonials. Does everyone who visits the website click on the customer comments page? No, but for prospective customers looking for real world feedback a customer comment page can't be beat.
  • Marketing collateral. Premium marketing materials contain snippets of customer testimonials that have been strategically placed to reinforce specific strengths and product claims.
  • Staff development & rewards. The in-house applications of customer testimonials are often overlooked. However, satisfied customer comments are a wonderful way to encourage your team, especially when you combine them with an individual or group reward program.

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Why are customer testimonials so effective? We'd love to hear what you've got to say about getting good customer testimonials and how effective that it as a marketing tactic.


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