Do you want to build a close relationship with your audience? All relationships start with TRUST!
Read Stephen Covey’s statement:
“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”
But how can you make a pattern of trust with your audience from the very beginning? We are social creatures and most of our decisions are affected by other humans. We want social proofs.
Your website is the best place for conversion. According to MarketingSherpa, “77% of marketers use website pages to build email lists.”
But first, you have to show them why they should give you their golden information (their data). Testimonials are the great form of social proofs.
According to Wikipedia,
“In promotion and of advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a person’s written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a product.”
Wondering why you should you use testimonials? Testimonials help you to build credibility. People don’t care what a company is saying about their product or service – they want proof from other customers.
If you can’t show them something that they can trust, it’s very hard to make a conversion. Let’s face it!
Let’s take an example, when you buy any product from Amazon, what the first thing you do? I bet you most likely to check the product reviews from past buyers. You want to see their experience with a particular product. Same goes here. Testimonials offer customers a comfort and help them to make a decision.
Let’s take a look at some statistics to prove you the importance of testimonials (see I also have to show you proof):
- Testimonials can increase conversion on your sales pages by 34%.
- 63% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a site which has user reviews.
- According to review platform Reevoo, Product reviews produce an 18% sales uplift.
Image via: Econsultancy
86% Of Consumers Believe Ratings/Reviews Are Essential To The Shopping Experience.
88% of customers read reviews to determine the quality Of a local business.
80% of customers trust reviews as much as a personal recommendation.
Now, you must be wondering how to get most impactful testimonials from your customers?
According to ReputationDefender “Deliver on what you promise a customer. Show customers that you value their opinion and that you are willing to improve to make the experience better for them and they are more likely to write a testimonial for you.”
Need an expert take? See Jeff Beals, a sales expert and award-winning author sharing his take here:
“First and foremost, you must always do a good job. If you have done a good job, most clients want to give you testimonials. To make your testimonials more effective, you have to get involved in the writing process. At a minimum, that means you need to coach your client/testimonial provider what to say in the testimonial. Remember, these people are your happy, satisfied clients, which means they want to say wonderful things about you. It’s your job to make sure they say things that will be most useful for you in your pursuit of new clients.”
You have understood the importance of testimonials. Further, in this article, you’ll discover how to use the power of testimonials to build trust with your audience.
I also put 9 examples here to inspire you.
Let’s dive in!
#1. Customer’s Quotes Testimonials
This is the most common testimonial which we most often see on the website. It’s one of the most effective ways to increase conversions.
See this example from FreeAgent, they did a great job on their testimonial page:
#2. Success Story
We all love stories. Success stories have immense power. They guide your potential buyer how another client got the benefit from any particular product or service. Success stories are magnetic and these shows how you did you save the another client.
See the example of Zendesk’s customer success story page:
#3. Case Studies
You’ve probably heard about case studies. It’s the great way to show the world how useful your products or services are.
Write about happy customers your potential buyers can easily relate to. Show the story from start to finish.
See how IDEO does this:
#4. Display logos of clients
Show your customer base to the world. Place logos of your client’s company which will help people to make a decision to try your service or product.
Sarv.com places their happy client’s logo on their website, see here:
Are your customers talking about your product or service on social media platforms?
Place client’s tweet or facebook posts about your service on your website. Social testimonials are natural and organic.
See the Cultured Code homepage where you’ll find what their customers say on Twitter:
#6. Experts/Influencers endorsement
Experts or influencers are the highly trusted authority in particular industry of field. Have you ever got praise from an influencer?
Feature it on your website because an influencer’s words have a great power.
For example, Brian Dean is an authority in the
#7. Video Testimonials
Video testimonials are one of the most effective and trusted forms of testimonials. Short customers videos can do wonders for you. Make it professional.
Xero placed customer’s quotes and videos on their testimonial page. Check out here:
#8. Customer’s interview
Want to combine a client’s video testimonial and success story together?
Do interview your clients about their experience working with you. The best thing of this type of testimonials?
It doesn’t look like a testimonial and adds more credibility.
Ramit Sethi posted a series of interviews on his website with notable people who use his courses.
#9. Show the numbers
Do you have a great number of social followers, subscribers and customer base around the globe?
Let people know about that. As I said above, we are social creatures and we feel comfortable joining the crowd. Numbers tell your potential buyers that there are a lot of people out there who love your brand.
See an example from Buffer:
Now it’s your turn – create a testimonial page now and don’t forget to promote it. Remember it can do magic for your business.
Do you want to share any inspiring testimonial page example? Share your views in the comment section below.
