Established brands such as Nike, Apple, and Walmart speak for themselves. However, businesses that are not in the league of such well-known names need to establish their credibility to draw customers. If you are an entrepreneur and want to skyrocket your business, positive customer testimonials are a valuable way to demonstrate the credibility of your business.
After all, if your existing customers speak positively about you, you don’t have to be extra persuasive to win new customers. But, all testimonials may not be appropriate for your business. So, how should you manage your testimonials? Read on to know more.
1) Use Genuine Photos
Genuine photos make statements and facts more believable. Stay away from stock photos and use actual pictures of your customers to make your testimonials more trustworthy. A study suggests that seeing faces can increase empathy felt towards other people, even if we’ve never met them. If you want your customers to believe your testimonials, put up the photo of real persons in a natural setting.
2) Share relevant customer details
If your business sells health supplements, then a testimonial from a physical therapist or a doctor will add greater credibility than putting up a testimonial from someone working in the hospitality industry. It’s essential to use relevant customer details as that will increase the perceived trustworthiness of your business. Also, it helps if your testimonials can show who is writing the testimonial and what their job role is.
3) Use stories to make outcomes feel more real and relatable.
A generic customer testimonial such as “Great product, helped my business a lot” might be a positive comment, but it doesn’t convey anything about how your product helped their business. Try to get your customers to write a before and after story, highlighting what pain they were facing and how your product actually helped them overcome the pain. Such testimonials are more engaging and feel more relatable.
4) Use precise numbers to indicate tangible results
Using data in customer testimonials is a great way to indicate results. If you are doing so, then use odd numbers like 29% or 63% instead of round numbers like 70%. Using exact numbers rather than round ones helps quantify results and highlight exactness.
5) Invest in video testimonials
With video becoming ubiquitous in today’s world, consider investing in video testimonials. Your customers will prefer watching videos rather than going through paragraphs of text. They are more likely to share videos rather than sharing vanilla text and images. Video testimonials are also highly effective when it comes to triggering emotions. If you have decided to go with video, then it’s vital to have the correct questions for your video testimonial. Doing so will help your customer prepare a hard-hitting review that will help your business.
6) Feature customers that potential buyers can relate to
Potential buyers will be more favorable, interested, and trusting toward individuals who reflect who they want to be. Perfect testimonials praising your company to the skies can feel artificial and premeditated. Unpolished and breezy feedback will have an authentic feel in comparison. After all, you’d want your potential buyers to be able to identify with customers who have already bought from you.
In Summary
Testimonials featuring your satisfied customers are an effective way of generating new leads. Sift through all your testimonials, and add a few of the top ones to your homepage. However, you must also have a separate testimonial page. They add credibility to your business, but it’s important to manage customer testimonials correctly. Leverage your customer testimonials by following the tips in this article on how to manage them.
