Testimonials provide a unique marketing opportunity for your business and marketing team.
On one hand, we want to tell everyone everything about our business. What we do, how great we are at it, how we do it, how long we’ve been doing it – and on and on. We can tell people how great we are until we can’t talk anymore. But what resonates with people is when they hear how great we are from people like themselves. You should be utilizing the power of testimonials.
User-Generated Marketing
User-generated marketing is an industry term that basically means any marketing material not created by the company. Online reviews, testimonials, social media posts are all examples of user-generated marketing.
The term and practice have caught on in recent years as everyone flocks to social media to share their experiences. Amazon’s reviews section is one of the most viewed on the platform as customers attempt to determine whether that thing-a-ma-bobber is worth that cheap price or if it will fall apart as soon as it arrives.
Great reviews and testimonials can elevate your brand and help drive business. Poor reviews and comments can cut your legs out from under you as you try to grow your business.
Why Testimonials Work
People in general, especially customers, like to get the opinions of people they trust. That’s why we swear by the power of testimonials. Whenever we have a decision to make in our lives, typically, we seek out people around us that have experience with what we’re going through.
The purchasing experience is the same. When a potential customer is trying to decide whether they should buy your product, or sign up for your services, they want another opinion.
Sure you’re going to say that you’re great. As far as you’re concerned, you’re the best at what you do. But do your former customers echo that sentiment? How was their experience with you? Did you meet their expectations? Did you solve their problems? Were they treated fairly and how was your customer service?
The entire experience of doing business with you can be outlined in only a few sentences.
Get them and Use them
If you’re delivering on your promises and customers are happy with their experience, you’ll want to engage them to capture their testimonials. There are a number of ways to do this, both manually and digitally.
If you capture their testimonial manually, you’ll want to add your branding and a graphic treatment to it before sharing it across your social platforms. There’s no better way to build your brand recognition than having a customer talk about how great you are on a branded template.
Google My Business is a great place to capture testimonials and reviews. You can share links with customers so they can add a review directly to the platform so the entire world sees their review when you come up in searches.
There are tons of options – find one that works for you and use it. Or use them all. But capture testimonials every chance you get. And if you get a bad review, respond to the customer to try to make it right, if you can. That speaks to potential customers too.
The power of testimonials cannot be understated and if you’re not using them to promote your business, you’re missing a great opportunity.
If you’re ready to partner with an experienced team to jumpstart your marketing efforts, contact Acorn+Arrow. We know how you’re feeling. We’ve been there and we’d love to help drive your growth.
