The most powerful persuader in the marketplace, apart from a customer’s own experience, is the opinion of someone they trust. That’s why so much effort goes into viral marketing or ‘word of mouth.’ And that’s why social media is so influential. It gives you instant, direct unvarnished dialogue with others. And that’s also why genuine testimonials are so effective. I say ‘genuine’ because anyone can make up supportive words and pass them off as the real thing. But usually such testimonials smell of fakery. A testimonial is third-party endorsement at its best. There is much more credibility in the words of other unbiased people than in your own words of self-promotion. The takeaway is that you should use the power of testimonials in your marketing communication.
If you provide a good service or product, you should be able to ask people for some kind words. Don’t hesitate to ask their permission to use the words and identify them in the testimonial.
The act of seeking testimonials is a good psychological spur to you to produce your best results all the time because a testimonial to ordinary work is an ordinary testimonial. An unexpected benefit is that a testimonial reminds the other person to think over the product or service they have paid for, which will remind them of all the good aspects they may have forgotten or taken for granted. Also, the act of providing you with a testimonial strengthens the bond between you and the client (or customer). Seeking expressed support from others certainly underlines the productive time in using the power of testimonials in marketing.
The key word with testimonials is “ask.” Keep asking and you will get a lot of testimonials. Ask for testimonials at every opportunity, and quote the best ones. In this way you don’t have to promote yourself; you can let the other person promote you. Use testimonials liberally everywhere. Spread the testimonials through brochures, articles, advertisements, ‘advertorials’, video presentations, websites, emails, podcasts (delivered verbally), etc.
You can never use too many testimonials. Marketing consultant, Sean D’Souza, says he put up a page on a website with 800 testimonials and sent customers to that page with no sales pitch. Customers were buying the product on that page “by the droves.” The testimonials alone were causing customers to buy.
Different customers look for different things, so if you collect many testimonials you will get a spread of appreciation covering various key aspects such as quality, reliability, speed or friendliness.
Another angle worth reading is discussed in my article, “People follow the lead of others they respect.” The article adds further thoughts on how to use the power of testimonials in marketing communication.