Planning on having a dinner date over the weekend or planning to purchase a new baby stroller for your infant? Before deciding on whether the café down the street is worth bringing your date or the rave about the foldable stroller that will fit in your car boot is true, the tendency is that we will check online reviews. Similarly, before engaging an agency or signing up for a training programme, we usually peek at clients’ and participants’ testimonials.
Let’s face it. Our customers and clients are our brand advocates. For brands that have not incorporated customer loyalty as part of your brand-building efforts, it is time to consider it. There are many ways to get to build brand loyalty, but one of them is through customer testimonials. This magical phenomenon is known as social proof, where people tend to be influenced by others to make purchase choices. Whether it is from your friends, family, or even a member of the same community, it makes a lot of difference in your final decision. According to Nielsen research, “92% of people will trust a recommendation from a peer, and 70% of people will trust a recommendation from someone they don’t even know.”
For businesses, testimonials provide assurance on the quality of your products and services. It is also a testament to the promised value you offer to your customers or clients.
In this piece, I will share how marketers and business owners can leverage testimonials to boost their brand building and marketing efforts. While there are many ways to obtain testimonials, here are three simple ways for you to consider.
Interview or get a written testimonial upon a project completion. The best time to secure good testimonials is to ask upon the completion of a project promptly. You can either send them an email to request one or set a short interview. The sooner you ask them, the better. This is because you should take advantage of the recency effect to capture feedback based on their experience up to that point. If you have a retainer or are engaged in a long-term project, it may be useful to seek testimonials at specific intervals or project milestones.
Seek testimonials from your best clients. You know who your best clients are, and the positive working experience they had with your organisation is going to make a lot of difference, so do ask for it. Seek testimonials that will be beneficial to you by providing some samples or get them in writing. Remember to ask their permission before you display their testimonials on your marketing platforms.
Provide ideas for a high-impact storytelling testimonial. Ask your clients how they learnt about you and the reasons why they chose to work with you. Next, ask them how you have played a pivotal role in their success. Did you help to increase their sales revenue? Or did you manage to get them in various media outlets, and as a result, they gained more exposure, followers, and leads? Get them to share specific examples of how your team helped develop a strategy, overcome challenges, and eventually develop a strong and trusting relationship. These comments will open a gateway for other potential customers to see and raise your brand reputation and service.
Whether you are a small business owner or manage a big multinational organisation, it is important to strengthen your brand by securing positive testimonials. Stay tuned and check out my next article as I share several ways on how you can leverage these testimonials to boost your marketing efforts.
