One of the best ways to grow as a company is to get customer testimonials and use them to your advantage. Testimonials are a great way to learn from your customers and see how you and your employees performed on a project. They’re also a great tool to use to show potential new customers, and ultimately generate new leads for your company. So, how do you get testimonials, and what do you do with them once you have them? Here are some tips and ideas to getting the best, usable testimonials for your company.
GETTING THE TESTIMONIALS:
There are a variety of methods for capturing testimonials.
In Person
This is the most personal technique for getting in touch with clients or customers who have recently worked with your company. This shows customers you care about them, enough to personally reach out to them. It creates a stronger relationship between you and your customers.
Personal Phone Call
If your clients or customers are not in close proximity, a phone call is also one of the most personal ways to reach out to someone. Circumstantially, you may not be able to physically look the person in the eye to ask for a testimonial, so calling on the phone is the next best option if you want to go the extra mile to get a testimonial and show your customers how much you care about them and their experience working with you.
Personal Email
Sending a personal email to customers is another option if you’re very busy and on-the-go. A quick email addressing the person by name and inquiring about their specific project/experience can go a long way. Writing out the person’s name and asking about their specific experience shows that you know who that person is, you remember what you worked on with them, and you’re curious about their feedback. Though it’s not an in-person meeting or personal phone call, it is still personal.
Email Blast
Do you have a huge client base and don’t have the time to reach out to hundreds or thousands of people individually? One option is to send out an email blast to all of your contacts that highlights some of your best testimonials. Use a call-to-action in order to ask people to respond to your email with a testimonial and/or any other information you’d like to gather.
Social Media
Create posts on social media asking for testimonials. Depending on where you currently gather your testimonials from, you may ask people to visit your site, send testimonials to a specific email address, or even directly/privately message your company on that social media platform. Or, give people options. Just make sure to make it as easy as possible for people to give you their feedback!
Make it a Contest
Turn gathering testimonials into something that both you and the testimonial writers can enjoy being a part of! Make it a contest, with a prize, or a chance to be featured on social media, your website, your next campaign, etc.
Use your Google Reviews
Your Google Business account can be your best advantage. When people search for your business, Google will display your rating out of five stars. Try and push customers to leave reviews on Google. Doing so will increase your SEO ranking. You can also install plugins on your website to feed your Google Reviews into your website – thus automatic site updates occur every time your Google Review gets a new testimonial.
Note: Users must have a Google / Gmail account to do this.
Going Beyond Written Testimonials
An alternative idea to asking for written testimonials is to create video testimonials. Think about commercials you’ve watched that have testimonials in them – they get the message across, and provide a visual / personal experience where people can relate more to the person behind the message. In this case, there is no person behind the message; rather, the person tells you in a more face-to-face manner (without physically being face-to-face).
In tandem with the contest idea, asking customers to share their results via a photo or video testimonial. For instance, if you run a weight loss company, showing before & after results of your workout program can be more convincing than having testimonials that just spit out numbers of how much weight was lost over a period of time. Depending on what kind of company you run, you may want to look into utilizing video testimonials.
WHAT INFORMATION TO OBTAIN:
Name of Person
It’s important to know who is reviewing your company. If you have questions or want to reach out to that person, it’s key to know what their name is. You don’t have to reveal the person’s name if they prefer to be kept anonymous; however, for yourself, it’s important to know the name of the person who is responsible for the review.
Reviewer’s Title / Position
It is also important to know what department or job the reviewer has. If you’re getting an excellent review from a CEO, it definitely deserves to be featured first/at the top of your site or on your marketing materials. Having well-renowned testimonial writers makes your brand or company look more highly-regarded in return.
Reviewer’s Company
Where do your reviews come from? Same-industry or testimonials from well-known companies can make an impact, not only for personal fulfillment, but for other potential customers reading through testimonials. A review from the VP of ticketing and sales at a nationally (or internationally) known sports team will definitely be an example of a customer you want to highlight on your website, in your marketing materials, etc.
The Review Itself
The best testimonials are more than just two words like “Excellent service!” Although it’s nice to see positive reviews, those with a story or more information about a specific experience are more interesting to potential customers. Try to ask your customers when they write a testimonial, to give a little bit of detail behind their unique experience and why they’re pleased with the outcome or overall experience.
Make sure those who provide testimonials are aware of where their kind words are going to be published. Most people are happy to provide testimonials, but sometimes do not want their identity to be revealed. Make sure to make this clear and come to an agreement before posting someone else’s words online, in print, etc. for others to see.
WHERE TO USE YOUR TESTIMONIALS:
On Your Website
One of the best ways to keep your site in good SEO standing / rankings is through frequent site updates. The more testimonials you get, the more often you can update your site. The more testimonials you have, the more established and trustworthy you look in potential customers’ eyes.
On Your Social Media
What goes on your website should also go on your social media. If you receive a really great testimonial, or a testimonial from a well-known or well-liked company/person, post it on more than just your website. Create a template for your social media posts where you can upload on-brand content like testimonials. People love to read what other people have to say about your company, especially when it’s a good review!
In Marketing Materials
Designing a capabilities brochure and have some extra white space? Fill it in with your best testimonials! When reading through a print piece, it’s always interesting to read more personal anecdotes, like testimonials.
If you’ve worked with us at Prizum Creative before, we always welcome testimonials from our clients! Reach out to somara@Prizum Creative.com with your experience with us – we share our testimonials on our website, and sometimes even feature testimonials on our social media!
Haven’t worked with us yet? Contact us today to start working on your creative design needs.
