What are the best practices for creating and sharing customer testimonials?

Best practices for customer testimonials focus on authenticity and strategic dissemination. Ensure testimonials are genuine, capturing real experiences in various formats like video, text, and audio to engage different audiences. Guide customers to discuss specific benefits, making their stories relatable. Place testimonials strategically across your website, social media, and marketing materials, leveraging video testimonials on social platforms for their emotional impact. Keep your testimonials updated to reflect ongoing customer satisfaction, enhancing credibility and trust in your brand. This approach not only showcases real success stories but also significantly boosts your brand's appeal.

Choosing the right customers isn't just about finding the customers who have had the best experience with your product / service. It's also key to think about who the testimonial is targeted at and how it will help them in their decision making process. Your prospects will resonate with stories and transformations they can relate to. So finding a customer who's original context and desired outcome is the same as your target customer is step one. This will vary between B2B and B2C. For B2B consider the industry, stage, stakeholder and size of your target customer. For B2C focus on the JTBD, anxieties and struggles your prospects are facing. Then you can find the 'right customers' who benefited from your offering.

Potential customers listen more to what existing users of your offering have to say, rather than any story coming from the brand directly. Why? Because the users will give a true, unbiased picture. The right customers vary - can be newly acquired customers, long time customers, customers to represent your different offerings. These customers must be authentic and willing to vouch for your service, product, solutions. They should also be willing to put the company logo and the quote on your website or social media content. Usually, quotes with their names, designation and company work better than anonymous ones.

One thing I like is the concept of a "Customer Advisory Board." Your customer advisory board is a strategically chosen group of customers who know and use your product regularly. While CABs are commonly used to validate and test features, their heavy usage of your product means they know more about it than any other group of customers, and can best speak to the value of the product. If you have a Customer Advisory Board set up, they can be one of your best sources for great customer testimonials.

Some may disagree but in my experience the sad reality is that your customer's brand recognition is directly tied to your case study impact. This said... Brand recognition isn't all. Here is how I see it: Case study impact = brand recognition X content value 2 examples to prove my point: - Elon musk: "I really like colean.io website" - Bob the CEO: "Colean's team has done an amazing at creating the automation that increased our closing rate by 20%." Elon has a huge brand recognition but poor contribution and Bob the other way around. Now imagine the impact of combining the best brand with the best value... Boom! Conclusion: you will get the best results when considering these 2 factors while picking your customer for a testimonial.

?Some may disagree but to me open-ended questions aren't enough. Do you want your viewers to engage with you after reading your testimonial? 1/ Show quantifiable gains: ?? "Paul’s Team has turned our Zoho CRM into an efficient system. With minimal room for errors, our time spent on administrative tasks has dropped by 50%." 2/ Focus your questions on the M$ short quote: ?? "Enventive Concept should be part of any Mechanical Design Engineer’s Toolbox.” This one isn't quantifiable but when your peer makes that statement, you think: "I should probably spend a few more minutes because that's a very powerful statement." Explain your goal to the customer, make sure he feels good all along but direct the questions to get the results you want.

In my experience, the best questions get customers to tell a story. My favorite question is: Tell me about the moment you realized [old way] wasn’t cutting it. What caused that moment? What compelled you to look for something different? This question encourages customers to reflect on their experiences and share the pivotal moments that led them to seek a new solution. It provides deeper insights into their motivations and the specific pain points they encountered, which can be invaluable for understanding how your product or service fits into their journey and how to address their needs in the future.

One thing I have found helpful is: if the questions have never been ask before, it will worth the try because we are asking fundamentals that will likely make a change to the business. Most of the time the things that's is currently being done is all legacy issues that hamper your growth actions. Carefully review the issues, ask any questions and continues to change is fundamental to growth.

When seeking customer testimonials, ensure you ask the right questions that prompt detailed responses, focusing on the specific aspects of their experience, challenges overcome, and the tangible benefits gained from your product or service. This strategic approach will elicit comprehensive and meaningful answers, providing the material needed for compelling testimonials that resonate with potential customers.

Ask open-ended questions that guide your customers to tell their story. Questions like, “What challenge were you facing before using our product?” or “How did our service help you achieve your goals?” encourage detailed responses that highlight the problem, solution, and results.

Format your customer testimonials in a way that is clear, concise, and impactful. Present the information in a structured manner, starting with a compelling headline or introductory sentence, followed by the customer's name and relevant details. Use bullet points or short paragraphs to highlight key points, ensuring the testimonial is easy to read and understand. Consider incorporating visuals, such as images or videos, to enhance the visual appeal. By formatting testimonials effectively, you make them more engaging and accessible to your audience, increasing their overall impact.

When it comes to creating and sharing customer testimonials, effective formatting is crucial. Present testimonials in a visually appealing and organized manner, using clear headings, bullet points, or quotes to highlight key points. Include the customer's name, photo, or company logo to add authenticity. Strive for brevity, focusing on the most impactful statements. Consider categorizing testimonials based on specific benefits or use cases to make them easily digestible. Whether on your website, in marketing materials, or social media, a well-formatted testimonial enhances readability and increases the overall impact on your audience.

You’re not just looking for praise; you’re looking for a narrative that others can relate to. Emotional responses are gold—if a customer feels strongly enough about their experience to share how your product made a difference in their life or business, that’s what you want to capture.

Format testimonials for clarity and impact. Use concise language, highlight key points, and choose formats (text, video, or audio) that suit your audience. Add customer details like name, role, and industry to boost credibility.

Another consideration it to make it easy for your customers to share testimonials organically. You can build more formal case-studies by reaching out to your customers for positive experiences, at the same time, if you were to create a system for user-generated content, this can act as a subtle way of providing social proof and credibility for your products. User-generated content typically feels more authentic and relatable to your customers, so it's important have them be able to say it in their own words. Consider amplifying these in the channels where most of your customers are spending a good amount of their time and also in which stage of the customer journey they are in.

Besonders bei erkl?rungsbedürftigen "Produkten" im B2B-Vertrieb ist die gezielte Auswahl von Kundenreferenzen auf Basis konkreter Anwendungsbeispiele und einem guten Storytelling wichtig Gezielte Auswahl: W?hle Referenzen aus, die eine ?hnliche Zielgruppe ansprechen und vergleichbare Herausforderungen hatten. Dies st?rkt die Relevanz für potenzielle Kunden Praxisnahe Beispiele: Nutze konkrete Anwendungsbeispiele, die die Funktionalit?t und den Nutzen der Produkte im realen Gesch?ftsumfeld verdeutlichen. Dies macht die Referenzen für potenzielle Kunden greifbar Storytelling: Erz?hle Geschichten über die Zusammenarbeit mit Kunden, betone Probleml?sungen und erzielte Erfolge. Authentische Geschichten sprechen potenzielle Kunden emotional an

For a mobile app, user reviews are one of the fastest possible feedback loops and a great source of testimonials. Use the positive reviews of your users in your communication, e.g.: - in advertising campaigns (static images or .gifs featuring quotes from 5* reviews, video testimonials / UGC from your users); - on your paywalls, as a social proof (e.g. # reviews, 4.9* average rating, # paying customers, quotes from reviews); - in your emails. I'd also recommend to not disregard the negative (1*-3*) reviews and track them to: - have an overview of the user problems; - feature on your website. I've tested it only once but have the anecdotal evidence that showcasing 1* reviews helped increase the conversion rate to purchase and added trust.

Strategically place your customer testimonials in key touchpoints throughout your marketing channels, such as prominently featuring them on your website's homepage, product pages, or landing pages. Additionally, incorporate testimonials in email campaigns, social media posts, and sales presentations to maximize their visibility. By strategically placing testimonials at various stages of the customer journey, you leverage their persuasive power to build trust and credibility, influencing potential customers at critical decision-making moments.

Position testimonials strategically across channels like your website, social media, and emails to support marketing goals and buyer journey stages. Use widgets, pop-ups, or banners for eye-catching displays.

To create and share impactful customer testimonials, continuously test and optimize your approach. Diversify the testimonials to cover various use cases and demographics, ensuring authenticity and relatability for a broader audience. Regularly update and refine your strategy based on customer feedback, evolving business priorities, and changes in market dynamics. By embracing a dynamic and iterative approach, you can maximize the effectiveness of your testimonials, building trust and resonance with your audience over time.

One crucial best practice for creating and sharing customer testimonials is to continually test and optimize their impact. Experiment with different formats, such as text, video, or audio testimonials, to identify what resonates best with your audience. Testimonials' placement on your website or in marketing materials to gauge their effectiveness in influencing customer decisions. Regularly update and refresh testimonials to maintain relevance. Analyze metrics like click-through rates or conversion rates to assess their performance and make data-driven adjustments. By consistently testing and optimizing customer testimonials, you ensure they remain a powerful tool in building trust and credibility with your audience.

In my experience, getting customers to provide a testimonial is a fantastic way to build trust in your business but it is also equally important to monitor the reviews that you have no control of such as reviews on your Google My Business page and respond to positive and negative comments accordingly and in a timely way. TrustPilot is also an important tool when gathering feedback and potential buyers may also seek out the feedback on this site before buying from a company.

Build a strong testimonial and referral-based growth strategy. How? SYSTEMIZE consistently asking for testimonials and referrals! 1) Ask right after the sale: - "Who else do you know might benefit from this?" - "Can we make a short video about WHY you bought?" That's when belief in your offer is at its highest! Works online/offline. 2) Stimulate it: -Give extra service/value in exchange for referrals/testimonials. -Offer additional rewards for successful referrals. 3) Didn't get a any of both upfront? Ask again once they've reaped the benefits of your offer. 4) Getting Reviews: Do you have a REAL strategy that’s more than a generic email? BONUS: When asked for discounts, offer testimonial/referral deals instead—make it a win-win.

Consider using testimonials to tell a broader story about your brand’s impact by weaving them into case studies, blog posts, or video features. Highlight a diverse range of customer experiences to appeal to various audience segments, and keep testimonials updated by regularly collecting feedback to showcase your brand’s continuous value.

In my experience, establishing and nurturing a robust user-generated content community involves the creation of dedicated online platforms or forums where customers can freely share their experiences. By encouraging peer interaction within these spaces and providing incentives, such as exclusive access to features or recognition programs, we aim to cultivate a dynamic and engaging environment. This approach not only fosters a sense of community but also empowers customers to contribute authentic testimonials, creating a valuable repository of diverse and relatable experiences that resonate with a broader audience.

I love automating as much of this as possible. For example, if you have an event, program a testimonial question, etc. This will make the process faster and easier.