Customer testimonials are powerful marketing tools that can boost your credibility, trust, and conversions. They showcase how your product or service has helped your customers solve their problems, achieve their goals, or improve their lives. But how do you collect and use customer testimonials for your marketing strategy? Here are some tips to help you get started.
The first step is to identify the customers who are most likely to give you positive and authentic feedback. You can use criteria such as how long they have been using your product or service, how satisfied they are with it, how often they interact with your brand, or how influential they are in your industry or niche. You can also segment your customers based on their personas, pain points, or use cases, and tailor your testimonial requests accordingly.
One way we identify customers for valuable feedback / UGC is by vetting their social profiles. If they have a decent following and a history of content that aligns with our industry they can be a great fit for sharing their experiences with our products.
The next step is to reach out to your chosen customers and ask for their permission and feedback. You can use different channels, such as email, phone, social media, or surveys, to invite them to share their experiences and opinions. You should explain why you value their input, how you plan to use their testimonials, and what benefits they can get from participating. You should also make it easy and convenient for them to respond, by providing clear instructions, guidelines, and incentives.
For example, I reached out to clients who had referred two or more people to me and asked them to post a testimonial on my Facebook page. Each client that participated was given half off their next service. Because they had been satisfied with my service enough to refer their friends and family, they had no reservations in participating.
I can't stress enough how important accessibility is here. How many times have you been asked to complete a survey, only to find that you have to jump through hoops? Aren't you doing their business a favor? That's a great way to immediately disqualify willing participants. Incentivizing is another great way to accomplish this!
The third step is to collect different types of testimonials that can appeal to different audiences and formats. You can use text, video, audio, or images to capture your customers' stories, emotions, and results. You can also use different formats, such as quotes, case studies, reviews, ratings, or social proof, to highlight different aspects of your product or service. You should aim to collect testimonials that are specific, relevant, credible, and engaging.
YES! Create these with intention and purpose! You don't want bad information just because they are checking a box to progress to the next item.
Collecting differnt types of testimonials can also help you understand the jobs types of customers value. That can offer insight into thesegmentation and strategy oportunities you have.
Yes, I feel like a good constructive criticism is always needed to advance, so I think this is the most importance for me in my business, I’m just starting school for graphic design and all that but I do do and I’m in navigator I am I have a couple trades and passions but feedback I’ve learned you know good and bad helps you become a better entrepreneur associate at the job at hand in general
The fourth step is to showcase your testimonials on various platforms and channels where your potential customers can see them. You can use your website, landing pages, blog, social media, email, or ads to display your testimonials strategically. You should align your testimonials with your marketing goals, messages, and offers, and use them to support your value proposition, address objections, or inspire action. You should also test and optimize your testimonials to improve their performance and impact.
Once we have collected feedback/UGC from our customers we incorporate it into our marketing strategy. Customers love this because they get their moment in the spotlight and it’s very effective for potential buyers to see real people engaging with our product.
I like the idea of gaining permission from the customer to use their testimonial. I agree that they love their 5 minutes of fame. If their business values are aligned with your own, it could be viewed as free publicity for them as well.
The final step is to update and refresh your testimonials regularly to keep them fresh and relevant. You should monitor and measure the results of your testimonials, and use feedback and analytics to identify what works and what doesn't. You should also seek new testimonials from your existing or new customers, and replace or remove outdated or ineffective ones. You should aim to maintain a steady flow of testimonials that reflect your current product or service quality, features, and benefits.
Pay attention to reviews and feedback that are NOT being facilitated by your business. Be prepared to address comments, and don't be dismissive of negative feedback. Be as transparent as possible, and if you are able, engage the customer and include them in Q&A that is more personal to their service.
In our view, customer generated content has real value, and we pass some of that along to the customer. Since we don’t have the costs associated with producing content in-house we can share what we would have spent producing it with our customers. By incentivizing them with cash we get a higher response rate. You don’t need expensive software or an agency to do this. Just set up an agreement on your website and add information in your product packaging. Customers will self select and reach out to you. Use Google docs or similar to sign the agreement. We generally pay only after the content has been delivered to us. Then we take it and run ad spend behind it.