The Importance of Testimonials for a Business: How Much Do they Matter?
A testimonial encompasses the happy ending of a successful customer journey. In fact, according to a survey, among all the content that comes under content marketing, the highest effectiveness percentage is of testimonials at 89%.
This just goes on to prove how much of an impact testimonials have on people and therefore, they have so much potential. You need to make the optimal use of them to further your reach and make your potential believe in your products and/or services, and by extension, your company.
What are Testimonials?
Testimonials are the written or video records of statements that lend an air of not just credibility but also prove as a testament to the level of expertise. They can act as great catalysts to bring more attention to your products and services.
Difference between a Review and a Testimonial
The defining difference between a testimonial and a review is that the former always shows the positive side while the latter can be positive or negative. So essentially testimonials show you the good side of the product or service that you’re trying to sell.
On the other hand, a review can go either way. It can beautifully describe a product but at the same time, another customer could write a scathing review and take away the impact left by say, five good reviews.
Reasons behind the Importance of Testimonials
The primary reasons why testimonials are important for your business have been given below:
Build trust and credibility
Your reputation is what matters, it is what helps you in making sales and generating more income. Just imagine, if a company shows no product reviews or testimonials and another one has four to five to whatever number of glowing testimonials, which one will you go for?
The answer is pretty obvious. You need to convince your potential customers that the money they invest in you, will not go in vain. That they will benefit from it. This is why you need to build trust and credibility.
Provide social proof
Word-of-mouth or celebrity endorsements or even just seeing some ad again and again can convince you to buy something because subconsciously you believe that it is a good or it might be a good product.
All of these are the social proofs required to give a business some identity or acknowledgment that customers need before they can make a purchase or even consider making one. A study has shown that 95% of people believe that product reviews – be it positive or negative – play a role in their purchase decision-making process.
Increase conversions
More than 50% of customers, who attentively read or see some testimonial, successfully convert and there have been observations that show more than 50 reviews can increase these conversion rates by 4.6%. This is the power of reviews and testimonials.
To get those testimonials that can help you in increasing your conversion rates, all you need to do is make sure to send follow-up emails, and remember to ask customers to review your local business and this can immediately lead to an increase in the number of product reviews or testimonials.
Establish a brand’s reputation
At the end of the day, quality marketing is all about good storytelling or putting out content that will help in persuading people to buy your products or services. As human beings, we automatically gravitate to things that incite empathy and a sense of curiosity.
Therefore, with the help of testimonials, you can work on establishing a human interest angle with which your potential customers can relate and understand. This is why each year so much money is invested by major brands in advertising – to propagate a story that helps them in selling their products.
Improve transparency
Overcoming challenges, correcting previous wrongs, and the journey of a product can be effectively relayed to the people with the help of testimonials. Especially, if the testimonial in question is in the video format.
This is because people like consuming videographic content more as it is easier to comprehend and also more aesthetic. According to a survey, people like to know about a new product or service from authentic users with the help of short videos as they find it more genuine.
How should Testimonials be Used?
There are a number of ways in which they can be effectively used, because testimonials in marketing are pretty integral, and they have been given below:
On websites
The homepage of your website is the first impression that your potential customers will have of you. Therefore it becomes more vital to make sure that it is not just worth their time but is also convincing enough to make them come back for more.
You can’t be modest here or shy away from posting all those glowing testimonials that you have been receiving. Display them proudly and ensure that the voices of your previous customers are heard. Remember, a visitor will only spend so much time on your website. Make every second count.
On social media
Social media demands social proof. Since each day these various social media platforms get so much traffic, you need to tap into that effectively. This can be done by showcasing content that responds to the pain points of your potential customers.
You can use social media itself to identify these pain points and get to know your customers as well as you can, what they like, don’t like, what are their recurring problems with similar products and services and so on.
You can run ad campaigns on social media and post videos and written testimonials of your satisfied customers, taking the help of testimonial examples for better effect. Convince them to the best of your abilities.
On product pages
Last but definitely not the least. Arguably the most important space to broadcast the amazing testimonials that your customers have provided. This page is what will turn a lead into a customer because it is the last step.
If you have managed to get your potential customers to this point, you need to make sure to tip the scales fully in your favor and this can be done brilliantly with the help of testimonials. Always remember – well-placed testimonials or product reviews can make all the difference.
Some other ways in which testimonials can be included in content is by incorporating them in email campaigns, sales pitches, videos, and even creating a page dedicated solely to testimonials.
Conclusion
Hopefully, by now you have successfully understood the importance of testimonials for your business. They can be just what your business needs to build that trust with your potential customers, credibility, and give a sense of identity to all that you sell.
Ensure that you use them tactfully and in a way that helps in organically convincing your customers, but don’t flood them with unnecessary content. Make every testimonial count.
Want to read more such content? Check out our Blog section. Also please check our Digital Marketing Course and take your first step towards becoming a Digital Marketer.
Join our Full Time Digital Marketing Course with Placement Assurance.