Marketing

Can I Get A Witness?! Why Testimonials Are Essential to Your Marketing Plan

Do you include customer testimonials on your website?

If not, you are missing out on a big — FREE — marketing opportunity for your business or organization. Good customer service leads to referrals and leads, but not all businesses understand how important it is to capture customer’s raves and great reviews. Other businesses may be too new for testimonials or unsure how to ask loyal customers for public endorsements.

In a court of law, first-hand witness testimony is as rock solid as Lebron’s slam dunk. And in the court of public opinion, what people are saying about your brand matters more than what you are saying about your brand. Here’s why:

Customer testimonials are unbiased and establish your credibility

Unlike brand ambassadors who are typically hired and compensated for their endorsement…

a customer testimonial is a spontaneous and unscripted account of how your product or service helped your customer become a hero

Customer testimonials backup the claims of your marketing copy and compel potential customers to believe that you practice what you preach. Customer testimonials are peer-to-peer influence marketing. Your leads will know you’re legit when others testify that you are, and testimonials hold more weight than your perfectly polished website content.

Customer testimonials build trust

This is one of the more powerful aspects of word-of-mouth marketing. There is always the character in the story who says “I’ve got a guy for that.” Need a plumber? I’ve got a guy. Need a tune-up? I’ve got a guy. Need a website? We’ve definitely got a guy for that 😉 A positive personal experience with your brand can satisfy a customer so much that they tell anyone who’ll listen and even go as far as insist that their close friends and loved ones choose you over the competitor because they trust you.

Customer testimonials shine a light on benefits

As we have said before, features are a part of your brand identity, what your brand is or what it has (this dual suspension four wheel drive) while benefits are what your brand does for the customer (keeps your family safe on the road). Customer testimonials are a great way for future customers to understand the benefits of your product or service coming from the experience of a satisfied customer. Admittedly, this hold more sway than the eloquent words and designs of your marketing team.

Customer testimonials cast vision for the hero’s journey

Effective content marketing puts your customer at the center of the story. The lead in your sales funnel needs to see themselves as the hero and your brand as the tool that equips them to save the day (benefits!). Reading the stories of other “heroes” you’ve served goes a long way to convince curious leads to buy-in and become loyal customers.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a school offering specialized distance-learning courses or a financial services firm planning estates and managing major life changes for individuals and their families, there are always stories to tell about how you helped your customer save the day. Find those stories and invite your customers to tell them for you on your website and social media channels. There are many ways to do this right (and wrong) and we will dive into the tactics over the next few blog posts. Stay tuned!

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