Seven Suggestions for Where to Place Your Testimonials
Once you have obtained testimonials about your business from some of your best customers, you need to use them strategically in order to gain the most benefit. Here are 7 suggested ways you can use them to gain the maximum effect.
You can use testimonials in your business wherever your customers can see them. Here are some suggestions for placement:
Put them on your website.
· Create a page of your website dedicated to customer testimonials.
· Include testimonials on every page of your website - especially the pages that generate the highest traffic.
· Put your best testimonial in a prominent location on your homepage - in sidebars, call out boxes or above the headline - and put a new one up on a regular basis.
· Use testimonials to break up long bits of sales copy throughout your website.
Put your best 25 to 50 letters in a waiting room book.
· Keep a binder or album of testimonial letters, printed on source letterhead, for your prospects and customers to flip through.
· You can keep this binder in the waiting room, your office, your point of sale, your boardroom, or anywhere else you prospect may have an opportunity to look at it.
· This strategy allows customers to build trust while-they-wait, and usually results in prospects being more open to what you have to say.
Hang your best testimonials in your store or office.
· Frame your best testimonial letters (again, printed on letterhead) and hand them up in your business or your office. Hang several in a row for maximum impact.
· Even though your prospects may not read each and every one, the presence of testimonials will send the message that you have happy customers. They may even want their company names on the wall too.
Put them in your advertisments.
· Testimonials are highly effective in advertising. Use short, clear, purpose focused testimonials for the best results.
· Avoid cluttering up your ad with paragraphs of testimonial copy - save that for your website and brochures.
Put testimonials in your direct mail.
· Let the words of others speak for you when sending a direct mailing. Attach a page of testimonials to a direct mail letter, or include them on postcards or brochures.
· Since you can't physically be there to sell your product, the use of testimonials in direct mail campaigns can boost response rates.
Partner with a complementary company for a joint mailing.
· Send a joint mailing with a company that offers a product or service that is complementary to yours, and you'll gather a host of qualified leads.
· The way it works is you send a letter to your clients on your letterhead introducing and offering the other company's product or service, and they do the same for you. Since your existing customers already trust your business, and you endorse your partner company, the letter acts as a testimonial.
Use video testimonials on your website, in presentations and in store.
· Put videos of happy customers on your website for browsers to find when they're looking at your offering. Videos tend to be more interactive, and may be seen by more people than plain text.
· If you attend trade shows or sales presentations, keep video testimonials on a CD or DVD to play on a loop or in strategic points of your presentation.
· Transcribe the audio to written testimonials that can be used in your print collateral, and make the most of your customer's comments.
· In your marketing materials, invite customers to visit your website to view videos of other client's experiences and thoughts after using your product or service. It's always more interesting to see something live than read it on paper.
I work with small business owners in developing the marketing strategies and business development plans for their businesses which will enable them to significantly increase their revenue over the next 12 months. If you are interested in learning more, watch this video or schedule a complimentary phone strategy session with me.