8 different types of client testimonials
One of the oldest forms of advertising is “word of mouth”. It is the purest and probably the most honest advertisement. When a person likes a product or a service they share it with the world. In today’s world, this is known as a “client testimonial”.
Nowadays, users tend to trust more people similar to them as opposed to ads they see on the media. Actually, 72% of users won’t make the first step towards buying an unknown product or a service before having read a review.
The client testimonial is a kind of social proof that users need, to be convinced that they are making the right choice. In Catchfull we have social proof popups that can help increase your conversion rate. Subscribe today and get a 3-month free trial of our product!
If you are here, probably you have an e-commerce website and you are selling your product or service there. We recommend you have a testimonial page or section where people can see what other people think of your company. Here are some good examples of customer testimonials that you can include on your page.
- Quotes
A quote from a satisfied client is one of the best types of testimonials that you can obtain. It is a natural advertisement for your company. No matter how you want to position your company in the marketing world people will have their own way of using your product or service and they will find the pros and cons according to their lifestyle.
Be sure to use those customers on your website and make their voice be heard. People tend to trust more other users that are like-minded than a person who is paid to say good things about your company. Quotes from happy customers can be a really powerful tool and can help your marketing strategy.
- A visual testimony
As they say “an image is worth a thousand words”. Speaking of client testimonials this means that if you include a picture or a video in the review it becomes more trustworthy. A picture of the person making the review can make the testimonial more true and closer to the users reading it. If a potential customer sees a person resembling them in some way, being pleased with your product, it is more likely they trust the testimonial itself.
A stronger visualisation of a client’s satisfaction is the video format. Video testimonials are more authentic and therefore more trustworthy. If you have satisfied clients that are willing to leave you a video review do not hesitate to get it and to put it in a visible place on your website. This can also be a big part of your content marketing strategy – share your user-generated content on your social media to build a strong bond with your new fans.
- Social media testimonials
Nowadays, people use social media for everything. From connecting to their loved ones, through work to communicating with brands.
A study made by socialmediatoday states that nearly 70% of customers said that they used social media for customer service at least once. And often, afterwards, they post about their experience with the brand. It is really easy for people to take their phones out and share their opinion with the world. Be sure to have good customer service support on your channels – in messages and posts, and to gather your positive reviews in one place.
Ask your users if they are okay to use their reviews on your website and other channels. On social media, people tend to be more honest and express their true feelings. When they are positive and emotional, make sure to engage with them and share this content on your channels.
- Customer reviews
Some users do not give their opinion about a product if they are not specifically asked to do so. Put a quick survey on your website or send an email after a purchase to see what people really think of your business. This approach is not only good for collecting positive reviews, it can show you what your business lacks and where you can improve.
Treat your clients’ feedback as a way to get to know them better and to provide them with a better product or a service next time. Later on, you can use your good online reviews on your website for strengthening the trust of your current and potential clients.
The simplest way to get a customer review is to have a rating system that prompts after the user has completed a purchase. You can also include a text-based form where people can express their opinion about your product freely.
- Famous faces
People tend to trust people they know – in terms of the Internet this means celebrities. Nowadays, anyone can become a celebrity – from an actor, through a person in a cooking show to an influencer. If you have contact with such a person or know that an influencer likes your brand, do not hesitate to engage with them.
If they already said something about you – like and share their post. People become celebrities when other people share their content. This is a win-win situation. You show the world someone important supports your brand and the person gets recognition.
If you know of an influencer that likes or even loves your brand but has not yet said something, get in touch with them. Write to them, ask them to leave you a review or just offer a collaboration. If they are already a fan, it can be really easy to establish a long-term partnership. People will trust the choice of celebrities they admire.
- Blog post
If your product has a lot of features a blog post can be the perfect way to describe them all. There are different approaches for a blog post that can help your brand grow.
The first one is a traditional blog post on your website where the company copywriter writes a piece of content about your product. They describe in detail all the features and throw in a few use cases which the buyers can relate to. This is considered more of an advertisement than a testimonial.
If you want the article to sound less biased hire a guest writer who can share their honest opinion about your product or service. You can feature this post on your website or in other blogs that are famous in your industry.
The third kind of blog post is the review. You can offer to a writer who is influential in your industry to work together as partners. You can also just send them your product or encourage them to use your service and ask them to write a review.
- Case study
This format is more difficult to craft but can be really beneficial for your business. When preparing a case study, you track the changes in a user’s life before and after using your product or service. You can use this testimonial in B2B communication and show how a company changed after starting doing business with you.
With this testimonial you do not need a lot of case studies, you need a few quality ones. If you have different target audiences, make sure to speak to as many of them with different stories in your cases.
- Vloggers
This category of user testimonials combines a few of the already mentioned. This is video content made by famous people in certain industries hosted on their own channels.
Nowadays there are many vloggers in different areas. They have an audience that trusts them and watches their videos before making a purchase. Those vloggers can be a really strong weapon in your marketing strategy.
Find the best ones in your field, connect with them and send them your product for a review. You would be surprised by the impact they can have on your audience.
Here’s a pro tip about those collaborations: give the vloggers a unique code that they can share with their viewers to get a discount on your product or service. That way you can track exactly how many people learned about your company from this exact vlogger.
In conclusion
Client testimonials are a powerful tool that you should use wisely on your home page. They can really influence the purchasing decisions of your prospective clients. If your product is still in development make sure to obtain reviews only from your happy customers. Later on, when your product is proven you can be bold enough to ask different review sites in your industry to write about your product.
You can implement social proof popups on your website asking people to leave a review on your website after using your service or making a purchase. It can be as simple as a star-based evaluation system! Catchfull will be your partner in collecting your customers’ reviews. Subscribe today and get a 3-month free trial of our product!