When you undertake an ad campaign, you want to raise brand awareness and reputation to attract new leads and generate conversions. Customer stories are one of the most effective marketing tactics you can use to achieve these goals. Several studies have found that testimonials carry much weight as a type of “word of mouth (WOM)” marketing. In one such study, 35,000 consumers were interviewed, with nearly two-thirds saying they “totally or partially believe the recommendations of friends and family” and 64% saying they respect online opinions. Another survey of over 2200 people found that over 90% of consumers trust online reviews to “judge the quality of a local business.”
You must work on getting testimonials if you want to enhance clicks and conversions on your website. How can you get consumer testimonials? Your request. However, this will only work if your service or product meets or exceeds your consumers’ expectations.
Why are Customer Stories Useful for Businesses?
Customer Stories can help you grow your business in the following ways:
1. Increase Business Reputation
It would help best if you did not assume that buyers would believe in your items simply because you do or because you urge them to. Customers will have several uncertainties regarding your items or services, despite your many guarantees, such as:
- I don’t want to take advantage of it. What if this product does not perform as expected?
- I’ll only test this product if others rave about it. Do other companies recommend this brand?
- I need confirmation that this is going to fix my problems. Is my money going to be well spent?
You may address each of the three problems stated above using testimonies.
Social evidence is provided through testimonials. They are credible because consumers speak positively about your brand, unlike a sales representative who is paid to say positive things about your business. After all, they have firsthand experience with it. In most cases, potential purchasers do not even need to know the person submitting the testimonial to trust what they say. It should be noted. However, paid testimonials do not function. An astute consumer will see right through them and alert others.
Customer stories provide social proof. They are credible because consumers say positive things about your brand, unlike a sales agent who is paid to say positive things about your business. After all, they have firsthand experience with it. Typically, potential customers do not even need to know the person writing the testimonial to trust what they are saying. However, paid testimonials do not function. A wise consumer will see right through them and alert others.
3. Leverage the Power of Storytelling to Attract Audiences
Though it may not appear so, each testimonial is a tale about a buyer (the hero) on a search to solve a problem and who ultimately discovers a solution after coming to your company. According to research, we are genetically built to think in terms of tales. Therefore, brands that tap into this human nature use their message to draw consumers into a storey, and as a result, their campaigns are more successful.
A tale that concludes with clients eventually finding happiness when they turn to you goes a long way toward convincing new leads to pay more attention to what you have to offer.
4. Increases Client Loyalty
You’ve undoubtedly bought and utilised a product or service that exceeded your expectations. You were most likely so happy that you sent an email to the corporation thanking them for such and such. “Can we put your wonderful compliments on our website?” they inquired. What’s intriguing is that you were delighted and grateful that they wanted to put your message on their website! You felt a solid connection to the brand.
High levels of interaction with a brand generate an instant relationship, and the connection creates loyalty. Loyal clients will suggest others, and if you continue to please them, they will “give you some slack” when things go wrong. This is why you should view every transaction and engagement as a chance to show your appreciation to your consumers. You will elicit testimonials from them naturally if you do so.
Writing a referral compels the writer to pay attention to what they are saying and eliminates any mental roadblocks that may arise later on. Furthermore, when you have a thorough understanding of a product’s details, you become a trusted authority for family, friends, coworkers, and others. The same is true for your clients. Finally, writing a testimonial allows people to say what they think about your brand, so they already have the information when questioned.
5. Using Natural Language to Connect
Corporate messaging are often carefully constructed for a reason: brands must be viewed as impartial. As a result, while corporate communications help convey information and educate your audience, they fall short of establishing genuine connections.
The testimonials are written in standard terms. However, testimonials have a more significant impact on people since they are not carefully manufactured. Furthermore, they add a personal touch to your website by breaking the formality of the rest of your content.
6. Room for Improvement (and Grow)
Not every piece of feedback will be favourable. While it is natural to be concerned by negative feedback, you should not ignore or conceal it. You can get the following results by accepting negative feedback:
- Learn from the criticism about your flaws and apply the information to enhance your product or service.
- Take advantage of it. Consider the following reaction to an unfavourable review:
Dear *Robert,
Grateful for your feedback. I apologise for not meeting your expectations with our product. I will investigate this matter as soon as possible and get back to you within 24 hours.
Thank you very much, *Alexia.
This response allows you to save the situation by doing the following:
Putting a face to your business. Take note of the usage of “I.” It demonstrates that a person is working with the problem. In addition, signing off using a person’s name, rather than an impersonal sign off like “from the customer service team,” gives the complainant confidence.
You will get the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to maintain your promise. In addition, by providing a period (24 hours), you give the buyer another criterion to assess you.
You will have the chance to provide excellent customer service. The commitment to “look into it” is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate your level of customer service. According to 2020 research, effective customer service determines how customers engage with a business, including recommendations and future purchases.
7. Increasing Employee Loyalty
Requesting compliments from consumers is an excellent method to demonstrate to your customers that you value them.
- You appreciate the time and work your staff has put in.
- You recognise that your brand’s success is the product of a collaborative effort, not just your own.
As a result, when employees feel valued, they become even more involved in your success. Employee appreciation also reduces turnover and attracts top talent.
8. Shareability
Social media is not only a terrific tool for social listening, but it is also one of the finest platforms for gaining attention for your company. While it may be tempting to make sales pitches on social media, testimonials are more easily shared. Your admirers will share your testimonies with their followers, who will then share with their followers, and so on. Thus, word of mouth is quite effective. Furthermore, if you add your website link in your postings, you will receive many visits without making a sales pitch.
9. Testimonials Outperform Analyst Reports in Important
Third-party analysts are some of the most respected authorities in the internet world. Therefore, their thoughts on your brand might have an impact on how others perceive it. Furthermore, due to their big following, asking third-party experts to assess your product or service might provide you with much attention.
However, as significant as analyst reports are, research suggests that customer testimonials are a more successful marketing material since they represent the “customers’ voice.” In addition, 97% of B2B buyers believe that user-generated material is more reputable.
10. Persuade Purchase Decisions
Customer testimonials influence both business-to-business and business-to-consumer purchasing choices. Moreover, there is a lot of research to back up this claim, as seen by the instances below:
95% of internet shoppers check reviews before making a purchase, especially for higher-priced items or services. Reviews can boost conversion by up to 190% for lower-priced products and 380% for higher-priced items. (From the Spiegel Research Center)
An internet review influenced 88% of purchasers’ purchasing decisions (Zendesk).
Customers spend 31% more at businesses that have outstanding testimonials. (Invespcro)
11. Greater Click-Through Rates (CTR)
Brightlocal ran a study on 6,283 consumers in 2016 to see how reviews influenced click through ratings. They discovered that listings with 5-star ratings received more clicks than those with 4- or 3-star ratings. Surprisingly, listings with a 1-star or 2-star rating received fewer hits than listings with no rating.
According to this survey, firms with positive evaluations receive more leads. A poor or negative review, on the other hand, indicates that a company has a terrible image and has a negative influence on lead creation.
13. Case studies and most other vendor resources generate fewer leads than reviews.
Case studies are the most popular types of B2B marketing content. Despite this, a 2018 B2B Buyer disconnect report by Trust Radius regarded customer reviews as a more authentic and impartial source of knowledge than case studies. According to the respondents, reviews are more personable, simpler to read and digest, unbiased, and depict real-life experiences. In addition, testimonials capture the benefits and drawbacks and either support or refute a vendor’s claims.
14. Make Use of Video Marketing
Video testimonials are an excellent technique to increase social proof. In terms of content, video is at the top of the food chain in terms of ease of consumption, entertainment value, and improving consumer trust.
When individuals record themselves discussing your products or services, they become the “face of your company.” They are also putting their reputation on the line, which creates trust because not many people would do that for a brand they do not own.
Also, video is a prominent type of material. According to Cisco research, video content will account for 82% of internet traffic by 2021. As a result, integrating video testimonials into your content strategy will almost certainly enhance your traffic.
15. Appearing in Search Results with Better Ranking
We said earlier in the piece that businesses with higher ratings receive more clicks. For that to happen, you must first appear in search rankings. Google collects review ratings from credible review sites and decides which companies to return in search rankings when users enter a search query.
Whether you haven’t gathered client testimonials in a while, you should check if they are still current. Because asking clients for a testimonial is unpleasant, most businesses forget to update their testimonials. However, you should be aware that search engines favour websites that are often updated.
Implementing Google Customer Reviews is a simple approach to encourage clients to provide reviews after purchasing from you. It also qualifies you for a Google Customer Survey badge to show on your website.
Wrapping Up
As you can see, the value of client testimonials for b2b and b2c businesses of all sizes cannot be overstated. Whether you run a little business or a multinational brand, your customers will be more likely to believe the word of other customers.
As previously said, by increasing involvement and engaging in proactive issue solutions, you may convert even negative evaluations into positives. If feasible, request that your reviewers provide a photo of themselves and personal information such as their name, firm, designation, and so on.
Suppose you are overwhelmed by the process and don’t know where to begin. In that case, you may contact a lead generating firm to examine testimonial format samples that can assist you in collecting vital information such as:
- How does your product work?
- The advantages for their business
- Customer service delivery level