The Importance of Testimonials for Your Business

Reputation Management
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Testimonials are an extremely important part of the success of your business. On your relationship-building journey, which is lined with credibility and expertise, testimonials from loyal customers are a critical part of the presence of your business.

What is a testimonial?

Testimonials are written or recorded statements that support your credibility and level of expertise. They also strengthen your reputation by expressing the trust that other people have in you and your business offerings. They are a wonderful tool that helps you to attract a deeper interest from perspective clients and existing clients and will ultimately make you and your business increasingly more successful.

Why are testimonials so important?

When it comes to all businesses (large and small), the success of the business depends heavily on word of mouth. Testimonials are formal forms of expression that support that concept. They are extremely powerful tools when it comes to strengthening your branding. Testimonials strengthen the credibility of you and your business and as you know, people will not do business with you if they don’t trust you and find you to be credible. You will be surprised at how many valuable testimonials you will be able to collect, not just by asking your business connections for them directly but also through discussions that have been generated from your blog postings and other online discussions that have occurred as a result of your online presence.

How to use testimonials most effectively

  • Which ones to use: Any time you have a positive interaction with a business associate and they express an interest in any of your business offerings, it is a good opportunity to ask them for a testimonial. If you have given them a free Ebook, ask them for their opinion on the book and if it is positive, subsequently ask them for a testimonial. If you have gone above and beyond for one of your potential customers or existing customers, ask them for a testimonial afterwards. Testimonials are not only about selling your products and/or services. They are also about your successful, positive interactions with other people. They are the embodiment of the relationship that you share with those people.
     
  • Verifying if they are sincere: If at all possible, try to verify that the testimonial that you have received from your business associate was actually written by him or her. You should be able to tell fairly easily if the testimonial did not come from that person.
     
  • Where to place them: There are many opportune places where you can put your testimonials. You can put them on your blog, website, brochures, sales pages, press releases, direct mail letters, etc. You should make full use of your social media channels to spread the word regarding your testimonials. As soon as you receive a new testimonial, make sure to share it with as many people as possible in as many places as possible. That will serve a double purpose. First of all, it will strengthen your reputation and presence online and second of all, it will serve as a thank you to the person who was nice enough to take the time to write the testimonial for you.
     
  • Written and video: It is great if you are able to obtain both written and video testimonials. Both media are effective and work in different ways. Video touches people visually and emotionally and written testimonials touch people emotionally and mentally. It is also good from a convenience perspective. There are many people who prefer written or video testimonials, depending on how busy they are and how important convenience is to them.
     
  • Who should write testimonials: It doesn’t need to come from a customer of yours necessarily. Testimonials can come from several different people. As stated earlier, they are not necessarily connected to selling. They are absolutely connected to your relationships with your business connections and your positive interactions with them.

Conclusion

Credibility is essential to the success of your business. Strategic and intelligent use of testimonials can go a long way in promoting your business. The more online visibility and stronger reputation you have and continue to maintain, the stronger your business will become.

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Author

  • Michael Cohn

    Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has decades of experience in IT and web technologies. Michael founded CompuKol Communications to help small businesses and entrepreneurs increase their visibility and reputation. CompuKol consults, creates, and implements communication strategies for small businesses to monopolize their markets with a unique business voice, vision, and visibility. Mr. Cohn earned a Master’s degree in project management from George Washington University in Washington, DC; and a Master’s degree in computer science and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.

8 Responses

  1. Kevin Jacobs says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: eMarketing Association Network
    Discussion: The Importance of Testimonials for Your Business

    Very good point Michael. I make a point of asking for written tesimonial from all my clients and it serves as a great motivation to improve om my services and is also a great marketing tool.
    Posted by Kevin Jacobs

  2. Neil Donovan says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: B2B Marketing
    Discussion: The Importance of Testimonials for Your Business

    Great article Michael – We took this one step further last year and filmed our clients giving testimonials it is proving very powerful and really helps the sales process.

    Thanks
    Neil
    Posted by Neil Donovan

  3. David Wenner says:

    Michael,  You raise some good points.  I would like to add that beyond the obvious valse of a testimonial as a public relations and sales tool, testimonials can also be used as great input to SEO efforts, if used correctly.  We have been doing this for some time with our customers and it has shown some very nice results.
    David Wenner

  4. Iain Lovatt says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: B2B Marketing
    Discussion: The Importance of Testimonials for Your Business

    I agree and have done the same over the last six weeks and will be proud to show our prospects what our customers say about us. It is the best way to get that message across that we are as good as our clients think we are. It is not what we think about ourselves but what others say about us that matters. See more about this later..
    Posted by Iain Lovatt

  5. Prashant Lodaya says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: B2B Marketing
    Discussion: The Importance of Testimonials for Your Business

    Nice post Michael – absolutely agree. Testimonials are as important as any form of communication to your prospects.

    Video as a medium of communication does offer more eyes to what you have to offer. Testimonail video is one form of engagement for your audience.Considering, the average attention span of a web user today is measured in seconds. Online Video does the trick here as against any from of text.

    According to a research by Marketing Sherpa, customer reviews are perceived as the most trustworthy, while video testimonials are a close second. Why? Because the customer is visible, adding a layer of veracity that text alone doesn’t provide.

    We have worked with a number of clients like Kellogg's, Aurum holding group producing high quality video communications from pre-production concepts and storyboarding to scripting, casting, music composition and voice-over. They have all demanded some form of testimonial video for their companies.

    All the best

    Prashant
     
    Posted by Prashant Lodaya

  6. Tony Coll says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: B2B Marketing
    Discussion: The Importance of Testimonials for Your Business

    Testimonials work, and video testimonials work even better, because they are the next best thing to a human, word-of-mouth recommendation. 
    Posted by Tony Coll

  7. John Ferrughelli says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: Bergen Area Networking Group
    Discussion: The Importance of Testimonials for Your Business

    I have a hard time doing business with a company when I can't verify them through references or reviews online.
    Posted by John Ferrughelli

  8. Vic says:

    Testimonials are great evidences that we are doing good in our business. However, it must be noted that they are achieved through consistent dedication to serve and meet the needs of our consumers or users. Thus, even if we already have loyal customers, we should not forget to still take care and maintain them.