The Ultimate Guide to Client Testimonials

When looking to service a specific need or want, consumers want to find a brand they can trust. One of the best indicators of a trustworthy brand is whether or not other consumers place their trust in it. It’s why we may ask our friends and family where they regularly shop or read through product reviews before making a purchase.

We are more likely to connect with other consumers than to connect with a faceless brand, and that concept is what makes it so important to use social proof to build your brand. Social proof marketing involves proving your brand’s trustworthiness by carefully curating your review spaces, testimonials, social media channels, partnerships, endorsements, and other examples of your success.

When it comes to methods of social proof, testimonials, and endorsements are some of the easiest to curate. Through testimonials, you are able to target key relationships and happy customers to showcase their positive responses to your brand. Additionally, testimonials are not privy to the same risk of negative feedback that review sites or social media channels face. So, how do you get started curating and showcasing testimonials? Let’s break it down.

Person holding out hands with virtual customer review cards floating above, symbolizing the gathering of client testimonials.

How Using Testimonials in Marketing Can Boost Sales

The first benefit of testimonials is that they build credibility and trust with your brand. Building trust with your customers helps them feel more confident about their purchasing decisions and makes it easier to build long-lasting relationships with them.

Additionally, testimonials allow you to be the first one to reassure site customers of the quality of your product or service, so they don’t feel the need to check external site reviews. Testimonials also give a more personal feel to claims about your business.

How to Get Testimonials from Clients

One of the easiest ways to get testimonials from happy customers is to simply ask. If you are able to identify satisfied customers, especially repeat customers, you can encourage them to share their experiences with others. This can be done through a variety of channels and methods, which we’ll discuss in the next section.

Some simple ways to get testimonials from satisfied customers include the following:

  • Ask for reviews in your email newsletter, with links to a testimonial form or your social media/review platforms
  • Distribute surveys by email or by hand after a completed purchase
  • Make a post on your social media asking for your community to contribute reviews
  • Add banners in your storefront or on your website to remind customers to leave a review

How to Ask for Client Testimonials

We all have busy lives, and we get tons of marketing emails every day asking us to make purchases, support causes, and spend time on business websites. In short, your clients need a good reason to spend their time writing a review for your business. This is why some businesses offer incentives for reviews. Although this can be a great method to encourage customers to fill out internal surveys or submit testimonials directly to your website, many external review sites don’t allow giving incentives to get customers to submit reviews. Make sure you understand what is and isn’t allowed for your unique situation.

Additionally, ensure your testimonial request form or call to action highlights how reviews help improve or support your business. If your customer loves the products or services you provide, they are likely to want to contribute to the success of your business. This also means they’re more likely to set aside time to write a review.

How to Make a Client Testimonial Template

Once you have a solid collection of testimonials ready to display, the next step is to choose the ones that work best for your brand and find a way to feature them on your site. After all, why get positive reviews if you don’t show them to potential customers to persuade them?

Let’s break down what makes a good testimonial display:

The best testimonials to feature on your site should serve a specific purpose, such as the following:

  • Showcasing the target audience for your product or service
  • Showing what sets your product or service apart from competitors
  • Addressing a common concern or doubt about the product or service
  • Describing the advantages of your product or service
  • Demonstrating how the product or service led to a special experience

Once you have selected the best testimonials to showcase, it’s important to determine how you will display them.

Reviewing Client Testimonial Examples

One of the best ways to get ideas for how to display your testimonials is to look at how leaders in your industry are displaying their testimonials. Of course, you should never copy a design, but finding inspiration from other designs can lead to a successful one of your own. Below are some examples of types of testimonials that look great on a website:

Direct quotes

Direct quotes are simple, easy to implement, and quick for your site visitors to skim and absorb. These quotes should be concise, clear, and powerful.

Videos

Not every business is able to request and receive video testimonials from clients, but if you are able to get videos from your satisfied customers, all the better. The video format may encourage your clients to share stories that will connect with potential customers in a way the written word might not.

Issue resolution stories

These can have a huge impact on site visitors, but they are a bit trickier to obtain. When sourcing your testimonials, make sure you ask your client to share what problem they had that your product or service was able to fix, and how they felt about the solution.

Examples of Client Testimonials

Client testimonials can be used utilized in a variety of formats to drive marketing initiatives and boost brand engagement.

Here’s an example of a client testimonial from Nordson Corporation. We (Americaneagle.com) use this testimonial in PowerPoint presentations and across our website and other marketing and sales materials.

Nordson Testimonial Example

 

Here’s another example from Burn the Boats Productions for its client, DuroGreen. The client’s testimonial is in the form of an online video that can then be shared across website landing pages and social media channels.

Lastly, another type of client testimonial that’s great for marketing is company reviews left on Google and Google Business Profiles. The below review was left on Americaneagle.com’s Google profile by a customer. These types of reviews are great because it’s visible to other people are searching for a similar product or service from your business. 

 

Google Business Review

 

Boost Your Sales with Digital Marketing

Testimonials are just one component of a successful marketing campaign. From building a strong foundation of social proof to capitalizing on existing customers and getting your site in front of new customers, a powerful digital marketing campaign involves a lot of moving parts. Thankfully, the experts at Americaneagle.com are here to help. As an online agency that provides a variety of web design and digital marketing services, our team members work to meet your business’s unique needs to help you excel.

Contact us to get started.

About the Author

staff at americaneagle.com

Americaneagle.com
Staff

Americaneagle.com has a dedicated team of strategists, technologists, and content writers to help you stay up to date with the latest and greatest trends in the technology industry. We cover a wide variety of topics on a regular basis, some of which include website design, website development, digital marketing services, ecommerce, accessibility, website hosting and security, and so much more. Educating our clients, prospects, and readers is very important to us and we appreciate the opportunity to be an authoritative voice in the industry.
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