Sales testimonials, how to inspire your potential customer

Testimonials are great allies in a Digital Marketing strategy. Through them it is much easier to convince a user to become a customer, after all they are one of the ways to guarantee social proof, that is, that your product or service has already been consumed by other customers and obtained a satisfactory result.

And this social proof works for a reason. Despite all the practicality of online purchasing, users still prefer to communicate with other people, have a real understanding of the quality of the product or service and, thus, have more security when purchasing.

As social proof, the testimonial is one of the models with the best results, if not the greatest, however using it depends on several factors and the wrong use of it can turn business opportunities into headaches. Let’s learn a little more about how to use testimonials in a Digital Marketing campaign.

Collection of testimonials

One of the most important tasks when using testimonials in a campaign is to collect them correctly. Under no circumstances use artificially created testimonials that cannot be linked to a real person, this greatly reduces the effectiveness of their use.

The best way to collect testimonials and directly ask your authentic customers who are satisfied with your products and services. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as survey, email, feedback forms, social media or direct interactions with customers.

Selection of the most important testimonials

After carrying out this collection, it is important to select the best ones. Choose testimonials that are relevant and best represent the customer’s overall experience. Therefore, choose testimonials that are emotional, as detailed as possible and that show the tangible benefits of your products or services

Use varied testimonials

From this initial filtering, another good practice is to choose testimonials from different demographic segments or even market niches. This way you can vary the range of people who can identify with your audience through the stories and experiences narrated.

Include visual elements

Humans are a visual species and the cliché that a picture is worth a thousand words exists for a reason. When you can, try to accompany these testimonials with photos or videos of customers. This helps make testimonials more authentic and increases the visual impact for your audience.

Contextualize the testimonials

Loose statements, without any reason for existing, are not enough, they must be located within the campaign. When displaying these testimonials, it's important to provide some context about each customer's challenges and needs before using your products or services. This will help your audience better understand how your offering can solve user problems.

Highlight measurable results

Uplifting stories can get results, but stories that demonstrate a real result are even more impactful, so – if possible – include testimonials that emphasize measurable results customers have achieved with your products and services. And it doesn't just have to be financial results, increased sales, time savings, improved performance, among others, they can help to better tell this success story.

Use powerful quotes

Now to inspire your customers even more, also bet on the power of words. Select key quotes from testimonials that are persuasive and impactful. These quotes can be highlighted visually on your website or social media to catch your audience's attention.

Be authentic

Just as you should not create generic testimonials, care must be taken to ensure that the cases collected are not distorted. Keep testimonials genuine and don't over-edit them. Customers should feel that testimonials are real and represent users' true opinions.

Give visibility to testimonials

Make sure testimonials are easily accessible on your website, whether on a dedicated page, rotating banners, or in strategic areas. On social media, you can create specific posts with customer testimonials and tag them to increase reach.

Promote interactions

An easy way to collect more testimonials is to encourage your audience's participation in the various forms of contact that the company maintains with them, which is why good communication on social networks and the website is important. Encourage your audience to interact with the testimonials by asking questions or asking them to share their own experiences in the comments. This encourages participation and emotional connection.

Remembering that when using customer testimonials, it is important to obtain their permission to use their personal information and testimonials publicly. Respect your customers' privacy and follow applicable consent and data protection guidelines.