Are you actually using the testimonials and reviews that you already have for your business?

For most of us in business, it is hard to get testimonials from our current and former clients. Some businesses just do not think about getting them and others just do not want to bother clients with it. So once we get them sometimes we don’t put much into the thought process of what to do with them. However, doing this just means that we have totally wasted a lot of time and energy getting valuable testimonials and reviews.

Website Testimonials

Most of  us have visited a website where the testimonials are tucked away in some far corner of the website to rarely actually be found. We have also seen the reviews left on social media sites and review sites just sitting there dormant. The businesses have often not taken the time to reply to them or get additional feedback regarding the review. This is a mistake, especially if the review is high quality and beneficial to your brand.  Reviews and testimonials are meant to help your brand. People trust what other people say, so great reviews typically influence others to buy from your brand, which helps grow your business.

We know all too well that many reviews are just blah, nothing more than a quick, generic, one-liner; nothing more than to say the person did a review. These often don’t need a response, but if there is a negative review be sure to respond and get feedback.

So the question is, why aren’t we actually utilizing the testimonials that we have currently?

If you want to maximize the benefit of your testimonials and reviews, you are going to have to up your game, to take them to the next level. Let’s take a look at some ways we can do this:

1. Don’t hide them! Feature them on your site in a prominent location.

When people visit your site, they are beginning to check out your product/service, or they may be returning to get more information about your product/service that they are already somewhat familiar with. So of course they will have to overcome many objections while they do the typical debate on whether to invest or not. People have to decide if they really need your product/services or not, if they like the price of your product, and most importantly, if they TRUST you. So in order to combat these objections, you have to be prepared to prove that your brand is worth their trust. This person may have never heard of your company before or may know very little about your brand.

So, what better way to earn this trust than to show them what your current and past clients have to say about you and your brand with reviews and testimonials. Don’t tuck them away on a single page of your website to only be stumbled upon by a few people.

After all, this is free trustworthy advertisement for your brand from the people who use or have used it. You should feature at least one on your homepage, pricing pages, product pages, etc. with each testimonial linking to your actual full testimonials page; this allows for maximum exposure. You could also have rotating testimonials so that people see multiple testimonials without having to leave the page that they are on.

Regardless of how you decide to feature them, the most important thing is that the great things people say about your brand are easily visible to anyone who visit your site.

2. Check this out! Place them around clear calls-to-action. (See what I did there)

All businesses should have clear calls-t0-action on their pages. It may be “DOWNLOAD”, “BUY”, or “CALL”; essentially you are directing people to act.  This of course is very important to your brand because it is a conversion. When people are staring as this large button telling them what to do they are often still in the decision-making phase, trying to decide if they should trust your brand. You want them to see your testimonials so that they will trust you and conversion is possible. But do you want to distract them by asking them to leave the page in order to read testimonials? Of course not!

So why not feature a quick testimonial or review near the call-to-action? This feature could also be just a small portion of a larger testimonial from your testimonials page. By going ahead and placing a review near your call-to-action, you are making a bold statement to the potential client. You are putting it all out there by saying to them, “See, you can trust me….others did and look how pleased they are!”

3. LIKE this. Share your social media reviews and thank the client.

I have written before about ignoring clients on social media, especially negative comments, but many businesses also ignore positive comments. Wait, what?! People actually ignore POSITIVE comments?! Yes they sure do.

Do NOT ignore them. If you fail to acknowledge someone who has left a positive comment about your brand, you have just missed a major opportunity from not only a social media perspective but also from a review-gathering perspective as well. If someone takes the time to actually leave you a positive comment about your brand, be sure to thank them! For example, on Facebook, you can actually reply to their comment and say “Thank You” and use their name to tag them. This makes the reply more personable and shows the consumer that you care, making them feel special. You can also in turn share their comment post so that others can see just how great your product is. Again, this is helping to build trust and brand awareness. This works particularly well if the person left a long comment or even a photo. If you’re on Twitter, no wait, WHEN you are on Twitter, simply retweet the positive tweet or use the quote tweet feature and add a quick thanks at the beginning.

So, you may be thinking WHY should I partake in all of this? You are showing your positive comments to potential customers to build trust, but you are also showing your current and future clients that you care. You are also telling your current and future clients that you appreciate their business. You are engaging the client in a conversation, which is Social Media 101. Doing this is going to build brand awareness and help your social media presence. By social sharing, you’re providing fan exposure, and giving them a few minutes of glory, if you will.

4. Take one! Shoot video testimonials.

Everyone knows that there is just something about seeing someone’s face that is super convincing. Seeing their face allows you to see just how happy they really are with a product or with their brand experience overall. Hearing the enthusiasm in their voice and just how awesome their experience was is just something that you do not get from written word. You most definitely can, however, get all of this from a video testimonial!

I know what you are saying…video will take time and energy to do. You are absolutely correct. But it will be worth it after converting several potential clients into actual clients because they watched some of your video testimonials. This will take more effort than any of the other tactics mentioned above, but people love video so use this to your advantage.

Another great aspect of video testimonials is that you can utilize them in other areas of the web besides just your website. You can upload them to YouTube, they can be shared on your social media platforms and you can also include them in emails. To add to this tactic, you can have the clients that are featured in the videos share them with their audience as well. This allows you even more reach!

In conclusion, in order to maximize your overall marketing strategy, you have to up your game with the individual parts of your strategy. This includes your reviews and testimonials. Do not just rely on the testimonials to reach out and convince potential clients on their own. Don’t be afraid to get out there and think outside the box. See how much more convincing your testimonials can be by upping your game, taking your reviews to the next level.

Image Credit: Shutterstock faysal and Yuriy Vlasenko.