Consumers naturally trust each other. Before making a big purchase we jump online to check for reviews and complaints about the provider. For businesses, testimonials are an effective tool to help you connect with your target audience. Potential consumers want to see the work that you’ve done and the value that you brought to a customer. When someone else can tell the story of your great work, it is an amazing gift. It’s a testimonial. It’s a third party saying ‘yes, I trusted this person and these are the results they delivered’.
Testimonials are fantastic marketing tools. They offer another type of story about the good work that you do. I know a lot of people who struggle with communicating their value; it can be uncomfortable to brag about your business and the services you offer.
When you let your work speak for itself, it feels great to have somebody else tell you how amazing you are.
There are so many ways to use testimonials. You can incorporate them into all of your marketing channels. You can put them on your website, social channels, and even in your email signature.
Every time my company finishes a project, we send out a follow up survey. We truly want to know how we did. It’s a forum to allow our clients to give us feedback on what they experienced as well as a time for us to learn from any mistakes that were made. We also use the survey for marketing purposes. Our questions help to encourage a testimonial by directly asking what they loved about our service.
We ask about roadblocks they faced and frustration they felt prior to hiring us. We want them to be specific, asking what happened when they tried to solve the problem on their own. These questions reveal to both the customer and to us the clear cut value that we were able to bring to a specific situation. It also acts as a great reminder of why they decided to engage with us in the first place and why they might engage with us again in the future. To summarize the whole experience and hear their take on the results, we ask, ‘what’s life like now the project is complete?’ Results are essential in testimonials.
Including information about the return on investment (ROI) in a testimonial, it is crucial. People are always nervous about hiring someone unless they can get a guarantee, although we all know that nothing in life is guaranteed. Speaking to the results of a project from both a qualitative and quantifiable perspective will help to demonstrate the value you brought to the client.
Lastly, at the end of our questionnaire, we always ask if we can have their permission to quote them in our marketing. Using the questions I’ve outlined above will give you the proper prompts to soliciting amazing testimonials.
Surveys are full of the great things that people have said about you and can be the building blocks for a case study. If you’ve never written a case study before, don’t let it intimidate you. A case study is just a story about what you did for a client. Including testimonials in your case study allows for the reader to understand the client’s perspective.
There are only three things you need to answer in your case study: What was the goal? What was the plan? What was the outcome?
When compiling your case study, think about anything special that happened during the project. Were there any constraints you faced or unforeseen problems that you solved? Remember that people love facts and figures. Think about things that were both increased and decreased as a result of your work. Use data to tell the story of success. When you add in a testimonial from the client, it will make your case study that much better, like adding sprinkles to a frosted cupcake.
To continue sharing the love this month, I want to help you write that case study.
Maybe you’ve tried to write one in the past and you didn’t feel like you know the right words to say. As my Valentine’s Day gift to you, we are currently creating a case study resource. How to Create and Utilize an effective Case Study.
We’ll be launching this resource right after Valentine’s Day, so sign up here to receive the FREE resource once it is ready. If you get stuck, don’t worry. In the spirit of sharing the love, we’ll select one lucky person from all who download the resource guide to win a free case study written by me. We’ll discuss the value you brought, I’ll write up a case study, and together we’ll plan on how you can utilize this case study in your marketing to help get you your next sale.
In the spirit of sharing the love, I want to give testimonials to businesses that have supported me this past year.
Haven Collective will always have a space in my heart because they gave me a home. Both my office and video studio are located here. But beyond having a beautiful place full of amenities that I get to pass on to my clients, the owners are incredibly supportive. Melissa and Danielle are cheerleaders to push not only me, but the entire Haven Collective community to stretch and hustle harder.
Had I not found Haven, I don’t think I would have come as far as I have in my business’ success. They give me support and encouragement. They break me out of the imposter syndrome. They push me forward into an uncomfortable space where I grow. We really have a family here and it’s wonderful.
Virtual Works matched me with a virtual assistant a few years ago who helped me take Mkg Dept to new heights. I know I could not run my businesses without that first key contractor. Virtual Works took away all the stress of trying to find and hire an employee. They performed a personality assessment test and found the right person to compliment the way I think and work.
I knew early on in 2020 that I needed to invest in my own marketing to be able to ride out the pandemic. I had launched a second business and I just wasn’t sure how my messages fit together between the two companies. I reached out to Beth Harper Gray, with Gray Matter Coaching to help me sort it out. Even though I tell other people’s stories for a living, I needed an outside perspective. Beth helped me share my value in a different way and connect the two brands together. You need a coach to grow your business, and I knew I needed a marketing coach to help me move past stuck. Beth Gray did that and we had so much fun working on it together.
Having an IT company come in and help solve our file sharing problems was crucial for our growth in 2020. Logan and his staff at Tabernacle IT are kind, trustworthy, and knowledgeable. Logan and his team keeps everything up to date for me and I no longer have to worry about software updates or computer viruses. I often joke that he’s helped to save my marriage now that my husband no longer has to be my IT support.
Testimonials are great. It feels good getting them and even better sharing the love for a service that has been so valuable to you. Happy Valentine’s Day- let’s continue to spread love and joy this month.
Recent Comments