Think about it: when you are trying to discern whether you ought to buy a particular product from a particular company, who do you turn to for advice? Probably people who have already gone with that same product and company. So, why expect your own potential customers to do any differently?
However, even if your sales figures and profit margins are growing, you might have had few opportunities to hear from your customers exactly why. Here are several strategies you can follow to garner favourable customer reviews you would be able to publish on your organisation’s website.
Judge which customers seem to be your happiest
If you have a long history of selling products or services via your website, you have probably amassed a wealth of data about which online customers have bought most often from your company.
Sometimes, though, your brand’s biggest fans might reveal themselves in rather less formal ways; for example, by posting comments on many of the brand’s social media status updates.
Directly ask your ‘best’ customers for testimonials
When reaching out to these people, make clear that you want to add customer testimonials to your website (whether they will be scattered across the site, reserved for one specific page, or both) and ask if they would be willing to send you any plaudits for this purpose.
When we say ‘any’, we mean in line with easy-to-follow instructions you provide — perhaps most conveniently in an email or text message, even if you make the initial contact by phone or in person.
Provide a simple ‘format’ or ‘template’ for each testimonial
Remember that none of the testimonials need to be overly lengthy. After all, if they actually were, few people who see them on the website would have either the time or patience to fully take them in anyway. So, when requesting testimonials, be clear about where the parameters lie.
You could ask for as little as a written paragraph or even just a couple of sentences. If you are looking for video tutorials, such as those you would be able to post on YouTube and subsequently embed into webpages, why not suggest that the customers film themselves on their smartphones?
Yes, some of the footage might come out as ‘grainy’ — but this could actually enhance the perceived authenticity of the testimonial, consequently making it easier for viewers to trust.
Show appreciation to those customers who do provide testimonials
This doesn’t just to have involve sending each individual a ‘thank you’ email or note, polite though this would obviously be.
You could ask the customer if they would be happy to provide their social media handles so that you can tag their accounts when posting the testimonials on social media.
In fact, before posting the testimonial anywhere, explain to the customer exactly how you will (or may) incorporate it into your marketing. By giving us a call on 01325 582112, you can learn how we could expertly manage the web marketing aspect of the equation in your company’s name.
