Customer testimonials can do wonders for your brand. Over time, they can become a powerful tool in enhancing your brand reputation and driving business growth. Here are some of the main reasons why your company should learn how to harness customer testimonials as part of your marketing toolkit.
- Testimonials drive conversions
- Testimonials help improve SEO performance
- Testimonials provide a powerful form of social proof
In this post, we’ll examine why customer testimonials are important for your business for several reasons. We’ll also look at some real-world examples to give you an idea of how testimonials can have a positive impact on your organization’s ability to attract and retain customers.
Testimonials Drive Conversions
Simply put: customer testimonials can convince a potential customer to make a purchase. A study from Northwestern University shows that putting relevant reviews and testimonials on a product page can increase conversions dramatically. Showing at least 5 authentic online reviews increases the purchase likelihood by almost a factor of 4x.
The study also revealed that the first 5-10 reviews are the reviews most likely to determine the customer’s purchase decision. This makes it even more crucial that you make testimonials a major centerpiece on your digital properties (including your website, local listings, and social media profiles), since these aid prospects’ decision-making processes.
Take a look at the example below, which highlights reviews of a carpet cleaning business. At a glance, these reviews offer proof that the company’s service is trustworthy. Still, a closer look reveals that the reviews touch on a specific aspect of the customer experience: the professionalism and friendliness of every technician who visits each customer’s home.
In other words, the reviews specifically target potential customers who are curious or who might have concerns about a stranger visiting their home and cleaning their carpet. Reviews of the company say that the technicians are “extremely polite and professional,” “quick and thorough,” and have a “very professional and informative service.”
One reviewer even mentioned the technician by name:
“Mike was proficient and courteous, [and] did an excellent job. I was very pleased with the results and speed of service.”
In this sense, customer testimonials validate the claims you make about your product or service. If you say your product or service is the best, but your customers back that claim up, it carries more weight.
Testimonials Help Improve SEO Performance
User-generated content like customer testimonials and positive online reviews can improve your brand’s search engine optimization (SEO) performance. Search engines often value fresh, relevant content, and testimonials can provide that.
Data from reviews such as star ratings and the number of helpful votes on a search engine result can also enhance your brand visibility and help your content stand out from other material on the results page.
However, the work doesn’t stop there. You need to encourage customers to leave reviews on the website on a regular basis. Asking for reviews from customers can help you generate a steady flow of new content that search engines love, helping you climb up search rankings and drive more traffic to your business locations.
How many reviews do you need to impact your ratings, SEO rank and revenue? Use our simple Google star calculator to find out!
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Testimonials Establish Social Proof
More than anything else, testimonials are effective forms of social proof. It’s your way of saying, “Don’t just take our word for it. Check out the experiences of other customers.”
When potential customers see positive feedback from others who have used your product or service, it builds trust. People are more likely to trust the opinions of their peers over your marketing messages.
Just like the carpet cleaning reviews, the testimonials below for multiple auto dealerships were not randomly selected by the company. They were picked to show future customers that the interaction with the sales team wouldn’t be intimidating. Reviewers used terms like “professional,” “top-notch,” “informative,” and “great personality” to describe the salespeople that they met.
Testimonials establish trust for potential buyers. They show that real people actually tried the product or service and they had a great experience with it. In a way, it’s free marketing so make sure it’s somewhere where everyone can see it.
Get More Testimonials
The easiest way to get testimonials is by asking for reviews. However, it’s not enough to just find the best reviews and post them on a website.
You also need to learn how to respond to negative reviews and strive to improve the experience for future customers. Only through constant engagement and overall business improvement based on customer feedback can you get more reviews, and more importantly, amazing testimonials from both recurring and new customers.
