When we wrote the article on testimonial basics, we weren’t planning to turn it into a series. However, the response to that article and the next on how to get powerful testimonials was such that we decided to turn into a trinity. We hadn’t planned a trio of customer testimonials articles but here we are. One of the questions we’ve received after those two posts was where to use customer testimonials.
Putting customer testimonials to work is all about bringing them into the limelight. There are two things to remember here. The first is that you want your potential customers and potential clients to come across these testimonials so often that they get entrenched in their subconscious. The other is that you want these testimonials to show up at moments where the potential customer is about to make a decision on your product or service.
The following are 10 places where you can use customer testimonials to good effect. These options will help these testimonials be in places where they can be noticed. Even within these locations, you’ll need to use customer testimonials in the right position for them to have the right impact. Consider.
#1 On Product Pages
Most businesses use customer testimonials on product pages. It is so common that it can be considered to be standard practice. In other words, this should be the place you start with your customer testimonials.
On the product pages, there are four places where you can testimonials. The best example of testimonial use on product pages is Amazon and most other e-commerce bigwigs. They put testimonials at the top of the page i.e. right under the product name and after all the headers. They’re, of course, called reviews in many places.
The other option is to place the testimonials either to the right on a side bar or under the image to the left. Both these options are viable and which one you choose depends on design considerations.
There’s a fourth option of putting the testimonials at the bottom of the product description. This is not recommended by many experts because it takes the focus away from the testimonials.
#2 On The Home Page
Companies that don’t sell products on a web store will have a home page that talks about their business. These home pages should also include testimonials. Their exact location will depend on the design of the website but they can be used in various positions.
The trending theme these days is to add a section of testimonials with a full spread from left to right. The reason why testimonials work on the home page has to do with the intention of a visitor.
Visitors going through the home page are interested in the business and are trying to learn more about it. Therefore, when they come across genuine and impressive testimonials, they instantly get a feel for what the business’s existing customers think of it. In essence, testimonials on the home page can help with customer acquisition.
#3 On The Side Bar
As mentioned earlier, testimonials can be placed on the side bars as well. There is one great benefit of placing testimonials on side bars. This is the fact that it is tantamount to global placement.
Most websites with side bars have those side bars appearing on all pages. Therefore, one of the ways of making sure that your testimonials are visible is to simply place them on side bars.
#4 In Blog Content
This isn’t for everyone. It is very difficult to use customer testimonials in your blog content. To do this, you need to have the right business persona. More importantly, you need to have a regular back and forth with your existing customer to be able to use customer testimonials within your blog content.
The only way you can do this is if you break the fourth wall and talk directly to the reviewer. You could answer questions in the testimonial, show gratitude for it, or even comment on some aspect of it. This is very difficult to pull off because it comes off as tacky and indulgent. You need to have a personality and voice that has already created a community around the blog to be able to do this.
#5 As Part of Case Studies
Case studies are great tools of conversion for online and offline businesses alike because they display the best ways in which a product or service ended up helping someone. The best case studies, however, tend to be elaborate and long. Customer testimonials come into the picture right at the end.
If you can top off a well-constructed testimonial with testimonials from the client, then you’ll find it very easy to get newer clients. Having a testimonial from the client at the end of a case study about his engagement also authenticates the case study and makes it more powerful.
#6 In Social Media
What better place to use a technique based on social proof than on social media? Social media also happens to be a platform that offers one of the best Returns on Investments (ROIs) these days. This platform also offers a wide variety of ways through which you can use customer testimonials.
The obvious is to post testimonials directly or have them highlighted on your page. However, it is also possible for you to create ads that contain one or more of your testimonials. You can get really creative with how you use customer testimonials too. For instance, you can make them a part of the image you’re sharing in the post or in the ad.
#7 In Newsletters
Many businesses’ strategy is to get people to join their emailing lists before converting them into customers through email marketing. This strategy is effective because the conversion rate of email marketing is so high. Even though email marketing offers the best conversion rates of all marketing techniques, it is possible to boost those conversion rates.
If you employ a similar strategy and use customer testimonials in your newsletters, then can ensure a marked increase in conversions. The testimonials in this situation could be used to reinforce the specific intention of the email. For instance, a testimonial talking about the value of the business’s free advice can be a way to keep the reader hooked to the email list before the hard-sell emails show up.
#8 In Marketing Materials and Proposals
This is rather obvious. Despite that, businesses fail to use customer testimonials in this way. Customer testimonials can enhance the impact of marketing materials and proposals greatly. After all, when you’re pitching a new client, don’t you think recommendations, reviews, and references are going to help your cause?
Similarly, marketing materials can carry testimonials to influence the prospect. The primary role of marketing materials is to represent the business to a prospect because the business’s representative cannot be there in person. Simultaneously, marketing materials are also used by representatives as a form of after-pitch where they back what he presented personally.
#9 On Landing Pages
Landing pages can particularly benefit from the use of customer testimonials. The primary objective of landing pages is to get a visitor to perform a particular action. This could be anything from signing up for a newsletter to making a purchase.
Customer testimonials need to be peppered at various points of a landing page to reinforce claims made within the content. For instance, a landing page can include a testimonial about the quality of the product where the content explains why the product is special, while another part about shipping can benefit from a testimonial on fast shipment.
Use Customer Testimonials in the Right Way
All the nine options above are broad in nature. Even though some talk about placements of testimonials, most of them talk about broad locations. How effective your use of customer testimonials is within every location depends on how you design the page and what conversion principles you follow. However, there are still certain things that you should try to keep in mind.
1. Customer testimonials tend to do very well near Call to Action (CTA) buttons. This is the moment where you want your visitor convinced and since testimonials can do that well combining CTAs with them is beneficial.
2. There are multiple psychologically relevant conversion principles that can be used depending upon what where in your sales funnel you’re trying to place your testimonials. For example, the primacy and recency effects seem contradictory but work equally well.
3. Customer testimonials need to be presented in the right way. Just a few words within quotes are not going to cut it. You need images, names, as well as professional credentials to truly authenticate a testimonial in the eyes of a prospect.
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