Dear PR Matters,
I work in a medium-sized PR agency and one of the new directions we have for this year is to have more testimonial campaigns for our clients.
I have also observed that many other brands are using testimonials in their marketing mix. This is not an easy task and can be quite daunting.
It will be very helpful if you share with us some tips on how we can come up with inspiring testimonials that will enhance the brands we service. Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Pauline D.
Dear Pauline,
Testimonials are important marketing tools, and have a way of touching the hearts and minds of the public. This is because these are often viewed to be authentic and very relatable. But you are right when you say that this is not an easy task.
In a marketing profs.com article, “Why Testimonials are B2B Companies’ Most Important Marketing Tool,” Ella Patenall says that, “testimonials build trust between the company and its users.”
A good testimonial “outlines key benefits, makes comparisons with other products, and backs up the claims you’ve made about your product or service. That’s why many businesses choose to include a form of testimonial in their marketing. But some are more effective than the others.”
Research backs up the claim that customer testimonials are effective. In a survey, WebDAM found that testimonials beat all other types of content marketing for their effectiveness.
In the report, “some 78 percent of people say that they trust reviews as much as recommendations from acquaintances. And the use of both positive and negative reviews is perceived as more trustworthy than just positive reviews.”
Research also showed that it is important to make testimonials appear as authentic as possible as 30 percent of people suspected some form of censorship. It is also important not to overwhelm your audience, so “picking no more than three to five examples is enough to provide an effective testimony.”
But how do we begin? First, choose the testimonial type that will work best for you. Patenall lists three types, quotes, case studies and videos.
Quotes from customers are the simplest forms of testimonials. In the age of short attention spans,” such quotes should be succinct and snappy to catch attention immediately. The testimonial comments should usually give information on how customers found the process, how effective the service or product was, and whether they would recommend it.”
Patenall adds that if we should choose to use quotes, authenticity is important, and to make them seem as real as they actually are, include the person’s name, company and other information.
Case studies can be particularly powerful, as these highlight the results delivered to a particular client. Patenall says that these real-life stories “should be informative and more in-depth than simple quotes. They could also include infographics or graphs demonstrating results over time, or images and screenshots that detail the process.”
Videos, for most of us, are a more impactful, believable and memorable testimonial method than many others. Here, you can see someone’s body language and better gauge their emotions. Videos are also more memorable and relatable, as most people are visual learners, and so they prefer watching and listening over reading.
Patenall, however, says that videos work best if you have the budget for it and these are well executed. She also shares with us some tips on how we can come up with inspiring testimonials that work for our brand.
- Conduct surveys. She adds that when you ask a customer for a testimonial, you’re proving that his or her opinion matters to you. That can go a long way in building a lasting relationship.
- Check existing reviews. If you have a Trust Pilot, Yotpo or Google accounts, you might already have reviews online. You can take those directly or approach the customers who wrote them for more feedback.
- Use someone relatable. Patenall says that “ideally you’ll choose to quote people who have a lot in common with your target audience. Those commonalities will make them relatable to whoever is reading or listening, and those readers or listeners will trust the review more than they otherwise might.
- Value one’s voice. Ensure that testimonials are direct from your customers or clients than having been prepared for them, which would look awkward.
- Use comparisons. Comparisons are powerful in reviews, says Patenall. They give the potential customer a more concrete idea of your services and can help them stand apart.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the senior vice president for Marketing and Communications of SM, is the former local chairman.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.
Image credits: WWW.FREEPIK.COM