Do you ask your customers for testimonials? If you don’t, now’s the time to start! You might feel like you’re asking people to stroke your ego, but you’re actually providing a service to potential customers. How? Well, think about testimonials. Do they normally share the same kind of information that you share? Mine don’t – have a look at some of my testimonials here and you’ll see. Would I say any of these things about myself? No. I wouldn’t. But more than that, these words show what it’s like to work WITH you, which is something I can’t really do. So you might be wondering what you can do when you have these amazing testimonials. So I’m here to help with five ways to use testimonials…
- On your website. I have a testimonials section on my website and I also feature a section on the homepage with a testimonials in a slider. This means that if someone wants to come to my website and find out what it’s like to work with me. They can. The side benefit of this area is that people get to see who I have worked/do work with too.
- On your social media. Add your testimonial (or a bit of it!) to a nice graphic (something you can do on Canva) and use it on your social media. Again, don’t feel icky about this. You really are providing a service to your potential customers about what it’s like to work with you.
- On your email signature. Signatures can be dead space. I know mine has my contact details and a disclaimer, but I have seen some people add testimonials here and they can look really good, and also link to your website too.
- In a blog. Yes, you can use a testimonial as the foundation of a blog all about your amazing client who shared the testimonial with you. It’s a great way to talk about their business, what they do, how good they are and so on. Add your testimonial at the bottom and thank them too.
- On printed material. Yes. Business cards, flyers and brochures can benefit from well placed testimonials alongside specific services and products. You don’t want to overdo it, but it can work really well!
As a tip, always make sure you have proper permission to use testimonials from clients. An email saying you’re amazing isn’t permission. Be really clear how you are planning to use their words and make sure they’re happy you do this. Also, it goes without saying that fabricated endorsements are a big fat no too… they have zero value if they’re not real!
