Testimonials. Do you feel icky at the mention of the word? Do you start sweating when you think of having to ask customers for them? In this episode of the Small & Supercharged podcast, all about testimonials, I tell you what they are, how to gather them, how to ask for them, why they’re valuable… and how to use them too.
I start off by talking about how I use testimonials in my business and why they’re of value. I have a number of them in my Testimonials tab. I have to say, even talking about the testimonials I have and reading a couple out (to show the nuggets that I wouldn’t be writing myself!) makes me feel weird. So I completely understand any negative feelings you have about doing this… OK? But trust me when I say that I wouldn’t feel weird if I was reading something about you… I think it’s something that only bothers us – the person they’re about!
How to ask for testimonials and why they could be huge for your business – Small & Supercharged Podcast
In this episode of the Small & Supercharged Podcast, I talk all about testimonials. How to ask for testimonials and why they could be huge for your business. In this episode, I will…
- Explain how testimonials show a different side to you and your business, and the value they can bring to potential customers.
- Walk you through a couple I have and show the elements contained within them that are real gold when it comes to potential customers. I’ll share with you the nuggets in these testimonials that will really speak to your customers.
- Talk about why testimonials can be really useful because they can uncover ‘pain points’ that potential customers might have… and the reason that they might be coming to you anyway.
- Explore the other things that testimonials can also share about you… because it would feel like you were being cocky and arrogant if you said them yourself. Things like working as a team, increasing business, being dedicated, etc.
- Explain how, from your point of you, they can be really valuable feedback. They can show you things that your customers really love about you and places you excel. You can then look to use these in your copy (in a non icky way!!), or put additional thought behind creating the content you do to promote what you’re doing.
- Talk about how testimonials can help to reassure potential customers – yes, they address pain points, but if you have customers concerned about aspects of the business or product you sell, you can either ask customers to write testimonials around the subject or just hope that these come up.
- Explain the difference between what a testimonial brings to the party vs. an about us page or a products or services page.
- Talk about who to ask – and why if you pick the right people, you’ll be unlucky to meet a problem.
- How to ask for testimonials and why it’s not a weird thing to ask. You can just explain why you’re looking to gather testimonials, the section you’re looking to grow online, and that you’d really welcome their input. You can also tell your customer that there’s no pressure for them to do it.
- Discuss different ways to use testimonials – from a video testimonial to written, connecting to a blog about the client or extracting snippets for social media.
- How you can use your email signature as a place to promote your latest testimonials, to help connect with your customers.
- How you can use testimonials in printed material, like in catalogues, on flyers, etc.
- How bloggers and vloggers should be using testimonials too. The influencer space is competitive, so if you can get feedback from businesses you have worked with, showing how well you’ve worked with them, it will help you.
- How media packs connected to magazines often use testimonials to help promote their publication and ad rates. It brings a real life element to it all.
- The importance of getting permission to use people’s words to promote yourself. Sending a message via email or DM saying a nice thing is lovely, but it doesn’t mean that you should use their words in a really public way without their say so.
- And I finish by talking about why you should never, ever, ever fabricate a testimonial or endorsement.
And if you liked this, make sure you have a look at this blog all about six was to use testimonials.
Thank you so much for listening to this week’s podcast – if you’d like to leave a review on iTunes and/or subscribe, click the link below!
