How to Get Better Testimonials for Social Proof
Testimonials (or social proof—evidence that it’s working for others and can work for you too!) are one of the most crucial components of any business’ content marketing strategy, as the best way to prove your target audience’s desired outcome is others’ willingness to vouch for you.
Good testimonials build prospective client trust and boost the image of your business as competent and successful.
But what makes a ‘good’ testimonial, and how do you get one? Even if you’ve completely knocked it out of the park, when it comes time to leave a review, many people just don’t, and others say vague or not-very-helpful things like, “It was great!”
You need more specific descriptions of what was great, and how its greatness solved your client’s problem.
Want specific answers? Ask specific questions.
When customized to suit the model of your business, these five questions from Storybrand will help you generate specifically demonstrative and helpful testimonials from customers—reviews that actually speak to the transformationone can experience by engaging your offerings.
What was the biggest challenge you faced prior to working with us?
How did that challenge make you feel?
What changed after working with us?
What specific results can you share?
What would you say to somebody on the fence about working with us?
Hold prospective customers’ or clients’ attention with visuals.
Candid photos and videos of your reviewer, especially interacting with you, will, of course, help their testimony stand out against other text-static materials, but will also help prove that they’re a real person reviewing a real experience with a trustworthy business. As consumers, we scroll past hundreds of reviews per week, and we’re, therefore, understandably skeptical.
Create a repeatable process.
Make sourcing high-quality testimonials as easy as possible for you and your team, so that you actually do it (how often do we forget??). Build something like emailing a survey with the questions listed above, possibly with an incentive included, into your project completion task list.
If you don’t yet have many solid testimonials that speak specifically to the credibility of your business, consider reaching back out to some previous clients—you might be surprised at the generosity people will show you with their time when you’ve provided them great service! And their answers could just be the key to unlocking a successful relationship with your next dream client!
