| Using Testimonials to Boost Your Marketing Credibility |
How would you feel if a business owner came up to you and handed you a business brochure that said “I think my product is the best because it works for me” with a lovely picture of the business owner next to the quote? You’d probably be skeptical and think that this guy thinks a lot of himself and it’s no mystery why he thinks his product is the best.
Now, what if that same business owner handed you a brochure printing piece that said “XYZ’s product is the best because it relieved my back pain” with a picture of someone other than the owner? You’d be more likely to think positive thoughts of the owner and trust him and his brand, right?
That’s the power of testimonials. Testimonials are quotes from satisfied customers that you share with the public. They can change opinions and garner trust from people that don’t know you. Testimonials add credibility to your business and product, and they can be included in all of your marketing materials, from newsletter printing pieces to flyers to business brochures.
Ask for permission as you get the testimonial. Whenever a customer compliments you, or you receive a positive email, ask if you can use his comment as a testimonial. There’s no reason to wait until you are printing your marketing materials to gather testimonials – you should gather them all year long!
You’ll need to draw up (or use a template from the Internet) a simple release form for the customer to sign that gives you permission to use their quote in any way you see fit. Then you can use their testimonial in all of your marketing materials.
Rotate the testimonials you use within your marketing materials. Another reason to gather testimonials all year long is that you’ll have new ones ready to go whenever you print a new brochure or if you’re redesigning a marketing piece.
Use them on your Web site. If you have an arsenal of testimonials ready to go, you can also rotate them on the home page of your Web site so people see a new one everyday or at every visit.
Don’t use fake testimonials. It’s usually pretty easy to spot the testimonials the business owner wrote herself and asked a customer to sign off on. Some customers will even ask you to write their testimonial for them – encourage them to say a few words about your product or service so that you don’t have to do this. It seems more genuine (because it is) coming from them.
Add a photo. Accompany quotes with a photo when you can. This ups the trust factor, because potential customers will know a real person said the quote.
Include a testimonial sheet in your direct mail pieces. If you send a sales letter or brochure, have a separate page that only lists testimonials. This way the prospect can see all your good qualities in one place!
Use longer testimonials over shorter ones. Longer testimonials seem more truthful. If people see short ones like “fantastic!” or “excellent…wonderful,” they might think that you carefully edited out any bad parts of the quote. Try to use at least one full sentence, if not two or three in most of your testimonials.
Ask for specific details, rather than a general statement. If your customer just says “You have the best customer service” – that isn’t quite as believable as “Your customer service rep was knowledgeable and solved my problem in 5 minutes.” Not only is it more believable, but you’ve given more positive details than the general statement.
For comments and inquiries about the article visit: http://www.printplace.com/printing/brochures-inserts.aspx, http://www.printplace.com/mkt/newsletter-printing.aspx and http://www.printplace.com/printing/printing-business-brochures.aspx
Article Source: UnArchived Articles
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