Let’s talk testimonials. Testimonials are reviews of your product or service, and they’re an indispensable marketing tool. They are a seal of approval from real people – they help increase trust in your brand, peak the interest of your prospective customer, and, if used effectively, increase conversions. In this article we’ll talk about what makes a good testimonial, as well as 4 best practices when writing, collecting, and using them.

The Problem

The problem is that most companies aren’t using testimonials in the most productive way. Great testimonials are about how your company helped your customer, not a gushing, sugary, statement on how great the company is.

Why aren’t these sugary sound-bites as effective? Because feedback from people who go by “Greg H, Designer” or “Michael P, IT” seem made up, even when they’re not. As a customer, I want to know that real people are using this product and having positive experiences. Anything else screams “too good to be true.” These impersonal reviews backfire more often than they succeed.

Takeaway: No saccharine “reviews,” especially if they come from someone who feels a little too one-dimensional/fictional.

Below are two examples of testimonials.

“XYZ is the greatest thing since sliced bread! The feature set is mind-blowing!!!” – Doug L., Engineer.

“I was initially unsure if I needed XYZ’s product. I have no doubts now – every time I’ve had a question they are always eager to help me, and their platform has helped us increase sales by 53%. We couldn’t have done it without XYZ.”
- John Smith, CEO of Example.com.

Which one is more effective? Why?

The Solution

The testimonial needs to tell a potential customer about someone’s authentic, personal, experience with the product. Prospective customers want to hear how their product helped someone. Not how “great” or “awesome” the product is, but how it solved a real problem or alleviated a pain point. Anyone can shove a lot of compelling adjectives into a review, but when you start reading about how Company XYZ helped one of their customers overcome their specific problem, it sets off a much more positive and trustworthy tone. That’s what we mean when we say authentic. In some ways, these should read more like test cases. The company 37Signals does a great job with this.

Takeaway: Expose positive user experiences with the product to increase authenticity.

Just Ask

So there are good testimonials and not-so-good testimonials. Where do we go from here? How do you improve? Ask for them. That’s right, ask for them. If you’re paying attention to your customers, then you know at least a few of them that have really succeeded as a result of your product. Ask them to tell you about their experience, and even about their initial reservations.

Best Practices

1. Don’t be afraid to ask for them
2. Include pictures of your users, full names, and link to their business
3. Have your reviewers go light on the hyperbole and heavy on their personal experience (even if that means expressing initial doubt – authentic is important)
4. Use as many as you can

As the web changes, personalization is becoming more important than ever. Authenticity is the new currency of testimonials, and that’s a good thing – it’s marketing that actually means something.

If you’ve seen any good examples lately (or you’ve written a few), tell us about them below in the comment section. For additional reading, check out these great posts from Copyblogger and Headrush.