Customer testimonials on website and product reviews are hands down one of the most powerful tools to boost your company’s sales.
Since people tend to trust others’ reviews rather than ones written by the company itself, these customer feedback are keys to deciding whether or not your visitor will be converted to your buyers.
Statistics have shown that over 70% of shoppers say they read product reviews before making a purchase. And roughly 63% say they are more inclined to buy from a site that includes ratings and customer testimonials.
By ensuring consumers are happy with their purchase, social proof may comfort reluctant shoppers, give more context, and prevent unneccessary doubts.
Obtaining such input, on the other hand, may be a difficult task for many organizations.
Customers are driven by their own objectives and deadlines, thus gathering clients feedback to your organization is not their obligation.
4 THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND TO GET GENUINE CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
1. Choose the right person
You want a testimonial, but how do you choose who will give it?
At the end of the day, the ideal candidate will serve as a brand ambassador for your company. Therefore, it is vital to choose someone who is enthusiastic and involved.
On occasion, look for the individual who is the most elated in the room. They're undoubtedly inspired by the encounter if they're tweeting or messaging about it. It's obvious when they're enthusiastic on camera.
Read more: 4 reasons why customer feedback is key to startup success
Assist interviewees in overcoming their fear of appearing on camera.
Play music or have a pleasant conversation with them first. Tell them a story or show them past testimonies you've taken.
The more at ease they are in front of the camera, the better it is for you to ask them questions.
It is also helpful to bring together people who are at different phases of their customer journey with your company. Not only does it display a wide range of testimonials, it may also assist consolidate their positive impressions of your company.
Internal testimonials shouldn't be overlooked either. Gather feedback from employees expressing their concern for the consumer. This method allows you to tailor your company to your target market.
Consult with professionals in the field. Experts in your sector can offer expert advice on why your company succeeds.
2. Ask relevant and insightful questions
Before you begin asking for replies, you must first determine the sort of responses you require. Those responses must be intriguing and helpful enough to build credibility for your company and trust for your clients.
And from that, identify what kind of question you need to ask to get the exact response that you want.
What do your targeted customers like? What are their primary concerns when conducting a purchase on your website? What are some of the issues that you're dealing with in your line of work?
You'll obtain more meaningful and relevant testimonials if you align with these questions.
3. Offer some incentives to those who provides reviews
How can you persuade users to start leaving positive reviews for your website, given all the advantages?
Provide a clear reward for leaving a review if at all feasible. Fast food restaurants, for example, frequently give customers the chance to win a cash reward by completing an online survey.
The similar principle may be used to promote online reviews. Offering discounts, special offers, or even a discount on the next purchase with verification of a review are just a few possibilities.
Just make sure to read the terms and conditions of the site you're offering incentives on before proceeding.
If you decide to incentivize consumers who provide reviews, make sure you include it in the email or whatever communication channel you use to let them know beforehand.
4. Contact those saying good things AND BAD THINGS about you
Make contact with those who leave you wonderful testimonials. Say thank you if you see a good review or a lovely tagged photo on Instagram. You may also request permission to post their shoutout on your website or social media accounts.
As much as you want to build good credibility for your company, you need to deal with the negative ones and make sure you thoroughly resolve them. Get in touch with anyone who has left you a bad review. Ignoring them will not make them go away.
Try to reply to bad reviews, especially if you believe the reviewer has a valid reason to do so or if other customers have complained about the same problem. Take advantage of this chance to learn from your customers and enhance your company.
With that said, here are 4 other things you can do to help improve your product reviews and customer testimonials on websites.
5. Clients feedback should be place near CTA
A great customer testimonial is one of the most effective types of content you can use next to a call to action since it shows your company's success stories that your prospect can anticipate.
Read more: Understanding human behavior in early stages of startups
Real example from Michael Aagard of ContentVerve has shown an interesting result.
He conducted a simple test in which he shifted testimonials from below to above the call to action “buy an ebook” and noticed a 64.53% boost in conversions.
6. Display your testimonials at the center of your page
Consider including a handful of customer testimonials on your website.
If you have product reviews, put them on each product page. With a link in your top navigation, you may even create a whole new page dedicated to only outstanding customer testimonials.
Also you need to make sure they appear on your site in a style that is appropriate for your product.
7. Include a client's picture in the testimonials
Pretty and beautiful images are easily perceived into the human brain. We're also more inclined to pay attention to an image with a face in it.
Putting a face to a name and a statement by including a photo of the consumer offering the testimonial makes it feel more genuine, believable, and personable.
But that does not mean you can use any random photo of a random person on the internet to represent that client feedback. Because people can always check to see whether the reviewer is real and match the photo if they really wanted to.
See how a photo can make a difference? It's not only a name and a title that extol the virtues of the service.
Make sure your images seem professional when you utilize this method. A low quality image in a too casual and informal style won't help your website gain trust. It's possible that they'll go in the opposite direction.
8. Finally, fake testimonials are a must not!
It's tempting to take a shortcut and fabricate testimonials, given how valuable they are. Take no chances!
People can recognize fake product reviews, and if they feel one is fraudulent, it will harm your company's reputation and conversion rates pretty badly.
Once you are caught faking your reviews, you might face significant fines. In 2014, a business that produced phony testimonials was fined $145,000 by Australian courts. In New York City in 2013, 19 businesses were fined over $300,000 for falsifying testimonials and reviews.
CONCLUSION
Customer testimonials on websites are indeed indispensable parts for your company to remain competitive and trustable in your customers’ eyes. Taking extra effort to tailor that part on your website and you would witness different results in your conversions and sales number in a short while.
Read more: A good website design can significantly increase sales. See how!
Do not let your testimonial be the least visited on your page. With Golden Owl, we know just everything you need to make it the most outstanding on your website. A beautifully designed testimonial page together with positive and quality reviews from your targeted customers will be a huge bonus for your business to earn extra sales. Contact us now!
