Website Usability

What Is a Testimonial?

Trying to keep matters simple, we can say that a testimonial turns a certain customer, who tried a product or service, into a witness of its good or poor qualities. Of course, we are interested in the positive opinions, which can be used to build a good marketing image and consolidate the advertising campaign.

Trying to mend this credibility flaw, advertisers introduced the use of famous people in their marketing campaigns, thus associating the product with the celebrity's certain features and reliability, and using his or her power to reach out to the consumers and influence their buying behavior. Nevertheless, these testimonials' value is in lending credibility, because only by promoting that image or product doesn't necessarily make that celebrity a user; thus the experience is not a "first hand" one.

Testimonial Typology

Testimonials can be completely made-up (the use of which is considered highly unethical), real but without last name and company name (this type looks fake and unreliable), real, with name and company but too excited and completely satisfied about the product (making it sound unreal), real, with name and company, talking about themselves and how the product or company made THEM look/feel good.
Read also: Rethinking testimonials

When Are Testimonials Effective

When they are specific:
Vague testimonials that read like "Oracle is excellent, with very highly-skilled professionals" are of almost no help, whereas specific details like "...helped us jump start our development staff into key producers for our Oracle implementation. By learning to use the Oracle Reports development tool they were able to..." point out interesting tips for the other users.

When they overcome objections:
Although some say they are risky, testimonials that contain objections are extremely powerful, because of the sincerity level that they contain. An example of such a testimonial is "I've been a technical engineer for 12 years. I was skeptical and didn't think there was a single thing in this course I didn't already know. Yet, I was surprised to learn valuable technical skills I'd never considered before and I'm happy to see their results the relationship with the DBAs and Developers."

When the importance of the context is understood:
Your testimonials should include questions asked during the process of selling/buying, because this helps the readers of the testimonials get answers to their question right from the customers, instead of doubting the information of the company's representative.

For instance one of our clients said: "We are in a very dynamic industry and we need to reinvent ourselves. The reason why we are always asking for additional improvements or technical changes is not that we are 'unpredictable' clients but that the situation is changing constantly and we should be flexible to be successful. We will always be demanding but it's ok, Avangate "

I recommend taking a look at an article on why testimmonials work or do not. I also liked this case study - like article analyzing the negative impact of some testimonials.

13 Tips to Make Good Use of Testimonials

1. It's better if you ask for feedback, not testimonials:
   Researchers say that people feel more comfortable giving feedback than providing a testimonial, and after receiving the feedback you can use it as a testimonial, as they are more or less the same thing. A testimonial seems more formal to them and you can get better and more genuine answers with feedback.
2. Be careful what and how you ask:
   A background information can prove to be useful, like age, studies, place of work etc, but the full name and location should always be required, because testimonials without these elements are not reliable, and often skipped by consumers, or worse, if they are read, they create a negative image that they will always associate with your company's name.
3. Don't over-edit:
   Testimonials have to be real, so that the language used (if proper) should be kept, in order to assure originality and credibility. People usually talk in a certain way when interviewed or required a feedback, more accurate and without puns, therefore when you find a customer that uses a fresh and genuine informal language you can profit off that testimonial more than you would on 20 formal ones.
4. Use testimonials that fit:
   Try to use only those testimonials that prove the point your campaign is relying upon, in order to make it easier for the consumer to rely both on you and your customers; if for example your cooking class focuses on healthy food, insert those testimonials that refer to the ingredients used and the benefits gained from that, etc, not those who say that the technique of the cook are impeccable, or that the classroom has great lights.
5. Address objections:
   If a possible next consumer discovers that he/she has the same fears as one of your consumers who wrote them in his testimonial, together with the way he overcame them, chances are he will turn from interested into a consumer.
6. Never fake them:
   Although the use of testimonials is advised, better don't use any than to use fake ones; once your lie is discovered (and one way or the other, IT WILL BE!) you are discredited and it's simply not worth it.
7. Encourage specifics:
   Specific details are the salt and pepper of trustful testimonials; referring to a certain feature, customers show that they have that first hand personal experience, that means a lot to possible future customers. Descriptions of elements of the product or service they really enjoyed counts a lot more than testimonials like "It was great!" or "You rock!".
8. Don't be too selfish:
   There are several testimonials which include additional information, like the name of other products or services, which together with the use of yours, have turned out to be great and fully satisfied the customer. Don't eliminate this information, because by being selfish you loose a very interesting testimonial, that can help you gain both customers and trust, by showing that you are not selfish, and you do not feel threatened by other brands.
9. Don't use only "guru written" testimonials:
   These "gurus" are people whose views are appreciated, and who can influence people when making their choice because they have the talent of writing very good testimonials, but they got to be this way in a very commercial manner, that is they write testimonials for almost everything that is out there, and thus the impact they have is diminishing from one product to the other.
10. Don't use links to customers' sites:
    It's true that presenting the site of the person who wrote the testimonial can bring more credibility, but this can be done simply by writing that site, and not directly linking it; you can presented simply under the name of the one who signs it, and the people interested will check it out.
11. Don't put too many testimonials on a sales page:
    Testimonials are positive, but when you put too many on a one-page sales letter, their effect is diminished! Thus, use only three or four on a page, and if you have more, link them, so as to be seen only by the ones interested. This way, you get to "show them off", but you present them, and they read them only if they want to.
12. Include photos:
    Photos can bring more credibility, the readers of the testimonial can now identify the written lines with the face, they now are more inclined to believe that someone ACTUALLY wrote that, and it's not made up; so, if you have photos, use them!
13. Use video testimonials:
    Video testimonials are really challenging, because the sincerity here is much more difficult to fake: people see beyond the words, they observe the mimics, the eyes, they hear the tone, they notice if the words are spoken as if they have been repeated and learned like a poem, or they come from the heart. Consequently, when using this type of testimonials, you should be really careful which to pick.
    
    Nevertheless, a good video testimonial can mean more to you then dozens of written ones, because the tone is much more personal: consumers can see, hear and identify the person, instead of just reading a name under some written lines.

Conclusions

After a few pages of theory and tips, the question remains: "Are testimonials: useful or damaging?" As I highlighted earlier in this article, it depends a lot on the structure, type and placing of the testimonial. Of course, the idealistic testimonial is both genuine and useful, but it's not always like that. Even if the person who wrote the testimonial is sincere, the way it was written can damage, because consumers are tired of overwhelming praises and tiring endorsements.

Thus, the more personal and precise a testimonial is, the more it helps your marketing and advertising; the more bombastic and vague, the more it can severely damage your company's image and reliability.

On the one hand, researchers agree that a though screening of testimonials is recommended, in order to allow only the ones which are positive, but on the other hand, it is advisable to allow also testimonials which are not all sweet and loving, but also teaching the other consumers tips about the product/service that come only with practical first hand experience, and can not be replaced by theory and vague product information.

But maybe it's worth learning how ro write awful testimonials before you learn how to have effective ones.

To conclude, genuine and worth using testimonials have a personal, unique and fresh feature that is advisable to be kept along the way, because if not, the purpose disappears into a static scientific advertising language.

Usually when a thing is no longer personal, it's no longer interesting to us as individuals, so out with the bragging, unreliable, vague, cliche testimonials and in with the sincere, accurate, eye-catching and personal ones.

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