Using Testimonials for Maximum Effect

Kethyr's CAMEL Report
St. Petersburg, Russia
Wednesday, October 15, 2008

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Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far.
— Will Rogers

One of the best ways to promote your product is through customer testimonials. In the September 1, 2008, edition of this publication, I explained the value of customer testimonials. Better than any other form of proof (logical argument, data, endorsements), testimonials can prove particular claims that you want to make about your product or service.

I also briefly covered how you can make your testimonials as strong as possible by ensuring that they have both powerful, unique language and a captivating presentation.

Today, I'd like to dive a little deeper into the most effective uses of testimonials.

Like any marketing tool, the strength of a testimonial is greatly related to the effectiveness of its presentation. If you give your customers typical testimonials in a typical way, they will have very little effect, because they will neither attract attention nor deliver an emotional message. But if you can find a way to make the testimonial new — either with the language itself or with the presentation — the effect can be both powerful and lasting.

When I coach clients on the power of proving their claims, I stress the importance of not using testimonials that "sound like" testimonials. When a customer tells you that your product or service is "far and away the leader in its field" or "the best thing since sliced bread," you may be thrilled because it sounds like something you might have written yourself. But that's precisely why you shouldn't use it.

The best testimonials are those worded in a way that catches your attention, conveys a positive message, and does so with credibility. "You Kicked Ass! I would easily pay more for another of your seminars!" is a testimonial I'd much rather use than "Fantastic Presentation! It was both delightful and informative." The "You Kicked Ass!" arrests my attention, the choice of words is believable, and the "I would easily pay more for another of your seminars" conveys an immediate benefit. It conveys value and almost makes me disappointed I missed the last presentation. I'm much less likely to pass up the next opportunity.

So that is one thing — selecting, finding, or creating language that meets these criteria:

• attracts attention
• conveys a benefit
• achieves credibility

But that's not all. To make your testimonials do their job, they need to be presented in a format that supports those three objectives. On a website or in a sales letter, testimonials are typically presented as one- or two-sentence quotations that are placed either in the text itself or at the margins. If you have a bunch of one- or two-sentence testimonials, it doesn't hurt to use them that way.

However, if you have a really good testimonial, one that's distinctive and believable and strongly conveys the chief benefit of your product or service, you should find a more creative way to present it. You can, for example, turn it into a big bold headline and bolster it with an eye-catching photo of the customer enjoying the benefit.

Perhaps the best way to achieve both powerful, unique language and a captivating presentation is to show actual customers in their natural environment speaking their own words. Infomercials selling wealth-building programs often present real customers talking about their success, but they are usually in a staged setting — in front of the beach or a swimming pool — and their comments seem to have been coached out of them. A much better approach would be to have these people walking around their homes or businesses, interacting with other people and talking candidly and in an unrehearsed way about how their businesses and/or lives changed by purchasing the product or service that is being sold.

But these aren't the only ways to use testimonials effectively in your promotions…

5 More Ways to Get Maximum Impact From Testimonials

Why Big Brands Want Big Stars

As you may know, there is a distinction between testimonials, which come from satisfied customers, and endorsements, which come from recognized authorities or other influential people such as celebrities. Both are effective, but the impact of having a recognized authority endorse your product or service can be enormous. One small but significant study showed a 300 percent difference between the response rates of two otherwise identical direct-marketing pieces when one was accompanied by an endorsement.

The study was completed in 2005 by Klein Buendel, a consultant specializing in health education issues. Researchers found that 12 percent of high-school teachers visited an online anti-smoking website after receiving information about a Web-based anti-smoking program accompanied by a letter from an influential opinion maker. Of teachers who received the promotional material without the endorsement, only four percent checked out the site. When the promotion was accompanied by testimonials from fellow educators, teachers were 14 percent more likely to make the anti-smoking program part of their lesson plan.

The reason endorsements work, says Robert Cialdini, author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, is that "when faced with a choice people often look around to see what others have done to guide their decision."

There's More Than One Way to Incorporate Testimonials Into Your Package

One effective way to use testimonials (and a technique I use as often as possible) is to weave testimonials into stories that illustrate, indirectly, the benefits of the product you are selling.

If the testimonials you have don't lend themselves to use as stories, you can put them on a separate page. If you're writing a sales letter, this "gate" (alternate point of entry to your marketing message for your reader) can be a different size or color than your main letter. Setting off a large group of testimonials like this can have a tremendous impact. Your prospect will be impressed by the number of testimonials you've collected.

Mind you, none of these techniques exists in a vacuum. When appropriate, you should use combinations of story testimonials, standalone gates, and testimonials in sidebars in your promotions.

When to Use More, When to Use Less

One question that comes up frequently is "How many testimonials are enough?"

I have two thoughts on this:

1. As a general rule, it is better to use a few really good testimonials than a big bunch that are just so-so.
    
2. However, as I mentioned in my previous article, if you have a product or service that seems too good to be true — or if you're making some very strong promises — you should stock your promotion with as many testimonials as possible. This volume of evidence should overcome any initial skepticism a prospect may have.

Keep It Real

Bob Bly, a great copywriter and teacher of copywriters, has written about testimonials numerous times. Bly points out that generalized testimonials that "sound like testimonials" (i.e., "Your product is great!") are not as effective as specific praise for particular benefits. While we've already covered this, it's worth repeating. Hyperbole is easy to write, but resist the temptation to use it — and avoid including testimonials that sound like exaggerated plugs for your product, even if they are genuine.

Bly warns against "polishing" plain prose to make it sound better, stating that "rough, even ungrammatical" quotes are good, because they will be seen as authentic.

Authenticity Is the Key

When Kathy Gulrich was a fledgling advertising executive working on a farm chemicals account, she was sent out to record interviews with farmers to be used as testimonials. What she heard blew her away: "It wasn't so much what the farmers said, but how they said it. They spoke with conviction — clearly from a place of knowledge and experience. Every interview flowed with the rhythms of regional dialect, personal anecdotes, and touches of humor. Man, these guys were so real!" said Gulrich in Build Your Business with Testimonials.

The authenticity of these testimonials, Gulrich said, struck a chord with other farmers — and the series of ads based on them outperformed all previous advertising for the company.

The bottom line is this: Testimonials work well if they are true — and the closer you can get to truth, the stronger your sales message will be. When working with testimonials, ask yourself, "How can I show this customer experience as dramatically and truly as possible?" You'll get a much better response.

Keep these issues in mind the next time you write (or review) a promotion for your product or service, and you're sure to see an increase in your sales.

Yours in success,

Sean Eric Armstrong
Kethyr's CAMEL Report

P.S. For more information about how you can use testimonials effectively in your online and offline marketing efforts, please contact us at info@kethyrsolutions.com.

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