Harnessing the Power of Testimonials in Advertising

Think about the last time you received a genuine, heartfelt compliment. How did it make you feel? Are you blushing a little bit right now just thinking about it?

As an individual, receiving an unsolicited compliment always feels good. It’s validation that you are doing something right.

The same feelgood-iness also applies to brands and businesses. When your business gets a compliment, attaboy, or a five-star rating on Google, it’s a moment worth celebrating.

It’s also incredibly important to share the love.

Unsolicited positive testimonials are the ultimate currency in the user generated content game and they can be worth their virtual weight in gold for your business if utilized correctly.

What is testimonial advertising?

Testimonial advertising means using genuine comments and reviews from your current and past customers to encourage new customers to take action when it comes to your products or services. These testimonials are quite valuable and can be utilized in audio, text, or video formats as part of your marketing content and planning.

Trust and Word of Mouth Sells — BIG TIME

At Madison+Main, we believe there are three kinds of brands:

There are brands you know and love.
There are brands you know and don’t love.
There are brands you’ve never heard of before.

According to BigCommerce, 92% of customers read online reviews before buying, 72% of consumers say positive testimonials and reviews increase their trust in a business, and 88% of consumers trust online testimonials and reviews as much as recommendations from friends or family.

Regardless of your product or service, the vast majority of your customers are going to do a little research before opening their pocketbooks. If your reviews are less than stellar or nonexistent, your potential new customers will likely take their dollars elsewhere.

On the other hand, if you feature some of your best reviews throughout your marketing communications — especially on your website and social media posts — you are showing potential customers that your brand is genuinely trusted and loved by others.

It’s OK to Brag About Your Own Brand

Believe it or not, we’ve worked with several clients over the years that admit they don’t like talking about themselves or their brand. That might seem like a unique conundrum considering they hired us to help them talk about their brands, but humility is real and we understand.

However, regardless of your comfort threshold regarding self-promotion, allowing your own customers to do the bragging for you is never a bad thing and serves as an interesting workaround for that interesting paradox.
If you are ready to promote your satisfied customers to the esteemed role of “brand ambassadors,” there are so many ways for people to voice their opinions about your business, products, and services. There is a chance your customers are already talking about you on popular platforms like Yelp, Google, Facebook, and Nextdoor.

How to Get More Positive Reviews for Your Testimonial Advertising

Whether you have a ton of existing positive reviews at your disposal or just a few, it’s always good to have more. While you can wait around for them to come in on their own, the waiting game can be painful. Here are a few helpful tips for how to accumulate more positive reviews for your business:

Ask Your Cheerleaders: Leaving a review isn’t top-of-mind for everyone. Sometimes you just have to ask your customers — especially the happiest, most loyal ones — to leave you a quick review on Google, Facebook, or your website if it is equipped to accept reviews.
Make it Easy: Since the world (and your website’s organic traffic) relies on Google, create a QR code that links directly to the review submission section of your Google My Business profile. The less clicks someone has to make to leave a review, the better.
More Opportunities = More Positive Comments: If you leave it up to your customers, more positive comments may or may not happen. Take a proactive approach and increase your odds. Cast a wider net and place that QR code with a “Please Leave Us A Review” headline in all the obvious places — email signatures, receipt or invoice footers, near your POS system, sales flyers, etc.

Respond to everyone (yes, even Karen): We’ve learned that the best way to mitigate negative reviews and to encourage new positive reviews is to respond to all of your reviews and comments. The internet is an interesting space and keyboard warriors will spew out anonymous negativity willy-nilly if left unchecked. However, when users see that you are attentive to all comments, they will leave less negative comments and sometimes will remove or more positively revise their comments.

Ready to spread the good word (of mouth) about your brand? Need help soliciting more genuine, positive reviews for your business? Madison+Main uses a combination of PR efforts, digital marketing, social media, partnership marketing, and organization accolades to create a well-rounded, integrated plan that produces bold, tangible results. Reach out to Madison+Main for help by calling (877) 623-6246! #BoldBrandsWin