Why Use Testimonials
So lets looks at some of the reasons why you should be using testimonials on your site.
Leverage social proof
Testimonials are one of the most persuasive forms of social proof available. Showing testimonials from your customers that people can relate to will strengthen the belief in their minds that your product is what they’re looking for.
Answer FAQ’s
Another benefit to testimonials is that they can serve as a sort of mini case study if done correctly. By describing the benefits of working with you, these testimonials are likely to answer some of the questions that are stopping your visitors from taking the next step and getting in contact.
Establish Trust
Testimonials have the ability to increase trust in your product or service. They act as a third party, in a similar way to word of mouth. It’s no longer just you shouting about the benefits, others are too.
Why Use Video
So we’ve looked at some of the reasons testimonials increase conversion rate, now lets look at some of the reasons video does:
Increases the length of time spent on page
Video has a great way of increasing the amount of time people spend on a page. It has a higher engagement rate, and more time on page means more time for your message and branding to sink in.
People prefer to watch rather than read
In most instances, people will opt to watch something over reading something – that’s why most people will consistently choose TV over books. Having video on your site makes it much more appealing to the majority of visitors.
Get Combining!
So it’s easy the see why the combination of videos and testimonials is so appealing. Video testimonials used in the right way can work wonders on your conversion rate, but there are certain things to consider before you go and put any old testimonial up.
What Should You Look for in a testimonial?
Now I know testimonials should come from the mouth of the client, but there’s nothing wrong with giving them a bit of a reminder about the results they’ve had from working with you, and working with them to put something together.
So when working on the scripts for your video testimonials, there’s a few things you want to try and include where possible to create something that really provides value.
Describe the benefits
Rather than the generic, “we would highly recommend company x” style statement, you ideally want your testimonials to go into detail on how you actually helped them. Are there any metrics you can mention, how much new business have you driven, how you made their lives easier, that sort of thing.
This allows people to see how you can bring these benefits to their business, and makes it much more personal.
Don’t make it too salesy
Testimonials that take on too much of a “salesy” tone can often have the effect of decreasing trust. If it comes across as contrived it can ruin what you’re trying to achieve.
Use someone your audience can relate to
Another important things to consider is that the testimonials you choose, will also send a message about what sort of customers you deal with, so it’s important this doesn’t work against you.
You’re using testimonials to help get new business, so think about the sort of business you want to drive. If your target audience is SMBs, you don’t want to be using your big corporate clients as it’s likely they will have trouble relating.
In the same vein, demonstrating how you have helped local businesses isn’t going to speak much to big corporations who need a larger scale offering.
