EBlog
Customer testimonials - what works and what works better.
July 24, 2008 | Posted by: Lee
As B2B marketers we all know that what our customers say about us is more important than what we say about ourselves. So how do you make the most out of the customer testimonials you have on your site?
Make them real.
For a testimonial to have impact, your prospect has to believe it. A recent study by MarketingExperiments, found that in the B2B world, video testimonials had higher credibility with viewers than audio testimonials. And, text-only testimonials were less likely to be perceived as genuine by prospects (this is doubly true when they're anonymous).
Video has more credibility because the customer is real - your prospect can see and hear them. They can also pick up on tone and body language, which adds to credibility in ways that text alone can't.
Address real issues and concerns.In complex B2B technology sales, buyers come to the table with specific issues and concerns. They're most often worried about ROI, implementation issues, and how you'll handle customer service.
You can use testimonials to get specific about how you'll address these issues - the more specific the better. Being up front about buyers' concerns and objectives makes you more trustworthy and credible in their eyes.
Placement matters.
You can increase the effectiveness of your testimonials by matching the content of the testimonial with similar content on your site. For example, place the testimonial that raves about your customer support on the customer support page. Put the one about ease of implementation on your "How it works" page.
So what does this mean for me?
Use testimonials to add credibility and proactively address your prospects' issues. If you're going to include testimonials, the more real you can make them the more impact it will have. Look at videotaping key clients where you can.
- Ask sales to identify the top 3-5 objections or concerns they encounter in the buying process.
- Identify customers who can talk specifically about these concerns.
- Ask the customer to mention the issue they were dealing with and how your company addressed it.
- Review your site to identify the issues/questions your prospect may have as they move through the site.
- Categorize your testimonials by topic, then strategically place testimonials on relevant pages.
- If you can't do all videos, try using audio clips with photos and customer details (name, company, title).
- For any text testimonials be sure you include name, company, and title. Add project details where possible in a mini-case study way (e.g., product or service, dates, main issue they were trying to fix).
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Categorized in: Web-Centric, Marketing
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Comments
July 25 2008 - 02:23 PM | by Christine Campbell
Agreed - testimonials are really the “killer app” for marketers.
Question, is there any research on the quality level of the videos?
For example, some testimonials I see,like ours, are very polished and well produced. Others are less so (more YouTubeish). Any thoughts on how much we need to sink into the production quality of these?
July 28 2008 - 09:23 AM | by Lee Erickson
Christine, interesting enough it depends on the content, the size of the company, who’s watching it, and what message you’re trying to send.
Some research suggests high quality video is important if you’re a small company trying to look bigger and more established than you are. It’s also important if you’re selling at an exec level vs. IT staff. The assumption here is that execs are not looking for the gory details but instead trying to get a feel for your company. Professional and credible is the message you need to send.
A less polished approach seems to work better for non-execs, especially IT staff, where the highly produced stuff is seen as marketing fluff without the substance they need. This group connects better with the “man on the street” videos. Because they have an impromptu less sales focused feel, they’re more believable (like discussed in the post above).
August 01 2008 - 01:36 PM | by Bob Ragsdale
Lee, the points you raise are excellent and as you note, it is imperative to “address real issues and concerns.” I believe that far too many marketers focus too narrowly on project outcomes and demonstrating ROI because they believe that’s what testimonials are supposed to do. As you point out testimonials can do that, and they can do many other things as well. It is important to ensure that the structure and selection of the testimonials be designed to underpin the core communication strategy.