Testimonials

I decided to use the word “testimonial” for this article because a testimonial is – simply and only – the words of your customers and clients, in written or spoken form.

I could have used the phrase “social proof” instead. That would have covered testimonials and things like the ubiquitous “cred strip” (all the little monochrome logos), statistics, numbers, stars, etc., all of which are also important signals to potential customers and clients.

But those aren’t what I’m interested in. I just want to write about the actual things your customers have said or written about you and your company.

Testimonials {Headline > Subhead > Body > CTA > Button > Micro}

In some ways, if you’re doing it right, your entire page is, in essence, a multi-layered testimonial.

That is, if you’re doing Voice of Customer research and working the language, the pains, and the desires of your ideal customer into your copy—as close to verbatim as possible—then everything you write will be a form of testimonial (even if no one but you knows it).

It will all be words spoken in support of your product or service, highlighting what it does best.

But also, speaking specifically about testimonials, they are more effective when they’re spread throughout your page (or email) as opposed to being clustered all together in one hard – or annoying, in the case of a clunky accordion-type display – to read section.

Support every marketing claim you make

One simple way to make sure you’re spreading your testimonials around is to think of them as partners in the persuasive conversation you’re having with your reader.

When you make a claim, back it up with a testimonial.

If you’re just getting through a section that talks about your process and how you’ve made it easy for people to work with you, what could be better than an adjacent client testimonial talking about their experiences with just that?

You don’t want to overwhelm the reader and back up every single thing you say. But painting a broad-strokes type of argument that ends with a statement from a person who isn’t you (ideally including their picture) is a great way to make what you’re saying more believable.

Some of this is best done in the gathering phase by politely asking people to be more specific in their feedback or even just guiding customers from whom you’ve requested a testimonial toward a certain aspect of your product, service, or experience.

Make sure all of your ideal customers feel seen

Speaking of guiding the experience, it’s also important that you put in the work to make sure that you have testimonials as diverse as the audience you serve. This could include considering sex, gender, sexuality, race, language, nationality, age, business type, business size, business age, market, industry, customer type, personality type, product/offer purchased, and many, many more variables.

There is a myriad of good reasons for this – and I’m not going to try to make an ethical discussion of it here – but, at the end of the day, it comes down to the truth behind one of my favorite Seth Godin quotes: “people like us do things like this.”

If all of your testimonials are from Enterprise companies, and you’re hoping to work with solopreneurs, it probably won’t work out. If all you have are testimonials raving about your low prices and discounts, you might have trouble raising your rates or selling a luxury product.

If you want to sell a thing, you need a testimonial from someone who bought that thing. If you want to sell to a certain type of business (or person), you need a testimonial from that same type of business (or person).

Take your guilt-free chance to show off

Something many humble, fair-minded, empathetic business owners and leaders (my favorite type of person to work with, btw) struggle with is the fear of bragging. Or the fear of being perceived to be bragging.

They rarely want to use superlatives – best, most, first, fastest – even if they’re demonstrably true.

Fair enough. I feel the same way.

But it’s not bragging if it’s your customers or clients who are saying it, right? If they say, “working with Company X was the best experience of my business career,” who are we to argue with or censor them?

Even more powerful than the maxim of letting your product or experience do the selling, is letting your customers do the selling. They have clout with people who are thinking of buying from or working with you; they have more power to persuade than you do. So, let them!

How I write choose testimonials

I want to lead this section off by saying that I never write testimonials (at least not unless the person who wants to give it asks me to). I may request a theme or area of focus for a testimonial, or I may edit an existing testimonial (just a bit) to make the grammar work (hey, we’re not all writers). But other than that, I like them to stay in their natural state.

Which means it just comes down to choosing testimonials.

Sometimes you’ll have hundreds to choose from, other times you’re working with three. Either way, there’s always some thought put into which goes where, which gets seen first, and which gets seen last.

If I’m going to put something into the hero section of a page (the bit “above the fold”, the part you see before scrolling), it has to be short, memorable, and powerful.

If it’s the testimonial in the CTA section – the one that will be nudging the reader as they contemplate clicking through – it’s got to be directly encouraging and persuasive.

And if I’m writing for a B2B company, I always consider how the person’s title and company will affect your reader. Do they match your ideal customer’s hierarchical position and company type? Are they relatable? Does your ideal reader aspire to have a company as successful as theirs?

What makes a successful testimonial

A successful testimonial supports the copy it appears next to, before, or after. It adds a voice that would be inappropriate coming from the owner of the page. It’s natural and authentic, coming in as many different flavors of customer as you have. It is obviously real and offered in good faith. It shows your reader that people like them do things like this.

One last thought from me on the topic: Images. We touched on it briefly, but it’s important to bring it up again. If you’re getting a testimonial from someone, do everything you can to get their picture too. And to get permission to publish that picture and as much of their full name as they’re willing to share.

Nothing undermines the authority of a good testimonial more than a grey silhouette image and the attribution to “customer”. Even if it’s real, it looks worse (to my eyes) than not having a testimonial at all.

Got thoughts on these thoughts? Let’s connect! Send me a message here.