Miles Ahead Marketing

In the last installment of our look at testimonial marketing techniques, we’re going to go over some of the must-haves in any testimonial campaign. Sticking to this checklist will ensure your efforts are not in vain.

Just Ask
If you aren’t already asking your customers for testimonials, close this blog and start now! Chances are, it will be easier than you think. Get in the habit of asking customers for quotes on a regular basis to ensure you’ve always got a great supply of these powerful marketing tools. 

Don’t Forget the Details
Don’t simply take a great quote and toss it into your marketing materials. Remember to use the customer’s name and location, along with any other appropriate information such as job title, photo, audio, or video, to increase the credibility of your testimonial.

Be Specific
Have your delighted customers give specific anecdotes, details, and scenarios about how your product wowed them or how they used it to solve a problem. Gurus say vague quotes about how great you are won’t go very far in connecting with potential clients.

Get Permission
Whatever you do, make sure you get your customer’s consent before using a testimonial in any marketing campaign. Doing so is not only considerate, but absolutely necessary if you want to retain the great clients you already have.

Use Them Everywhere
Why go to all of the trouble of mining and cataloguing testimonials if you aren’t going to get them in front of people? Create a powerful and consistent message by offering your testimonials in direct mail, print, radio, and TV ads, internet, and more.

Now that you know more about using testimonial marketing to increase response, you’ve got the power to send response and sales through the roof. For much more on become an Automatic Marketing machine, download your free copy of guru Ben Hart’s e-book.

If you’ve got quality customer testimonials in your arsenal, you’ve done most of the work already. However, knowing how to use these valuable items will ensure you’re maximizing the gain you’ll get in your response rates.

Place Quotes in a Johnson Box
For those who are unfamiliar, a Johnson Box is a simply a way of drawing the reader’s eye to a particular section of copy by drawing a box around it. Johnson Boxes are often placed at the top of a direct mail piece, above the salutation. They can be made from solid lines or asterisks, and may be filled with another background color. In e-mails, be sure the box is visible in the preview pane.

Use a Tip Box
Another great idea is to create a sidebar or “tip box,” where you provide the customer with a helpful, real-world scenario for using your product or service. Supplement this tip section with a quote from a real customer.

Choose Wisely
When choosing the parts of your testimonial to include in your marketing, be sure to use the most important – and most relevant – part of the quote. A testimonial is worthless if the potential customer does not identify with it or if it is in any way unclear.

Make Headlines
Once you’ve editing your testimonial down to a compact, powerful quote, take things a step further by isolating the best part of that quote and using it as a headline in your Johnson Box.

Order Pages
Experts say you should strategically place one or more of your best testimonials on your order pages to help potential customers get over any last-minute uncertainty.

Use Photos
People are far more likely to trust a testimonial when they can put a face with the words and the name. Use candid photos of your clients along with their quotes – match the demographic of the client with that of the target audience for greater impact.

Get Creative
To really wow them, use multimedia packages such as business-card sized CDs or thumb drives loaded with a presentation. Prospective clients will be able to see and hear your satisfied clients speak about the benefits of using your product or service.

In my next blog we’ll end our discussion with a comprehensive testimonial marketing checklist.