The Power of Testimonials
/I just visited the websites of six prominent public golf courses here in Charlotte, where I live. These courses are desperate for business. Their websites are terrible. One of them got a dismal 39/100 on HubSpot's Website Grader (www.websitegrader.com).
There are ZERO testimonials. Shocking. Testimonials are vital for two reasons.
- Proof you keep your promises.
- You find out what's really important to your clients/customers.
Some tips for testimonials.
- The more the merrier. Testimonials are like snow at a ski resort--you can never have enough.
- Get someone to harvest them; a copywriter can help--I've often put them together.
- Make them stand out graphically. Either with a photo or some type of graphical element.
- Ask the testimonial giver if it's OK to tidy up grammar, spelling. A testimonial that reads, "their grate at Charlotte Golf club because its they're service which are ALWAYS awesime" is like Miss World with zits.
- Yes--if you have 100 testimonials, readers will not necessarily read all of them but the sheer volume can be impressive.
- Audio and video testimonials--YES!
I'm rebuilding my website so the testimonials page needs some work but it's there and Squarespace makes it easy to make them stand out. I'll add more and also add some photos.
Case studies are 'advanced testimonials' and these are even more powerful. Yes--they take work to put together but, if you can't put case studies together right away, make a point to get at least three testimonials a week. With photos.
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I'm a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte, North Carolina. I specialize in providing copy and content for the direct marketing environment. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here.
