Reviews and testimonials about a product or service are becoming more and more important, in fact, did you know people are 270% more likely to purchase a product with five or more reviews than a product with none?
Testimonials and reviews are essential to create that “trust factor” that customers will be purchasing exactly what you’re offering. They’ve become increasingly aware of the biased quotient, meaning they’d much rather hear the review of a third person than the official seller’s advertisement.
You can use this to your advantage by including this valuable feedback amongst your marketing emails, encouraging trust in your potential customer and giving them space to make their own research on your product or service. Read on to find out how!
- Use the shorter ones
Even if it’s praising your product up and down, it’s unlikely a new customer will sit and read through a chunky paragraph of anything. Rather, pick reviews that are short and straight to the point. If you’re lucky enough to find someone’s given you a review with a punchy headline or some humour in it, use it! It’s a great eye catcher and likelier to stay in your prospective customer’s mind!
- Take it a step further with UGC
UGC stands for user generated content. Technically reviews and testimonials are UGC but why not take it a step further. Incorporating customer’s social media posts in picture or video format, using or with your product, can be very beneficial. Not only does it increase the credibility and trustworthiness of your brand, but it will also encourage the customer to get involved in the campaign. Not only do you become more relatable as a brand but you’ll see a surge in traffic to your site.
- Video testimonials
Linda Francis, a marketer at Lia Help and State of writing tells us – “Video is becoming more widely used in email marketing these days. 68% of people prefer to hear about a new product from a video format, it’s a no brainer!”.
Including video testimonials in your emails will engage more people and will add a human touch as the user gets to hear a genuine experience from a fellow consumer, rather than a highly planned and scripted promotional video.
- Reactivation emails
If you notice that your subscriber list is beginning to dwindle and customers are losing interest on your product, a great way of compelling them to stay or come back is by giving them access to their fellow subscribers’ reasons to stay. By reading a testimonial a person may be swayed to stick around, especially if the review talks about a product, they may have not heard of before or something they didn’t know you offered, so be strategic when picking which reviews you send out.
- Welcome emails
A welcome email is the first communication between you and your customer, so it’s essential you make the best impression.
Paul Kun , a business writer at Boom Essays and Paper Fellows tells us- “Providing a customer review on a welcome email will give your new customer the reassurance that they’ve made the right choice, and will also demonstrate that you’re a proactive brand that cares about the opinions of their customers and values their feedback”.
- Personalize your emails
If you’re not personalizing, you’re missing out! The best way to do this is by using testimonials that highlight customers that belong to that demographic. This means that the email will appear specially catered and crafted for the customer, which will dramatically increase the chances of them engaging with it.
Summary
Testimonials are an essential part of a successful marketing strategy. The goal here isn’t to completely overwhelm your customers with pages and pages of proof that your product is worth it. When sharing customer testimonials, the key take away is to be strategic in what you choose to show, how often and to whom. Social proof will make your customers feel more involved with your company and will add credibility to your brand, after all, we all want to be sure we’ve made the best purchase, gotten the best product or got the best deal!
Guest Author Bio: Digital marketer and content writer Elizabeth Hines writes articles about latest tech and marketing trends, innovations, and strategies. She writes for UK Writings and Academized as well as online magazines and blogs such as OX Essays and others.