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Testamonials...not worth the Time?

NandoNando subscriber Posts: 3
edited May 2007 in Marketing
Knowing the evolving world of sales, companies will do anything to sell their products and will even have fake testamonials.  Having said that, are testamonials in your website from real customer worth it?...but how will the prospects know that its real...hmmm.  Any ideas anyone.
 
 
 
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Comments

  • JohnDeVriesJohnDeVries subscriber Posts: 1
    If your business is B2B (business to business), then you could post a link to your customers web site right under their testimonials.  If it isn`t I would make sure to include a name with the comment, a date, and if possible a picture.  Any copywriter, salesperson, or Internet Marketer will tell you that testimonials are absolutely vital to adding legitimacy and proof to your site.  So, they are MORE than worth it.  here`s a link to an article on how to make your testimonials more believable.  Hope that helps.
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  • iouone2iouone2 subscriber Posts: 14

    Nando    ... you are correct. Testimonials are useless on their own. However, combined with good site design, fair pricing, brand positioning, and a crap load of other decision making factors of the customer, they are powerful sales motivators. On my site (ElusiveTreasures), I have placed testimonials with my customer`s permission. Kathy is a member of SuN and has provided a testimonial of the product she chose from my site. I kindly asked her for a testimonial. You can see her testimonial for the product she purchased in two locations... 1. SuN`s Market Place 2. Dahlia FlowerI cannot exactly prove that testimonials on my site, actually cause sales, but it is likely it doesn`t hurt them.
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  • NandoNando subscriber Posts: 3
    Thank you very much for the link and your 2 cents.  I truly appreciate the feedback.  It does help a lot.
     
     
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  • JeannieJeannie subscriber Posts: 8
    Hi Nando,
    I do have testimonials posted on my site. I don`t know if having it helps my visitors or not but as Vincent said, it doesn`t hurt to have it there for them to read. 
    When I get good feedback from my customers, I immediately ask them for permission to post their testimonial.  They usually say okay since they already told me that they like the product. 
    But I don`t know how to prove to others that they`re real and not just made up.  At one time, I read that you should ask them to include an email address, but I think that is too personal. I don`t want them to get spammed so I decided not to ask them for it.
    But I do like testimonials from customers who have websites.  That way, if people really wanted to find out if my product was good or not, then they can visit my customer`s web site and ask.
    Anyway, I hope that helps.
    Jeannie
     Jeannie2007-5-5 17:2:21
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  • iouone2iouone2 subscriber Posts: 14

    Jeannie    ... the problem with giving a website of people giving a testimonial is that the "testimonial" website might not be presented as professionally as the `store` website. Branding can be effected unless you hand pick those people with testimonial and websites that have a professional appearance. Since I am selling retail, many people have a myspace or some other free home page. They might have even designed their own site with their own domain name, but I have no way to control content, or other issues that would arise by telling people, "go to this person`s website so I can prove the testimonial is true." Then, for my link to their website, what does my site get in return? Probably nothing...Although, it`s an idea, I am not sure it`s a good one... Just thinking about it...
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  • JDawgJDawg subscriber Posts: 4
    I use testimonials that are real and I think including the name of the person, the business and link to the web site if I designed it is proff enough. I also post an image of what I desigend for them, logo, artwork, etc...and incorporate it into my portfolio (when I have time!).
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  • JeannieJeannie subscriber Posts: 8
    Jeannie... the problem with giving a website of people giving a testimonial is that the "testimonial" website might not be presented as professionally as the `store` website. Branding can be effected unless you hand pick those people with testimonial and websites that have a professional appearance. Since I am selling retail, many people have a myspace or some other free home page. They might have even designed their own site with their own domain name, but I have no way to control content, or other issues that would arise by telling people, "go to this person`s website so I can prove the testimonial is true." Then, for my link to their website, what does my site get in return? Probably nothing...Although, it`s an idea, I am not sure it`s a good one... Just thinking about it...
    Hi Vincent,
    Actually, when you say, "website might not be presented as professionally as the `store` website.", I never thought about that before because I`ve never experienced coming across a customer who had a myspace or some other free home page yet. So I can see why you are concerned.
    If I was in your situation with the customer`s having a My Space and regular free home page, I would agree with you that it wouldn`t be a good idea to include their website information.  So it would have to depend on the circumstance. Thanks for bringing up that scenerio for me! I really didn`t think of that before.
    Right now, under my testimonials, I only have two customers that have a web site included and they were individual retail customers (not big companies at all). One is an artist and one has good information on being left-handed - which is fortunate for me that it ties in with why they would use my product. Please note that I DON`T tell people to "go to this person`s website so I can prove the testimonial is true." 
    All I do is type the customer`s name and include their web address at the end of the testimonial. It`s all up to the visitors to do additional research if they wanted to.  
    As for you saying, "Then, for my link to their website, what does my site get in return? Probably nothing..."   -  
    I was given this advice about testimonials a while back:
    "Whenever possible, it`s best to get permision to use the person`s full name and, if they have a website, link to their website. This adds credibility to your testimonials so it`s obvious these are real people, not just some anonymous " S.W. from Los Angeles".
    Also, for my web site, I have a page called "Lefty & Art Links".  I created this so that visitors can find good information/tips on being left-handed and some art tips.  If I find sites that have good informational content, I automatically link to those sites even though they do not link back to me. I do not expect anything in return from those sites.  I`m basically trying to provide good information to my visitors by linking to good sites. 
    I was given advice about link exchanges a while back. Please take a look here:
    http://websitehelpers.com/seo/why-you-d ... -link.html</A>
    I hope I shed some light.
    Jeannie
     Jeannie2007-5-6 10:28:53
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  • vwebworldvwebworld subscriber Posts: 40
    Word of mouth advertising influences peoples` purchasing decisions more that finding a site through a web search.
    Today`s internet provides many ways to promote your product/service through word of mouth (like social networking websites).
    Testimonials are still a good form of word of mouth advertising. Certainly, they need to be believable and relevant to the product or service.
    Testimonials may not induce a preson to buy but may provide some level of comfort to the buyer knowing others have purchased the product/service and been pleased. Testimonial also may increase the level of "trust" a viewer has with the site - a critical factor for online transactions.
    ~Rolandvwebworld2007-5-9 1:19:59
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  • ethnicommethnicomm subscriber Posts: 1
    Testimonials that include pictures and full name seem to be more credible. Video testimonials are becoming more common due to the YouTube generation. One way of making the testimonial work for you is to have appropriate testimonials for each section of your site. In Jeannie`s case, a testimonial from a left-handed user and another from a table PC user would make sense if placed right near or after the "Do you have...." copy on the bottom of the main page. A testimonial on her phenomenal customer service would be appropriate on the shipping/delivery or order now page. Another from a person complaining about smudges would tie in with the 88% of young lefties complain about smudges stat that she has on one of her pages.When seeking testimonials, look for more than just the product testimonial as customers buy for many reasons - a glowing testimonial on your return policy might make the difference!
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  • JeannieJeannie subscriber Posts: 8
    Hi Ethnicomm,
    As always, your input is very much appreciated!   Thanks!
    Jeannie
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