Testimonials Are Your Ace in the Hole

As a merchant looking to see your products and services online, creating and cultivating relationships with your satisfied customers can be extremely beneficial to your procurement of more customers that are willing to try out your products.  Word of mouth still works extremely well for local services and products, but online, this sort of promotion can take the form of customer testimonials, recommendations, and referrals.  If you are currently running or are a member of an affiliate program, it is advisable that your affiliates author detailed, first-hand reviews and recommendations; but even better than these are testimonials from satisfied customers, and these can be the key to your overwhelming success.

While well-written testimonials from your affiliates can definitely be persuasive and extremely worthwhile, these affiliates are your representatives and are essentially being paid to crow about your products and services.  True “thumbs-ups” that come from satisfied customers that are not on your company’s payroll are undeniably effective.  Even small quotes like “never a better product” or “would buy again and again” collected from those your company has served well can provide the extra motivation and boost necessary to coax a new customer into reaching for his or her credit card.  Seeing and reading how your products have positively affected others can be extremely beneficial for your marketing campaigns.  Providing a feedback area where customers are able to provide their thoughts and experiences is an excellent way to collect positive comments without actually looking for or soliciting them.  Simply having a spot where customers may leave their input can work to your benefit; a simple “tell us what you think” can make your valued customers want to submit their true customer experiences, allowing you to reap the great rewards of their words’ promotional value. 

Emailing your customers as a simple follow up to their purchasing is an excellent way to receive quality referrals and recommendations.  Make sure and ask their permission before posting their comments however.  Using comments made in personal communication between yourself and a customer as part of your promotional campaign should always beokayed by the customer; without doing so, you run the risk of losing their support and their business.  Providing incentives to your satisfied customers can be an excellent way to receive referrals and testimonials in return as well.  Add an extra gift upon purchase and comment if you are able.  The returns you will experience as a result of your customers’ testimonial submissions will be undeniable and finding a way to use them in your product promotion will be undeniably beneficial to your success!