How customer testimonials boost online credibility

An excellent way to build this trust with your customers is to use customer testimonials. Authentic customer testimonials act as the best form of marketing for your products. 

After all, people relate to other people. The experiences (both good and bad) of your current or prior customers will influence the decision-making process for your new customers or future prospects!

So, in this blog, we’ll talk about how you can boost your brand’s online credibility using customer testimonials!

But first, let’s understand, in a bit more detail, why customer testimonials are important.

Why Customer Testimonials Matter

Let’s take a few steps back, and put ourselves in the shoes of a customer. Haven’t all of us, at one point or another, been a customer for a different product?

Before we purchase something, whether it’s a product or a service, we tend to look up their reviews online. Whether it’s reviews on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, or just plain old written reviews on sites like TrustPilot and Amazon, we check them to be sure of our buying decisions.

If the reviews are good, we feel validated about our purchase. However, if the reviews aren’t up to par, we tend to avoid that particular product or service. 

In its simplest form, this is how customer testimonials work to sway the rest of your audience. Testimonials from real customers who talk about how your product or service provided them with value are excellent for converting prospective buyers.

If utilized correctly, your community is your strongest marketing pitch for newer audiences! So, it’s essential not to ignore it. In fact, you should use it to maximize your sales potential!

If you’re still not convinced, let’s talk numbers. A 2023 survey by Power Review found that 82% of customers trust user reviews and customer testimonials. Plus, a Podium survey in 2017 reported that 93% checked reviews online before purchasing an item.

Here’s the kicker: In 2023, the Kelly Anderson Group conducted a survey which found that customer testimonials have the highest effectiveness rating among all content marketing methods—a whopping 89%!

As you can see, the numbers speak for themselves. There’s no reason not to implement customer testimonials into your marketing strategies!

Types of Customer Testimonials

• Written Reviews: These are the most common type of reviews, where users give a rating and provide their opinion and experience of the product or service. You’ll find these types of reviews on Yelp, Trustpilot, and Google Reviews.
  
  
• Video Testimonials: This is another form of customer testimonial, in which customers record themselves or the product to showcase their experience. These are better than written reviews because the customer can see both the product in action and hear the users talking about their experience, making for an engaging watch.
  
  
• Case Studies: Case studies are more incorporated in B2B marketing than in B2C. These are usually conducted by agencies that survey and take user feedback. Based on this, they provide in-depth information and insights about the product or service. Usually, they are used by businesses who want to show potential customers how their product has brought value to their target audience.
  
  
• Social Media Mentions: Social media is a powerful tool now to reach out to both brands, other customers, and prospects. Due to this, users are often quick to mention brands (in either positive or negative notes) and talk about their experience as a consumer. In fact, social media mentions that talk about the positives of a brand or their product can result in a much better online reputation due to its wider reach and potential for virality.
  

How to Collect Effective Testimonials?

Blatantly asking for testimonials from customers without a plan can be disastrous for your brand. Here’s how you can get better testimonials to build brand trust:

1. 1. Know when to ask: Only ask users for testimonials after you’ve helped them in some way. For example, you’ve managed to resolve a query and had a positive customer interaction. This is the time you can ask for a customer testimonial.
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3. 2. Simplify the process: Long, drawn-out processes for customer testimonials will only put off the user. So, make it easy for them. You can provide them with forms or ask them to fill out a survey. Plus, when you use a platform like Life Inside, you can just ask them to provide a short video citing their positive experience!
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5. 3. Provide easy questions: Users can often feel lost when asked to just talk about a product. Help them by giving them easy questions to answer, such as what they liked the most about the product/service, or how it helped them achieve a desired output.

You can also ask them for testimonials from other channels, such as social media. Apart from that, if you have the means to do so (and if it’s appropriate), you can offer them incentives. For example, you can say that a positive yet authentic customer testimonial can give them an extra 5% off on the product!

How Life Inside Helps You Collect Testimonials

Life Inside is an easy way to collect real and authentic testimonials that build trust and credibility for your brand. The interactive video technology gives you the ability to collect stories quickly via video testimonials from customers, clients, or partners either live or recorded. Life Inside  provides simple features to invite participants to share their stories without need for technical expertise.

Life Inside automates the testimonials' collection process instead of users accessing various options to upload new testimonials, the participants can upload existing video into the library. Life Inside makes collecting authentic feedback easy by providing a structured approach with customizable prompts, user-friendly interface, and guided recording process. 

After the testimonials are collected, they can be supercharged and enriched with interactive assets such as: call-to-actions, lead capture forms, share buttons, and others to be presented in the library and across all marketing, sales, HR/recruiting initiatives - with ease and authenticity.  Life Inside's possibilities build credibility and engagement with more conversion opportunities for prospects because they are hearing from real people with actual stories who have loved the product and service.

With Life Inside you create an authentic, scalable library of testimonials presented in easily consumable, engaging, human, and testimonial video assets that helps create emotional connection to your brand and convert visitors into loyal customers.

Best Practices for Displaying Testimonials

The best way to influence your audience into purchasing your product is to strategically display authentic testimonials. Here’s how:

1. 1. Website: Since your website is your biggest marketing asset, you can place the testimonials on the homepage, next to a particular product (with the relevant user testimonial), or in the checkout journey.
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3. 2. Variety: Use social media mentions, written text, and videos throughout the customer journey to showcase various users and their positive feedback.
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5. 3. Clear and Concise: Nobody wants to read a long review or watch a 10-minute user testimonial. Keep a short paragraph (3 lines or so) for text reviews or social mentions, and a 30-second user testimonial.
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7. 4. Authenticity Matters: Just showing a random testimonial won’t help; you’ll need social proof. So, ensure that the testimonials have links to the profiles of real people. It’s even better if the users are experts in their fields!
   
   

SEO and Conversion Benefits of Testimonials

Authentic customer testimonials can help boost your website ranking, SEO, and conversions. Let’s understand how:

1. 1. Search Rankings: Testimonials can cover User Generated Content (UGC), star ratings (4 Star/5 Star), and written reviews. In fact, customers often use common phrases in reviews that are relevant to long-tail search queries!
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3. 2. Better Conversions: Since testimonials are highly trustworthy (82%, remember?), you can see increased conversions after users check reviews on both your website and other online sources. In fact, WikiJob A/B tested to confirm this, and found that customer testimonials resulted in a 34% increase in conversions! 
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5. 3. Engagement: It’s important in SEO to keep your users engaged as much as possible, as this shows Google that your content is useful for consumers. With video testimonials, you can keep your audience engaged (and interacting) for longer durations!
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7. 4. Local SEO: Boosting your local search presence can increase your search rankings in the long term. Positive feedback on Google Reviews tells search engines that you’re not only real but also providing value. This boosts the overall nature of your brand’s visibility!

Conclusion

As a brand, it’s essential to realize that your audience plays the biggest role in your success. If your audience isn’t convinced by what you offer, then no matter the strategies or playbooks you implement, your product or service will not convert. 

So, based on the insights we’ve provided you today, collect testimonials from customers on a priority basis for your marketing strategy. And yes, do remember to use video testimonials. This gives the audience the idea that your other customers are real, and that your product brings value. Plus, it boosts your brand visibility online!

Don’t hesitate; take action now—check out Life Inside to know how you can use interactive video to market your products and include real testimonials from your customers!