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Reaping Testimonials of the Right Kind

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A new marketing rule issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission has now opened the door for financial advisors to incorporate testimonials, and Andrew Johnson, writing in ThinkAdvisor, wants to make sure advisors reap testimonials of the right kind and in the right way….

Many of the cautions and concerns Johnson mentions are centered around compliance (legal) issues. For example, advisors should disclose if the testimonial is coming from a current or past client, if that client has been compensated in any way for providing a testimonial, and if there are any conflicts of interest.

But at least two of the questions the author raises are relevant for any business owner or practitioner, I believe:

  1. How will you request a customer’s feedback? What will be the timing of the request?
  2. Once testimonials have been received, will all of them be displayed? If not, how will those used be selected?

Remember the 1977 movie about aliens called “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”?  As I like to remind both the content writers at Say It For You and the clients who hire us, the goal of a blog marketing is to not to attract customers per se, but customers “of the right kind”. These are customers who have a need for and who will appreciate the services, products, and expertise being showcased in the marketing content.  On our end, “getting it right” takes planning and thought. Ask yourself: Are you selecting the right keyword phrases? Are you establishing the right clear navigation path from your posts to your landing pages? Are you blogging for the right reasons and with the right expectations?

In one of my earliest Say It For You blog posts, I recommended using testimonials and success stories to boost credibility. I quoted an observation by Webcopyplus.com that testimonials help your business in two ways, helping new customers decide to do business with you, but also fostering commitment from those providing the testimonials.

One common practice I’ve been careful to avoid when it comes to testimonials is writing remarks, then asking the client to approve and “own” them. In every one of the testimonials shown on my website, the words were created by the customer, never by myself or by another of the Say It For You team. I strongly disagree with Quora contributor Michael Stephen who says the following: “If a customer agrees to provide a testimonial, don’t wait for them to write it. They are busy, they are distracted with life, they don’t have the time. The solution? Write it for them forward it to them and let them know they can change it anyway they like.”

Yes, we “say it for you” in case study, blog post, and newsletter content, but, when asking for (“the right kind” of testimonials, we want our clients to say it for themselves!

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Signs They’ve Found the Right Place

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they've come to the right place

“How can you be assured your hundreds – or thousands – of dollars have been well spent?” James R. Healy asks, writing in the AARP Bulletin about finding the right auto repair shop. Reading through those 9 “signposts” Healy suggests shoppers use as guidelines to quality assurance, it occurred to me how very relevant those are to blog marketing.

Just as consumers would not be searching for the right auto shop unless they already felt the need for one, online searchers who land on your blog are already interested in and have a need for the type of products or services you offer. Several of the signs attesting to the competence of the auto repair shop are those you can stress in your blog content that will serve as “signs” to those readers that “they’ve found the right place”…

People you trust say good things.
Testimonials from clients and customers are a powerful form of social proof; we are more likely to follow actions others have already taken,

The shop has the right stickers in the window.
What needs to come across loud and clear in business blog writing is what preparation, training, and effort it takes – on your part and on the part of your employees – to be able to deliver the expert advice, service, and products customers can expect from you.

The shop shows pride in its appearance.
The main message of a blog is delivered in words, of course. Where visuals come in, whether they’re in the form of “clip art”, photos, graphs, charts, or even videos, is to add interest and evoke emotion. You should take pride in your blog’s appearance, ease of navigation, and correct grammar.

Management will stand by its work.
Blog content writers need to need to keep up on what others are saying on the topic, what’s in the news, what problems and questions have been surfacing that relate to that industry, and use the blog content to show how this practitioner or business owner has stood by his/her work.

Not all these things can be accomplished in any one blog post. But, if you’re consistently creating content that’s helpful for your target customer, it’ll help establish you as an authority in their eyes, and prospects who have reading your blog posts will typically enter the sales process more educated about what you have to offer.

Welcome blog visitors by offering signs they’ve found the right place!

 

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