It didn’t used to matter a whole lot what people said about your business. A bit of word-of-mouth marketing was useful, but if people weren’t happy they couldn’t do you much damage. But thanks to the internet and social media that has now all changed!
In the age of quick and easy social media, testimonials are more important than ever before. They’re also easier and more powerful to deliver than ever before. That’s why businesses that don’t have testimonials front and centre of their marketing efforts are missing out. Excellent testimonials from raving customers are no longer simply an advantage. Today, they’re a requirement.
If you work with the public, you will get complaints. That wasn’t a big deal until recently. Now, you get enough unhappy customers, for whatever reason, and their complaints will become very public and damaging. No matter how great your business is, you will get nasty reviews on Google Places and other online review sites. You’ll be slammed on Facebook by a customer who had a bad experience.
TOP TIP – MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE GOOGLE ALERTS SET UP FOR YOUR BUSINESS NAME!
If you get a complaint – deal with it head on and reply to the complainant and put your side of the story. A one – off “whinge” that is dealt with promptly and professionally will not harm your business. A stream of them and you need to take some action and make some changes FAST!
The Power of Testimonials !
Testimonials are the ‘so what’ of your marketing and sales claims. Your customers have huge credibility compared to you. And they can say much more than you can in far fewer words. Gathering your testimonials is only a small part of the battle in today’s climate. More importantly, you have to get them in front of buyers. You know you need to have testimonials on your website and in your marketing materials.
Today you need to gather them and promote them in places where they’ll be seen. Make your testimonials viral. Promote them on Facebook – your personal and business LinkedIn recommendations matter a lot. You’ll be amazed how many people check you out! You can tweet a testimonial a day about your business – perfect if it’s a re-tweet from a customer!
But even better than the written word – much better – are video testimonials. Get your best customers to give you some short video testimonials that you can share virally on YouTube and other social media. Make it easy for them. Go to their offices and film them. The videos need to be clear and have good audio, but they don’t need to look like a million pound production. Now, that’s a bit more current.
TOP TIP – USING GOOGLE PLACES
One of the most powerful tools today to promote your testimonials. Google Places. Reviews of your business will be found with this tool. And more is definitely better. The more reviews you have, the better your Google Places listing will be optimised for search. So encourage people. Incentivise them even. Run a contest to encourage your customers to write a review for you. But definitely ask them!
How thebestof can help your business stand out from the crowd.
We can provide unlimited branded testimonial postcards as part of your bestof package. These are a brilliant tool to collect good customer feedback – and it’s all done for you. And our annual 14 Days of Love campaign is a great way to mobilise your customer in a fun and engaging way to win the most loved business in their category across the country, or the best loved business in town!
For more information contact Helen Penny from thebestof barrowandfurness – or find out more here
