Build Social Proof And Orders With A Testimonial Strategy
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Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- A testimonial is a positive statement from a satisfied customer that the brand collects and publishes to show new customers that the product or service works; social proof is the effect it has.
- Reviews are written by third parties and can be positive or negative; testimonials are curated by the brand from real customers and are always positive.
- They matter because consumers research before buying and trust other customers more than the brand: half trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation.
- Six formats work: quote, social media, video, interview, influencer and case study, each suited to a different product and channel.
- Testimonials are word of mouth moved online, and every brand can collect them at little or no cost.
Marketing today is fiercely competitive, with new brands launching every day, and some product categories where several brands make near-identical products. Owners have to promote hard to win market share and first place in customers’ minds, and when they do, the opportunity to out-earn competitors in the same industry follows.
As we know, digital marketing techniques are many, and each brand picks the approach that fits it. But one technique that matters and pays off over the long term for every kind of brand is “building credibility and trust” with consumers.
So today we look at testimonials, or “reviews” in the loose sense, which build a brand’s credibility well. In an age when consumers can research products and services online, the first thing they look for when a product interests them is other users’ reviews, to check prices, features, strengths and weaknesses across brands, compare, and choose the best option for themselves. That is social proof at work, and customer testimonials are how a brand puts it to use.
What Are Testimonials?
After that introduction, many people will ask: then how do testimonials differ from reviews?
Testimonials are endorsements collected by the brand’s owner or staff, from customers who have a good relationship with the brand, which is why testimonials always read positively. Their purpose is to give other customers confidence that the brand is as good as it says, which is known as building “social proof”, the principle that something proven by other people is trusted.
For example, if we see one restaurant full of people and buzzing while the one next door is quiet and empty, we tend to assume the busy restaurant must be tastier or better run, and we want to go there instead.
Reviews, by contrast, are a third party’s assessment of the brand, with no connection to the owner’s collection process. They can be positive or negative, because they come from real customers who used the service.
In short, testimonials are positive reviews gathered and shown to other customers to build the brand’s credibility and win new customers over more easily, and they can take the form of an article, a short caption, an image or a video.
Why Do Testimonials Matter?
As noted, competition in marketing today is fierce, and whoever has the better approach and moves faster usually has the edge. Testimonials are one of the tools that put a brand ahead by raising its chance of a sale, because today’s consumers research and read reviews before almost every purchase. This is why testimonials in marketing have moved from nice-to-have to standard.
So gathering good reviews in one place, where the audience can find them easily, builds credibility with the people likely to become customers (potential customers). Consumer research repeatedly finds that customers tend not to believe a brand’s own advertising, but do believe reviews from fellow customers. Testimonials are what hold a new customer’s attention long enough to show how good the brand is, what it offers, and how it solves the problem they have right now. The reviews have to come from real users, never invented.
BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Review Survey 2024 found that:
- 50% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation from friends and family
- 75% read reviews always or regularly when researching a local business
- 69% would feel positive about using a business whose written reviews describe positive experiences
Seen another way, testimonials are the “word of mouth” marketing we all know, moved onto online platforms such as the website, social media or e-commerce. Marketing of this kind draws the audience’s attention so strongly that no brand can afford to ignore testimonials.
What Are The Testimonial Techniques?
Testimonials come in many forms, and each attracts customers differently, so choose the form that fits the brand’s products and services, or the message you want to send, so the reviews are interesting and match the brand’s identity. These six formats are the core of how to use testimonials.
Quote Testimonial
The quote is the oldest and simplest format, which is why brands use it most. It is short and concise, costs the reader little time, and slots easily into site pages. The more positive and appealing the quote, the more it lifts the chance of a sale, the conversion rate.
A good quote testimonial uses the peer testimonial form: the reviewer’s name or photo alongside, for credibility, and a statement that is detailed but concise and shows precisely that you solved their problem, so other customers take an interest in the brand.
Social Media Testimonial
Testimonials work on several social platforms, whether Facebook, Instagram, X or YouTube. Social media feels more natural and reaches more people than other formats, because today everyone has at least one social media account, and when someone who likes the brand posts about it, the post is easy to share, which lifts the brand’s image at little or no cost.
Video Testimonial
Video is the most credible format, because video is hard to fake and viewers see the emotion more clearly and convincingly than in any other form. Global companies such as Apple and Zoom use it: real customers recorded on video talking about their positive experience of the brand, to persuade other customers.
Interview Testimonial
This format interviews customers directly about what they think of the brand, usually on video but sometimes as audio only. It can be reused in many ways: posted on social media, placed on the website, or cut down to a key statement for a quote.
Influencer Testimonial
Influencer marketing is another approach that returns good results, because influencers have influence over people online: whatever they post, picture, story or product review, large numbers see it, and the people who follow them are likely to buy what the influencer reviews or recommends.
Choosing a good influencer rests on two main factors: they have to be widely known with a reasonable following, so the brand gets enough visibility, and, above all, their image has to be good and match the brand, so the pairing looks natural rather than jarring.
Case Studies
The last format is the case study, which shows the audience how you helped previous customers solve a problem or change, proving that the brand is credible and delivers. Structure the story with the situation first, then what the brand did or fixed, and close with the result, with a CTA linking to your service so readers click through to learn more about the brand.
Summary
There is no denying that in today’s marketing every brand needs to build social proof through testimonials, because they show the audience how good the brand is, whether it has real customers, and how it will meet their needs. The more positive reviews you have, the more persuasive the brand, because customers rarely believe a brand’s advertising and prefer the word of fellow customers.
Every owner should pay more attention to testimonials, because a brand with good reviews can grow its orders many times over. And if you want to develop the rest of the marketing approach alongside them for stronger results, talk to the marketing specialists at Primal, a digital marketing agency in Bangkok, today.
Frequently Asked Questions About Testimonials (FAQs)
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is the difference between a testimonial and a review? | A review is written by a customer on a third-party platform and can be positive or negative. A testimonial is a positive statement the brand collects from a satisfied customer and publishes on its own channels. Both are social proof; reviews carry more independence, testimonials more control. |
| How do I ask customers for testimonials? | Ask soon after a good outcome, by email or message, with two or three specific questions: what problem they had, what changed, and what they would tell someone considering the brand. Offer to draft a quote from their answers for approval, and always ask permission to use their name and photo. |
| Where should testimonials go on a website? | Next to the decision: on the home page, on product and service pages near the price or the enquiry form, and on the checkout or contact page. A separate testimonials page helps search and research visitors, but the ones beside the call to action do the conversion. |
| Are video testimonials better than written ones? | For credibility, yes, because video is hard to fake and shows real emotion. Written quotes are faster to collect, easier to place and quicker to read, so most brands use both: a short video on the main pages and quotes throughout the site. |
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