Testimonials used to be worth their weight in gold. And while they are still important their value has decreased as social media has expanded. The main reason their value has Lead Latchers

  decreased is because of the amount of fraudulent reviews that are posted. It has placed consumers on high alert and rightfully so.

In 2004 Amazon’s Canadian site mistakenly unveiled anonymous reviewers only to reveal that many of the testimonials and reviews had been written by the authors themselves to help boost ratings.

Finding out that some reviews were fake threw cold water on the believability of business and product testimonials for awhile… until they tightened controls.

Since that time a lot has been done to restore the consumer confidence in testimonials. It is still important for customers to see that others have enjoyed a product or are satisfied with a service your business provides.

In fact, one of the interesting side notes about testimonials is how their relevance is viewed among men and women. Women tend to place more importance on them than men do. So the amount of testimonials you have on your website could depend on the type of clientele you are trying to appeal to…
… but before you act… read on!

Testimonials On Steroids!

I actually discovered an interesting fact about how to increase the overall importance placed on testimonials while researching for this article. This is a technique I would have never thought of using until now but one I will definitely apply ASAP and I hope you do too!

It involves combining a testimonial with a case study to boost the credibility and importance of the testimonial! Case studies carry much more weight in the eyes of consumers because they highlight actual results, not just whether the customer was happy or not. This, coupled with a testimonial demonstrating customer satisfaction wield a powerful one-two punch on consumers decision making.

Rather than just a bare testimonial such as “So and so’s business really helped me out. I loved their product and their service was first rate”… you might also tie in a short video interview with the customer asking them how the problem started and how your product or service help solve the problem. Highlight their actual results so your customers know what to expect when they purchase your product or service.

Everything I have researched points to this being very powerful in influencing buyer behavior in a favorable way. Plus, this technique is not just relevant among women, it also raised the credibility of testimonials among both men too.

I Hate ASKING For Testimonials… So How Can I Get Them?

The best way to get a testimonial is to make it fast and easy for your customers to leave you one.

All you have to do is create a web page called “Recommend Me” or something similar and ask for a testimonial and a contact form.

The contact form I like to use is Contact Form 7 because it is easy to