February 2006
Make testimonials believable!
A few months ago Diane Aull published an article, Testimonials: Friend or foe?, in which she offered some guidelines for writing effective testimonials. Following on from where she left off, this article offers ten quick tips for making testimonials just that little bit more believable...
1. Pictures
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Ask people if they would e-mail a picture with their testimonial. If they don't have one scanned you could have them send their picture by mail and you could scan it. This technique will give your testimonials more credibility.
2. Electronic signatures
Most online testimonials you see have text signatures. You could have people mail their written signature, scan it, and upload it with their testimonial. People will feel the testimonial is more official.
3. Online audio
You could record people's testimonials with a mini tape recorder over the phone, on your answering machine, or voice mail. Then you could convert the recording into a online audio file and upload it to your website. You can find more information about converting audio recording's by typing ‘real audio’ at a search engine.
4. Postcards
Have people mail you their testimonial on a postcard, scan it and upload it to your website. This will give people proof that the testimonial isn't fake because it will have a post mark on it.
5. Profiles
Ask people to include a profile of themselves with their testimonial. You could just have them answer some questions like age, occupation, hobbies, favourite quote, etc. This will make your testimonials more entertaining to read.
6. Hand written letters
This is similar to the ‘electronic signature’ tip. Scan and upload the entire written testimonial or letter to your website. This will give your testimonials a feel of realism.
7. Recordings
You could record peoples testimonials over the phone with a mini tape recorder. Then, take the recording and record it to an answering machine or voice mail system. Under each one, include a phone number they can call to hear the actual testimonial.
8. E-mail messages
When you get e-mail testimonials, publish the entire e-mail message instead of just the contents. It will be more believable because it will include the date, time, subject, who it's from and who it's to.
9. Contact information
When you get testimonials from people, ask them if you could include their contact information under the testimonial. This will allow potential customers to ask your current customers questions about your product or service before they buy. Usually, they will trust them more than you.
10. Online video
If some of the people who give you testimonials have a camcorder, ask them to record their testimonial on video and send it to you. Then you could convert the video to an online video file and upload it to your site. You can find more information about converting audio recordings by typing ‘real video’ at a search engine.
This article was written by Scott F. Geld. Scott is the Director of Marketing for MarketingBlaster.com, a company providing targeted traffic and direct links.
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