Why Testimonials & Reviews are what grew my business the fastest and how you can do the same
People often ask me (they really do!) how I grew Chromatical so fast. And the answer is... testimonials.
From day dot, I was very focused on getting testimonial. After I finished delivering my strategy with my very first client, I asked them if they'd mind staying around a little longer and having a chat with me, recorded, about the session to use as a testimonial.
From that one video, I got such a raw and real perspective about what I offered that helped others understand exactly what I did and decide whether it'd benefit them or not.
Every session after that I asked. Some people preferred not to, and some were like 'heck yes let's do it'. And I shared those testimonials everywhere.
I cut the videos up into a montage, I shared quotes on socials and I plastered them across my website.
And I tell you what.
They helped my business grow SO fast to the point where in under just 1 year, I had 2 months of intro calls backed up waiting to see if what I offered was right for them. CRIKEY!
I made testimonials one of my biggest strategies because I knew what I did was good. I knew I could really help people. But if it was always just me saying 'Hey guys, my sessions are good', it wouldn't have been enough to get people to actually book and buy. I needed to back it up. ESPECIALLY being a new business in an industry where people were popping up everywhere offering marketing services.
Still to this day, I ask for social proof and testimonials as part of my marketing plan because it's that important.
No business owner is going to say "I'm ok at what I do, I do an average job". No. Everyone's going to say "I'm the best, come see me, I'll change your life!" (in so many words)... so it's really hard to differentiate yourself if you REALLY ARE AWESOME and build that trust and brand authority if no one's backing up what you promise.
Except... when you have testimonials and reviews from your real customers or clients. People who have paid money to work with you or buy from you. Their feedback is going to be so much more trusted than your own words. SO if you can build your testimonials to back up your promises and claims, you'll grow much quicker.
Want to go one step up in the testimonial ranks? If you can say 'Go ask any of my customers or clients what they think, like literally reach out to them and ask' (which I always say because I know my clients will always say "omg do it" when it comes to whatever I do) that says even more, because if you are that confident in what you offer that you're encouraging prospective clients or customers to ask others their opinion in private without any worry about what they'll say? You must really be confident that what you offer is good.
SO...
If you don't have a testimonials/reviews strategy in place for your business yet, can I suggest getting one?
Here's a few things you can do mixed with a few tips.
Setup a specific trusted place where you want to collect your testimonials. (So not just 'email me your thoughts'). I suggest Google My Business (You know the reviews that show up when you Google a businesses name?) Because they're hard to fake so they're trusted, they're recognised so when you add it to a screenshot it's clear it's a legitimate review, and they help you build your website's SEO too!
E-commerce business wise, I still recommend Google for 'business reviews', because they show up when someone searches your name in Google, which gives you HUGE credibility and brand trust (and it's great for SEO). But I also recommend finding something for your individual product reviews that works with your website. A hot tip is to consider the longevity of your business. If you are using Squarespace for example and you think you may upgrade to Shopify down the track, make sure you are collecting your reviews somewhere that is 'forever'. So if you're using an app with the plan of changing locations in the future, you might lose all those reviews so investigate whether you can transfer them or use them somewhere else down the track, because what a shame to lose all those love bombs.
Try to get video testimonials if possible. This works for both service and product based businesses. If you have people who are super happy with what you offer, reach out and ask! Ask if they'd mind either recording something themselves, or jumping on a recorded Zoom call with you for a chat. You then get the video, and a heap of quotes you can use from it.
Never pay or offer an incentive (discount etc) for a testimonial or review. This mostly applies for Google reviews as it's against their T&C's because offering incentives is essentially paying people for good reviews. Which in Google's eyes means that they aren't authentic and you can actually get banned completely from Google for doing so. Like... completely banned, don't even show up if someone Googles your name. I know some e-comm plugins allow you to offer discounts as an incentive, but be wary and do your research first to make sure it's in their T&C's to allow it. A lot of product review apps allow and encourage it, and if that's the case GO FOR IT! If it means getting reviews, yay!!
Have a strategy in place to ask for them, whether it be an automated email that goes out after a certain period after purchase or your time together or whether you or a team member reaches out manually, make sure you have a process in place or you're leaving social proof and therefore sales on the table.
Testimonials and reviews don't have to be limited to just the official 'testimonial' kind of thing. Testimonials is a part of 'social proof' which is basically just 'people like your business'. So don't rule out comments on your socials that sing your praises. That is still social proof! And if you have permission to screenshot and share, can still be added to your website to show that what you offer and do is valuable.
Unless it's a case-study or long form questionnaire style testimonial, try to avoid the 'send me an email with your thoughts' style of testimonial. Try to get it put into a legitimate and trusted source like Google. Copying and pasting text into a testimonial field on your website and writing 'Sarah' underneath it can look a lot less authentic than if you screenshot a real review or have a plugin that shows authentic reviews. An alternative to this is if you can link to the person's business/social media account to validate that the person is a real person. EG: On my website I have a lot of short quotes from my club members that I've pulled out of a Google Review. So I've actually quoted them and linked back to their brand because that shows it's a real quote from a real person, and I haven't just written it myself and put a random name to it.
Place your testimonials EVERYWHERE. On your home page, on your individual product/service pages, all over your sales/landing pages, on your lead magnet/freebie pages, in your emails when you're promoting what you offer. Put them in ADS (when I run ads I often run another ad alongside my main promotion ad that is a slide show of testimonials)
Testimonials have SO much power and impact. I hope this inspires you to think about how you're prioritising them in your business.
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