Customer testimonials are an effective marketing technique, and they generate ample selling power. But why are they so effective as customer experience enhancers?
Testimonials and real life case studies from real customers build trust. These proofs of product and service are unbiased and, most of all, they are not salesy because they are written by real customers, not the marketing department.
If your business can benefit from customer case studies, consider these three online methods:
Include Testimonials as Case Studies on Value Added
There are a variety of ways to display customer testimonials on a business website. One method is to dedicate an entire page to testimonials for case studies on how service impacts real customers. The identity theft protection company LifeLock has done exactly that. LifeLock has more than 1,026 customer reviews with an average rating of 4.3 stars. The testimonials are displayed in a clear, easy-to-read format that makes navigating the page simple for customers.
Website visitors can choose to rate or view three different services including LifeLock Standard, LifeLock Advantage and LifeLock Ultimate Plus. The website’s review page also has a prominent call to action in the upper left side of the page, which encourages new customers to sign up for identify theft protection.
Take note of LifeLock’s approach because their method of displaying customer testimonials may be the best option for your business, too. This is an easy way to implement case studies as customer experience enhancers.
Customer Feedback as a Case Study on Service Interaction
One company that does an outstanding job of this is the Seattle-based retailer, Nordstrom. On the department store’s website there is a section for customers to leave their feedback about items they’ve purchased. Customers often take to this section to review an item and state whether or not they would recommend it to a friend.
Shoppers can also select a star-rating to apply to their purchase. Each of the reviews is public for other customers to see. Nordstrom even takes it to the next level by offering reviewers a chance to win a $1,000 store gift card, which encourages customers to spend a few minutes typing out an online review.
A survey conducted by Dimensional Research and sponsored by Zendesk found that 90 percent of customers say that their buying decisions are influenced by online reviews. Nordstrom’s approach to compiling customer feedback is a winning solution for their brand and is a good example of what your business can do to naturally solicit feedback from customers.
Tell a Story on Social Media
Daniel Kushner, writing for Business2Community, suggests uploading video testimonials of real customers to your social pages in order to develop social case studies that demonstrate product or service promise in action. Kushner recommends capturing customer feedback at trade shows or customer meetings, and then cutting their responses down into two-minute clips.
Additionally, social media sites can be used as a source to obtain testimonials or actual product or service experience from real customers. Positive comments from the customer community can be an extremely valuable resource and can quickly be imported to your business website. Since the posts are public, there’s no hassle when it comes to verifying the source.
Sharing positive testimonials online is key to driving your brand’s business. The social media takeover has given business owners a new podium to stand on and broadcast their message, which makes sharing positive feedback on your brand’s pages simple and effective.
