Shoppers trust advice from those who’ve already purchased.
Whose advice do you trust when you’re pondering a purchase? Most folks’ first pick is a friend who already owns what they’re considering. And, overwhelmingly, their second most-trusted source of purchase advice is a complete stranger.
A stranger, that is, who’s already, bought the product or service they’re considering.
If you say it’s true I’ll believe you.
So says The Nielson Company, global leader in tracking consumer trends, in their recent Global Online Survey. Nearly three-quarters of consumers surveyed said they place great trust in purchase recommendations made by complete strangers.
Pay attention, because this is important: a nod from your existing customers can put prospective customers at ease and make them far more willing to do business with you. Simply put, using customer testimonials in your advertising materials – online and offline – will increase your sales.
It only makes sense. Human nature being what it is, when one of your past customers sings your praises, would-be customers believe. And when they believe, they buy.
Harness the power of customer testimonials
Using testimonials in advertising is hardly new. I have in my collection of advertising ephemera a 1920’s ad for a firewood saw in which Mr. G.W. Smith, 73, of Vero, Florida, is pictured and quoted as saying, “I cut 100 cords of wood in 4 days with my Ottawa (Log Saw). I can make good money by having this outfit. I feel very proud of what I am doing for myself.”
Now, if Mr. Smith owns one and says it’s so, it must be. See the ad on my blog at www.edwardsdirect.net/blog/
Today’s online sales environment is ripe for the tactical use of testimonials. I’d certainly recommend salting your home page with a few of your best customer endorsements with links to additional stories deeper in your site.
And today’s super-fast connection speeds make it simple to deliver the most potent form of testimonial endorsement ever devised: online testimonial videos.
I spoke recently with Clint Pollock, President of IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com, a Chicago-based video company that specializes in producing testimonial videos. “The testimonial videos we’ve shot have increased our clients’ sales up to 30%,” said Clint.
Lights…camera…action!
It’s easy to see why. Pollock’s videos are like a fireside chat with a friend. Visitors to your site click your video and there’s your happy customer, talking, smiling, and telling the world how great you are.
Here’s one that I liked a lot: TESTIMONY SAMPLE.
And IncreaseSalesWithVideo.com has found ways to leverage their clients’ videos. “It’s easy to distribute your videos broadly using Web 2.0 techniques,” says Clint. “Link videos from your site to YouTube. Send links in e-mail. Include video links
inside your email signatures. Feature video links in press releases. Create a viral wave with an especially unique video presentation that gets passed around within Twitters and Instant Messages. You can also create stand alone video player loops in stores. Play promotional videos at trade shows as support for your sales crew. Create a 24/7 sales and marketing tool by playing a video online on a dedicated site that calls for action at the end of the video. Or create a testimonial page within your site that has several video testimonials for really powerful sales increases. Create a video that utilizes many elements, and you’ll be able to maximize the investment of that one video in multiple tools.”
Clint goes on to list several results of using online testimonials videos:
-The online testimonials are an immediate gratification for the information itch that consumers want scratched “right now”. No other sales tool provides that. The buyer wants to feel like someone else has taken the plunge and that they don’t have to be the guinea pig for this product buy. “The water is fine, come on in.”
-Online testimonial videos tend to push undecided buyers over the edge in an easy to purchase environment due to online sales stores being handy right there next to the video. They watch and listen to a happy consumer wax eloquent on your product or service, and then start looking for the BUY NOW button. It’s a win-win situation.
-Video testimonials are powerfully unique in their delivery. An individual viewing a video in the privacy of their home feels perfectly safe and in control when they experience the urge to buy after hearing an online testimonial video. No other sales medium has that powerful quality. Even door to door salesmen can’t match the power of online testimonials.
-Our customer testimonial videos playing on their web sites work 24/7 without fail to turn leads into buyers; day after day, week after week, year after year. This brings the cost of that video down so low, they are virtually free advertising after playing for a while. Compared to conventional sales tools which often get produced once, used a handful of times or only once, online testimonial videos are a unique and priceless tool in the sales force toolbox.
-Online testimonials are the most powerful type of customer endorsement. They increase traffic, turn lookers into buyers and therefore increase sales.
-Online testimonial videos are one of those few sales tools that cause people to truly buy now.
So there you have it. If you want to increase sales, put customer testimonials on your website; if you want to REALLY increase sales, load testimonial videos onto your web site, today.
Steve Edwards
Copywriter/Direct Marketer
