Testimonial in advertising: recommendation marketing

A testimonial is a positive description, endorsement or recommendation of a product or service by a person who has already used the product or service. Testimonials are often written by customers, influencers, business partners or media professionals and are used to authentically present the added value of a product or service.

Advantages of testimonials

Simply put:

1. Positive recommendation / experience
2. Strengthens trust of the user / visitor
3. Increase conversion rate

Ways to collect testimonials

There are several ways to collect and use testimonials(brand advocates). One way is to provide a questionnaire or form where customers can describe their experience with the product or service. These testimonials can then be used on the website or in other marketing materials to build potential customers’ trust in the company or brand.

Influencer and content creator

Another option is to ask customers or influencers or “smaller” content creators to produce a video describing their experience with the product or service. These videos can then be published on the website or on social platforms such as YouTube or Instagram.

It is important that testimonials are authentic and credible, as they can have a great impact on the decisions of potential customers. It is therefore advisable to use real customer or user experiences and not made-up or purchased testimonials. Testimonials should also be as specific as possible, rather than general, so that they are relevant to the target audience.

Trust = Better conversion rate

Testimonials can be used in a variety of ways to build trust in a company or brand and increase conversion rates. For example, they can be used on the website or in landing pages to convince users of the benefits of the product or service.

They can also be used in emails, blog posts or social media to draw users’ attention to the company or brand and get them to try the product or service. Testimonials can also be used in classic print advertising materials such as flyers or brochures as well to build trust in the company or brand.

It is important to note that testimonials are not a substitute for a comprehensive cross-media strategy, but merely one element of it. They should therefore be embedded in the overall context of the marketing campaign and coordinated with each other.

Testimonial example

Here directly a few practical example for you:

Example Media and Advertising

An example of a testimonial in advertising and marketing might be:

“I am thrilled with the new marketing campaign from XYZ Inc. It has not only helped increase our brand awareness, but also increased our sales by 20%. Working with the XYZ Inc. marketing team was very professional and on target from the beginning. We look forward to future projects with them.”

This testimonial describes the positive impact of the marketing campaign on brand awareness and sales, and praises the marketing team at XYZ Inc. It is clear that the client is satisfied and looking forward to future projects.

Example insurance and pension

An example of a testimonial in insurance might be:

“I have been a customer of ABC Insurance for years and am always impressed with their professional advice and excellent customer service. I recently had a claim that was settled quickly and easily by the insurance company. I feel I am in good hands with ABC Insurance and highly recommend them.”

This testimonial describes the customer’s positive experience with the insurance company and praises both the advice and customer service. The customer feels well taken care of and recommends the insurance company to others.

Internet ratings are too often ignored

Everyone is talking about online marketing, performance optimization and sales funnels. That’s great! But companies often forget the “simple things”.

Today we present you an extremely simple, at the same time efficient, marketing method:

The “small, first, good assessment

Extremely underrated, someone hears about “you” and searches for “you” directly on smartphone.

• Search query 1: “Company X
• Search query 2: “Company X reviews”

Now, if you have only one rating, it makes up the “whole” digital image of your company.

If interested in a rating?

Study: Influence of online ratings

Let’Let’s take a look at whether people care. For that, here’s an old and proven study. When you read online reviews about products or services, to what extent do they influence you?

Depending on the age group:

• 91-95% – ratings provide orientation
• 78-90% – Increase confidence in an offer
• 74-89% – Influence the purchase decision
• 53-57% – Ratings provide inspiration.

You can find more statistics at Statista

A real killer for startups in particular

Just one negative rating can be a real killer, especially for startups. Even without this effect, statistically 90% of startups fail in the first 5 years. So every strategic advantage helps in the “fight” for survival.

Even companies that have been on the market for over 10 years according to the commercial register tend to forget their digital reputation. Of course, you have the advantage of already having regular customers and (offline) referral marketing, word-of-mouth.

Example: 1 star / 5 stars in comparison

Here is a practical example of how a 1-star rating compares to a 5-star rating.

Important – you will now look at the Google Maps screenshot for 5 or even 10 seconds. In a real situation, looking for a company for task X, you would pay attention to a strange company only 2, 3 seconds and then, directly click on the next one.

1 star rating: Bad for your online image

5 star rating: Good for your online image

Disadvantages of bad ratings

You can probably already guess the disadvantages of bad reviews.

You lose prospects and customers – disadvantage 1

You lose prospects looking for you, reviews or experience. Remember the study. 90% or more, use reviews to guide their buying decisions. 74-89% are also directly influenced by reviews when it comes to actually buying. Let’s say half of the prospects don’t call them. What if you could change that, in just 3, 4 minutes? You can!

Tip. Change now, in 3, 4 minutes

Now go to Google Business, enter your company and ask acquaintances, colleagues or business partners to give the first, second or even third positive review.

• 91-95% – ratings provide orientation
• 74-89% – Influence the purchase decision

Algorithm excludes your company – disadvantage 2

There is one more reason why you should take care of your Google reviews. If your ratings are too bad, the algorithm simply does not show you anymore. Especially in cities with high competition density very unfavorable for your new customer acquisition.

An algorithm decides what “happens”, i.e. what is shown, done and what is not. The criteria for this are set by people and programmers make a program code out of it, the algorithm. A small program code that evaluates content.

Simply put, the algorithm might look like this:

• Rating < 2 stars: Do not show if sufficient > 2 stars available
• Rating < 3 stars: Do not show if sufficient > 3 stars available
• Rating < 4 stars: Do not show if sufficient > 4 stars available
• …

Reviews on Facebook, Kununu, etc.

There are many online rating platforms, whether rating platform itself (like Kununu for employers) or social networks like Facebook. So already in the first steps of your marketing concept, you should think about the “small, first, good evaluation”.