Incorporating testimonials into your marketing efforts is part of something bigger called The Message Development Formula.
I first learned a version of this formula while at Procter & Gamble, and I gained a deeper understanding of it from the book Jump Start Your Business Brain by Doug Hall. Hall is a former employee of P&G, and the training and knowledge he received there is evident in his thinking and writing.
Here are the five key components of the message development formula:
- Audience Need
- Clear Benefit
- Reason to Believe
- Dramatic Difference
- Call-to-Action
I’m calling out #3 (Reason to Believe) because it’s the anchor element and is often overlooked and under-utilized. At its core is the almighty testimony. I firmly believe that a brief, well-worded, well-placed endorsement by a happy customer helps your target audience believe in what you’re saying.
If you’re wondering how you can best leverage your testimonials then don’t hesitate to reach out to our team at Relevention. If you’re looking to simply get out there and get some great testimonials then here’s a few ideas for you.
Through a customer survey, email or in a meeting ask a long-time client to:
- Describe the quality of your work.
- Elaborate on how much they enjoy working with you.
- Describe how they benefit from your product or service.
- Describe why they do business with you instead of your competitors.
- Define how long they have known or worked with your organization.
And, a little secret here… consider ghost-writing a draft testimonial and ask if this statement accurately reflects their views on your organization. They’ll either give it a few minor tweaks, give it the green light, or better yet, counter-punch with an even better endorsement! Ghost-writing the testimonial is critical if you’re asking busy professionals as they don’t have time to write something for you.
Place a selected few endorsements on your website, LinkedIn page, Google Maps, Yelp profile, social network profiles, email footers, or design it right into your marketing collateral.