Harness The Power of Customer Testimonials and Case Studies
Written by Mark Williams
Your small business website may look awesome, complete with fantastic colour, image and design choices throughout. It may be rich in wonderful written (or even video) content, which effortlessly showcases your wares. Your website may be easy to find, use and navigate. However, not including any customer testimonials or case studies could seriously limit its success.
What are customer testimonials?
Testimonials are recommendations from satisfied customers, confirming their delight with the products, services and value they’ve received. There are various types of customer testimonials, but even just one or two killer sentences from a handful of happy punters can add much to your website.
As Karisa Egan comments, in her post (The Benefits of Testimonials and How to Do Them Right): “Testimonials work because they aren’t strong sales pitches, they come across in an unbiased voice and establish trust. You’re using real people to show success in your product or service.”
According to Chris Scott from the Digital Doughnut website, customer testimonials can help convert many more visitors to your website into customers, because “they add legitimacy to your website and make people more willing to buy from you”.
Credibility, reliability and trust
Customer testimonials, Scott continues, make people “feel more comfortable [about] making a purchase if they know that other people have made the same purchase for similar reasons and have been happy”. Testimonials can ease customer concerns about buying from a new supplier, because they are perceived to prove credibility, reliability and trust.
Getting first-time visitors to your website to get in touch, let alone buy from you, can be a challenge, but including a few well-chosen customer testimonials can make a big difference. Reportedly, 72% of consumers say positive testimonials and reviews increase their trust in a business.
Some of your most satisfied and loyal customers will probably be happy to provide a testimonial (or sign-off on one you write on their behalf). Aim for two or three sentences from half a dozen of your most satisfied customers. These can be strategically placed on your home page and others, while some dedicate entire website pages to customer testimonials. Quotes can also be reproduced in your other online and offline marketing, of course.
Testimonial length and content
Search online and you’ll find questions you can ask to create glowing customer testimonials. Seek quotes that specifically explain how your products or services satisfied the customer’s needs or remedied a “pain point”. Testimonials should praise the value you provide and even if you sell products, include comment about the service quality that goes with them.
Also include an image of your customer with their testimonial, because it “shows that it’s coming from a real person”, which further encourages trust. Your testimonials should represent the diversity of your clients or customers and your core product/service range.
Authenticity is key, so, never fake any customer testimonials. Normally, such tactics are easy to spot. Get real quotes from real customers and tell readers who they are. Satisfied customers are normally happy to provide testimonials.
What about customer case studies?
Basically, these are longer customer testimonials. Some prefer to use the term “customer stories” rather than “case studies” (which, admittedly can sound rather dull, academic, etc). Some 70 per cent of UK marketers use case studies as part of their campaigns and they are believed to be the most effective type of marketing content.
Dan Shewan, in his blog – How to Write a Convincing Case Study in 7 Steps, believes that too many marketing case studies are “dull, boring and forgettable”. None of these terms should apply to yours, of course.
Shewan says case studies should be “self-contained stories about how a real customer overcame their problems [by] using your products or services.” And, as regards structure, he adds: “Good case studies have a beginning, middle and end, as well as a protagonist – your customer – overcoming a problem and achieving their objective.”
Case study form and content
Case studies should be persuasive and have a compelling angle. Readers should be able to relate to your customer and their challenge/issue. A well worn but effective website case study structure is to introduce the customer in the opening paragraph, then detail their challenge/issue in 200-300 words.
The following 400 or so words should explain the solution your business provided, before 300 words cover the results and benefits gained. Effective case studies include impressive numbers and are rich in powerful customer quotes, because both carry the most weight. Include some nice images, too, including one of the person you quote.
Marketing Donut provides some useful pointers on how to write your own customer case studies. If writing isn’t your thing, budget permitting, you could hire a freelance copywriter with case study experience.
Case study length and position
In her blog – The ultimate guide to writing case studies that drive leads – Lauren Lovett says case studies should be no more than 750 words long. “Any more and people just won’t read it,” she warns. “Cut out repetition, shorten quotes, and make sure everything you write is vital to the story.” She cautions against using marketing speak or clichés; “keep it human”, accurate and be specific (because “details matter”), she advises.
Writing for Marketing Donut, Sharon Tanton recommends giving your case studies due prominence on your website. “Too often companies stack them at the back of their site, like dusty old volumes on the top shelf of a library,” she observes. “Make them grabby and appealing and stick them in the waiting room. Think glossy mag, not Encylopedia Brittanica.”
We’re working on some brand new case studies that tell the stories of how we’ve helped our diverse range of clients. Watch this space…
Mark Williams is a freelance editorial consultant, editor, journalist and SME content specialist with more than 25 years’ experience. He has written for The Guardian, numerous leading brands and award-winning magazines and websites. Visit www.markiwilliams.com