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How to use Testimonials as an additional Marketing Tool By Abe
Cherian Copyright ? 2005
It's been said before that one unsatisfied customer will go out
and tell 10-20 of their friends and family about their
unsatisfactory experience, but the opposite doesn't seem to
occur. Your customers, vendors, suppliers and associates might
think you walk on water, but they won't seem to tell everyone
else how great you are unless you show them how and give them an
actual reason to do it.
There are many ways to get testimonials from your customers. You
can actually hold contests for best testimonials. Request
letters of endorsements from your customers, vendors, suppliers,
and any associates you have. Use those to promote your products
and services. When you use testimonials to add credibility to
what you do, you're letting your customers do the marketing for
your business.
Testimonials from your customers are one of the strongest
marketing tools available.
What is a testimonial? It's a statement, usually written by your
customer, saying nice things about some aspect of your business,
you, your employees or your products and services. If you want
to use the testimonials in marketing efforts, you need to get a
written release from your customers who wrote the testimonials
giving your business the right to use the testimonial in
marketing.
The best time to obtain the release is at the time the customer
delivers the testimonial to you.. You might tell them you want
to share their insights with your other customers or some other
complimentary statement.
When you use these testimonials, you want to weave them into
your marketing story. Use them to embellish and support your
claims and promises. For every benefit or objective you need to
overcome in your products or services, it is the best scenario
to have testimonials establishing or referencing each of those
benefits or objections.
You can take the next logical step and establish that your
business delivers what it promises. This becomes a very powerful
statement.
You don't need to use all of what it says in each testimonial
letter. Here are some choices or ways you can use testimonials.
ˇč You can print the entire letter.
ˇč You can print one sentence.
ˇč You can print one word.
ˇč Print with a picture of the person whose testimonial it is.
ˇč Print the person's initials only.
ˇč Print the entire name of the person providing the testimonial.
ˇč You can actually do video or audio recordings of a person's
testimonial.
Ideally, you want to use all of these techniques. The benefit
of using testimonials on your web site can help link popularity
in search engine results as well. Whether you use this marketing
tool for both inbound or outbound reasons, you will have an
advantage over your competition. Check them out next time you
visit their office or web site and see for what people are
saying about their business practices. You'll be amazed!
About the author:
Abe Cherian is the founder of Multiple Stream Media, a company
that helps online businesses find new leads and more customers
without spending a fortune. http://www.multiplestreammktg.com
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