Nothing supercharges lead generation and sales quite like social proof. One study published in the Wall Street Journal noted that social proof was more influential in changing behavior than the prospect of saving money.
Content Marketing Leaders Spill on Using Customer Testimonials Effectively
Tim Paige of LeadPages.net produces a fascinating podcast about digital marketing effectiveness called Conversion Cast. Earlier this month, he interviewed the Strategic Director of Orbit Media, Andy Crestodina. The subject of the episode was testimonials. Andy talked about a small business case study where the proper implementation of customer testimonials resulted in a 97% boost in leads.
Tim Paige, Producer of Conversion Cast
First, the wrong way (and what everybody tends to screw up). Whatever you do, do not put your testimonials on a dedicated testimonials page. It’s tantamount to hiding your best credibility indicators in a section of the site where no one ever visits. Think about it: when was the last time you ever clicked on a testimonials page?
Customer testimonials belong on the main pages of your site (products, about us, etc.). They should be woven into the content. As Crestodina puts it, they should be “pixels away from the claims” they justify.
Think about testimonials as the sources that you’re citing to back up your claims, like footnotes. Except that you don’t want to put them at the bottom. Better to place them along the side of the page, as well as in-line (block quotes), and also at the bottom. Just so long as they are visually tied the claims that they back up.
Crestodina also makes a point that you want to use a variety of formats. He refers to video testimonials in particular as the “atomic bomb of marketing.” They convey passion and sincerity through body language and inflection. So don’t simply settle for a bland quotation or a logo array.
KissMetrics Schools Us On the Psychology of Social Proof
In a blog article on social proof, KissMetrics offers some fascinating wisdom on implementing testimonials and social proof.
First, and maybe most interesting, testimonials can backfire if they’re phrased in a way that suggests that many people are doing something incorrectly. We refer to this as negative social proof. They cite the example of the signage used in the Arizona Petrified Forest to reduce theft. Here’s what happened, in their own words:
Their findings were shocking. The sign with the negative social proof was not only unable to reduce theft, it actually increased the likelihood that people would steal the petrified wood from the forest! In this case, the sign read:
“Many past visitors have removed the petrified wood from the park, destroying the natural state of the Petrified Forest.”
The researchers found that this sort of sign encouraged more stealing (it tripled the amount of theft) because it was evidence that many other people were already stealing from the forest. Instead of discouraging people, it made them more confident that stealing was “okay.”
In our case, an example of a customer testimonial that would cause the same problem would read like this:
“Like so many others, I have been writing testimonials incorrectly for years until I read this article.” –John Q. Wrongness
Here are some KissMetrics pointers for getting the most out of your social proof (testimonials in our case):
1. Include pictures next to your quotations.
This is based on a recent study published in the Psychonometric Bulletin and Review stating that pictures next to examples of social proof tend to inflate the subjective measure of truth.
2. Include testimonials from people who demographically match your buyer personas.
More research, this time from Current Directions in Psychological Science, shows people tend to gravitate to and be influenced by, people similar to themselves (duh).
3. Go for status.
All things being equal, we will tend to value the opinions of the more notable and influential people. Titles matter. The words of recognized industry leaders matter. So concentrate your efforts on gathering some marquee testimonials.