Some testimonials are better than others. All testimonials are good.
In the interest of improving the quality and effectiveness of testimonials in marketing, the following is the “good to best” list:
- Anonymous, made up testimonial.
- Testimonial you wrote for a customer, based on his actual experience, then okayed by him.
- Anonymous testimonial actually written by a customer / client / patient.
- Testimonial signed with initials, just first name (slightly better), or first name and last initial (slightly better yet).
- Testimonial signed with full name.
- Testimonial with name and location “Mrs Joan Smith, Florence, AL” or name and company name.
- Testimonial on letterhead.
- Audio (recorded) testimonial.
- Video testimonial – scripted.
- Video testimonial – unscripted and unedited.
- Video testimonial – with scripted prompting questions and unscripted answers, edited.
Video testimonials are THE BEST. They can be fantastically effective because there is no gainsaying them (you know they are real). And thanks to YouTube, almost everyone is used to clicking on the little arrow and viewing them online.
There’s one higher level than this which is actual live interaction with a happy customer, such as through a webinar (online seminar).
