One thing we have to overcome with email marketing and online sales is that there is no face to face contact between you and your customers. They are being asked to part with a sum of money virtually on trust. How are they to know if you are worthy of it?
With online sales garnered through a website, most potential customers will check the overall review rating. Anything under four stars will be of concern. Few will delve further to discover the particular problems those who awarded but a single star found so appalling. So the person who was upset by the delivery agent might put off purchasers.
Testimonials are somewhat different. Initially they were a legal document but disappointingly the meaning has changed over the years and now means, in effect, someone commenting on your product or service who is willing to have their name and possibly image attached.
These are often collected and displayed on a web page where they become an overwhelming endorsement of you or a product. They are also generally ignored and are little used in email marketing. This is a criminal waste of what could be a useful way of convincing those on the cusp.
Use your email marketing software to ensure the right testimonial is presented to the right subscriber.
Those testimonials that focus on high levels of service are perfect for the reassurance of browsers and should be included early on in a potential customer’s journey but if a testimonial praises a particular function of a product then it can be put to much more effective use.
Consider where customers might need reassurance during the process. I can’t be the only person who hesitates when it comes to the Pay Now button. Whilst I’d suggest keeping that page as clear as possible, a brief testimonial from a previous customer could be just the thing.
Similarly, if someone clicks through to Returns Policy they will be relieved to find that Sally from Beds says: ‘I found the colour clashed with the décor but Acme Design sent another one as soon as I returned the originalit.’ Target all the time.
Let’s take a submission from a customer whose comments are very technical and specific to those who have particular needs. Someone who could be swayed by such praise could well be the one who clicks on the ‘specification’ button after clicking through from the marketing email. Their concerns might well be satisfied by such an endorsement. It will be someone speaking ‘their’ language, which is so much more believable.
Email marketing software will give you all the details necessary to target any subscriber so the testimonials are just the thing to include in your next campaign. If a segmented email marketing list is populated by those willing to try anything, then what a customer who tried something new on their holiday thought about white water rafting is just the thing.
How about those who are first time customers, the epitome of needing to be convinced? Reassurance from someone saying they’ve been a customer for years, or perhaps someone who says, ‘I was worried at first, but . . . ‘
