No matter what your into, testimonials from other people are a powerful thing. They are a must have. If you set up a sales page, you need testimonials to create credibility. If you are a blogger, more comments will encourage more conversation and credibility. If you are a freelancer, testimonials are essential for credibility.
When you have testimonials it creates credibility and trust. You can talk all day long about your product and how good it is. But it won’t be near as effective until they hear how good it is from someone else. If all these other people think the product is good then there really must be something to it. It’s especially effective if the testimonial is someone they recognize.
Social proof is a bit of a different animal, but it still has the same effect. When a blogger has a lot of comments and has a very involved readership, that looks great to someone new that comes across it. Or on twitter: If you get a lot of Retweets from other people and others see that, it has a lasting effect. This is called social proof.
The point is this: Word of mouth is one of the most powerful ways to market. But it’s not something you can’t do yourself. When other people create social proof or give you testimonials, cherish them. This is like gold. And it is the same concept as word of mouth.
When people spread the word to people they know, it really starts to snowball. Other people already have a following, a list, readership. They are already faithful to that person. So if they recommend it, then that creates trust with you. And that’s something you can’t do by going to a stranger and telling them about your own product.
Who do you trust more? A good friend of yours or someone off the street? See how that works?
Just a little something to chew on over the weekend.
~Chris
Similar Posts:
- Using Past Credibility to Sell New Products
- The Power of Creating Credibility
- Are You Social Media Bot?
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
“When peo ple spread the word to peo ple they know, it really starts to snow ball. Other peo ple already have a fol low ing, a list, read er ship.”
Love that. People promoting good things about you through the social media or even via word-of-mouth cannot be ignored. It’s powerful. People sometimes come to my blog, leave a comment, and telling me another blogger asked him/her to check me out. That’s always a great surprise.
It’s even more powerful than web search hits which don’t stick. They come and they go. But testimonials from anyone especially from influencers can spell a lot of difference for a blog.
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Christopher D. Anderson Reply:
November 8th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Agreed. It makes a huge difference for something so simple. (sorry for the late reply btw)
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So true! Facts tell stories sell! So create stories and market them! That’s all testimonies are!
Ethan Lanagan´s last blog ..Get Off Your Computer and Support Your Markets!
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Christopher D. Anderson Reply:
November 8th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Yup! And it creates a lot of credibility.
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