You don’t have to be a salesperson to know the power of a good referral. Who hasn’t tried, bought, or done something because someone they trusted said it was a good idea? That’s why, when you’re a new blog or business, nothing is quite as powerful for bringing in new clients as gathering customer testimonials. But how do you get them?
Here are five creative ideas that go beyond surveys or traditional requests.
1. LinkedIn Recommendations: For self-employed individuals, LinkedIn is a great place to gather business referrals. Recommendations are standard practice on the network, and every time you get one, you have a new testimonial to add to your portfolio or, with permission, marketing tools.
2. Emails: If you’re like most bloggers, you have received an email from a reader who loves what you create. Save this note! If you get permission from the sender to use his or her thoughts as a testimonial, you’re all set—a genuine, unsolicited word of recommendation to boost your brand.
3. Blog Comments: Even more than emails, bloggers get positive comments. When someone leaves a comment saying how much he or she loves your blog, your writing, your photography, etc., ask if you may use that comment as a testimonial on another page. You might set up a “Testimonials” or “From Our Readers” page on your blog that showcases these types of responses, adding to your overall social proof.
4. Review Sites: For any type of service business, online review sites are goldmines of testimonials. Someone leaves a review of your yogurt stand on Yelp, and, there you go—, an authentic testimonial to use in your marketing materials. Pay attention to what people say about you on Yelp, in Amazon product reviews, and so on—nNot only can you respond to unhappy comments, but also, you may use the positive feedback to increase your testimonials.
5. Google Alerts: You don’t want to miss mentions of your brand online. When another blogger says something about you in a post, get automatically notified through a tool like Google Alerts. You may set up alerts at http://www.google.com/alerts: Simply put your brand name in the “Search query” box and take your pick of results types and schedules.
Your Thoughts : Are you checking these five resources to gather feedback? Why not? With a little ingenuity, you might find gathering testimonials is easier to do than you ever could have imagined.
By Guest Author – Shanna Mallon is a writer for Straight North, a marketing agency providing specialized SEO, Web development, and other online marketing services, with headquarters in Chicago. Follow Straight North on Twitter and Facebook.
