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The Power of Authentic Testimonials

Testimonials add something very special to your website, when they’re authentic. It’s a third party who presumably has nothing to gain by saying good things about you. Readers are more inclined to believe a third party, but poorly executed testimonials just won’t do.

You can go on and on about how great you are and all the benefits people get when they do business with you, but it’s still just you talking. You’re biased, and people know it… “Of course they say it’s the best thing since sliced bread, they came up with it!”

When a third party talks about how great you are, it’s completely different. They don’t profit when you make a sale. Yet, they took the time to write a few words expressing their satisfaction. A visitor to your site can read some testimonials and feel reassured that real people have gotten real benefit from doing business with you.

Of course, since the testimonial is on your website you could have written it yourself or edited it heavily. In fact, a lot of people do write the testimonials themselves and ask clients to sign off on it as if they had written it. Don’t do that. Your testimonials will all sound the same and people will not be swayed by the words.

Your testimonials must be authentic, and there’s a few basic things you can do to make sure they come across as the words of real, three-dimensional human beings:

  • Get people to write their own testimonials. The main reason I hear why people write testimonials for their customers or clients is that they asked for testimonials and never got them. It’s not because people don’t want to write them or don’t have time. It’s because they don’t know what to say.

    When you ask someone for a testimonial, give them some guidance. Ask them what benefits they received from buying your products or services. Ask them what they would tell a close friend who was considering buying your products or services. Whatever you do, don’t just say, “Can you send me a testimonial?”

    Everyone has their own voice and that’s the single most important thing to capture in order to make your testimonials authentic. The varying tone and voice in your testimonials will make everything believable to the reader.

  • Give attributions for each testimonial. Real people have names, occupations, and live in specific places. Provide that info along with the testimonial!

    Nothing says unauthentic like testimonials without names. Granted, some industries shouldn’t give out names for confidentiality reasons, but whenever possible provide a name.

    If you serve a wide geographic region you can show that off by listing the location with each testimonial. This will reassure readers that you’re a match for them even if they live further away from your home base. Additionally, it adds another layer of authenticity.

    Listing the occupation of your testimonial’s author is another way to show visitors they’re in the right place, that what you offer can help them. This is especially useful in the business to business market. It lets you demonstrate that you either serve a wide range of industries or have a specific niche that you focus on.

  • Got pictures? Use them! Reading words and names is one thing. Seeing someone’s face is another. If feasible, provide a picture along with each testimonial. Outside of video, nothing will make your testimonials more three dimensional than a picture.

Remember to capture and showcase the unique voice and identity that goes with each testimonial. Your visitors will recognize the authenticity and be reassured by the third party validation.

Of course, testimonials aren’t as powerful as reviews in third party websites or publications, or word of mouth. They are a powerful sales tool, though. I suggest having a section of your website devoted to showing them off, and using them any place where a visitors will be making a decision on whether to do business with you or not.

January 31, 2011 by Peter

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: newsletter, testimonials

How to Laser Target Your Message to Hook Perfect Customers

In crafting all your marketing materials tune your message to your ideal audience. Whether it’s an ad on Google or a sign out front, you want the ideal prospects to feel like it was written just for them. So, why not write it just for them?

First, you’ll have to figure out who “they” are. For example, let’s say your making a sign to draw college students into your store. Imagine your favorite student customers, or what perfect student customers might be like. Then, narrow it down and imagine a single ideal student customer. Give this ideal a name, an age, and some hobbies. What are they like? What interests them? What gets under their skin? Who do they vote for? Do they have any pets?

Create your own Avatar, as local marketing guru Howie Jacobson calls it. (He took a group of us through this exercise for Google Adwords a few weeks back.) So, you have this three-dimensional idea of your ideal prospect. Now, imagine they’re about to read your sign. What’s going through their head? Maybe they have just walked in your store and are making up their mind. What are they concerned with as they see your sign?

Grab a sheet of paper and write for three minutes. Write their internal “diary” as they are about to look at your new sign. Taking a few minutes to put the words on paper can help you really flesh things out. Think about what brought them in, what they want, and what they don’t want. Then write a short stream of consciousness diary for them.

Now you have your target. Write your sign or other marketing message to appeal directly to your diary author. Use your copy to help them get what they want faster and wash away their worries. If they’re thinking about options when they come in, then give them a handy guide to their choices on your sign. If they’re worried about their purchase holding up, then show off your guarantee. If they have a specific price point in mind, then pump your low sale price. You get the picture.

A little imagination can go a long way, so don’t forget to explore things from the perspective of your ideal prospect. You can make a few avatars to cover the different kinds of ideal prospects you have. You can use this technique for any of your marketing message, from in-store signage to e-mail newsletters.

This post first appeared in my Small Business Email Newsletter

November 18, 2010 by Peter

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: copywriting, Marketing, targeting

Videos for Your Lazy Memorial Day

It’s a lazy day around here with Memorial Day. We’re having a block party later on, and I’m guessing you’re probably not terribly focused on work either. So, this month I’m not going to write a long, original article. Instead I have some videos for you to check out if you have some time to kill and want some good business brain food.

First, a video of Seth Godin talking about standing out. Some of you might remember a previous newsletter on this topic. Well, I don’t think I ever included this video. It’s worth watching just to find out how Silk brand soy milk tripled its sales. Running time: 17 minutes Seth Godin on Sliced Bread & Soy Milk

This next one is a bit off topic. It’s an interview with Richard Stallman. Never heard of him? I’m not surprised. He’s sort of an underground hero. You see, when he was a student at Harvard and working in the MIT artificial intelligence lab, he started creating free software so that academics could freely modify it to suit their needs. What he started back then, in 1983, was called the GNU project. You’re probably familiar with it. Most people just call it Linux. The correct title is GNU/Linux, as it’s a combination of Stallman’s work and a kernel by Linus Torvalds. Anyhow, Stallman recently gave an interview to Mashable that I think should be required viewing. Running time 3 minutes Stallman on Software Freedom

Finally, for you copywriting geeks out there, here’s a video presentation by Drayton Bird, who, according to David Ogilvy, “knows more about direct marketing than anyone in the world.” In it he breaks down and analyses four advertisements — two by him, one by David Ogilvy and one by Claude Hopkins. If you’re a student of the persuasive power of language then you’ll love this one. The link is to a summary, just click through to watch the video. They won’t try to sell you anything. Running time 50 minutes Drayton Bird’s Ad Crunch

Sorry, I can’t embed this last one, and I don’t think it will be available forever. It seems kind of hypocritical to post this non-free video after Richard Stallman, but hey – I’m not perfect.

May 31, 2010 by Peter

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: copywriting, newsletter, video

Do you use your prospect’s favorite color?

When someone visits a new website, picks up a paper, or glances at a brochure stand they make a snap decision.  As quickly as possible they will decide if what they’re looking at is what they’re looking for.  It might take them 20 seconds or happen in an instant.  Either way, it happens long before they’ve had time to make a well thought out judgement of the whole of what they are looking at.

Think about it.  When you pick up a newspaper you glance at 80% of the headlines and read about 20% of the articles.  Why?  All those unread stories weren’t what you were looking for, and you decided that in a few seconds.  So, in the newspaper business headlines are vital… actually in every business.

Websites have a lot more going on than just the headlines.  So does a brochure or a full-color mailing.  There are colors, photos, graphics, and even video (on websites, not on brochures yet.)  All of it can contribute to a prospect’s decision to stay or leave.  All of it, but I’m just going to talk about colors for now.

[Read more…]

May 24, 2010 by Peter

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: color, design, newsletter

Twitter Tutorial Two: 7 Important Twitter Features Explained

Twitter asks, What's happening?

Twitter’s weird.  It’s a bit hard to wrap your head around it.  My best advice is to worry about that later.  Whatever Twitter is and whatever it does, it’s evolving.  So, don’t worry about understanding it before you use it.  Through using it you’ll come to understand it, and maybe you’ll even figure out new ways to put it to use.

That said, there are some things that are helpful to know.

What is a Tweet?

Let’s get this out of the way:

A tweet is a piece of text no longer than 140 characters. Spaces and punctuation count. Think of it as a blog entry, a bitesized blog entry.

For reference, that definition is 140 characters long.

[Read more…]

December 11, 2009 by Peter

Filed Under: Marketing, Technology Tagged With: newsletter, social media, tutorial, twitter

Email Marketing Services & Their Ads in Your Footer

I absolutely hate it when email marketing services advertise for themselves in the footers of their paying customer’s messages.  I mean, you’re paying them right?  Why the heck should you have to advertise for them too?  So, here’s a breakdown of email marketing services and their policy of intruding into your messages.

  • Aweber – No footer ads, ever.
  • MailChimp – Footer ads can be disabled easily in your account if you’re a paying customer.
  • Vertical Response – You’ll have to contact support to get the ad removed.
  • Constant Contact – Same, you’ll have to put in a support request… adding your logo costs extra.
  • iContact – Pay 10% extra per month (minimum $4.95) to remove the ad.  In their defense, iContact does have the least intrusive footer ad, plus they’re based right here in Raleigh, NC.

While I’m at it, I have to tell you why I hate Constant Contact.  It’s the name.  Sure, you want to be in constant contact with your list, but I’ll wager you’re readers would rather not hear from you constantly.  Years ago, I actually unsubscribed from a local company’s newsletter because of that Constant Contact logo at the bottom.  “Constant Contact?  I don’t want that.  My in-box if full enough already!”

Got a tip or something I missed? Share it in the comments below!

This post first appeared in my monthly small business newsletter.

November 17, 2009 by Peter

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: email, email marketing, newsletter, small business

Twitter Tutorial 1: How to Tweet Well

So, you’ve heard me rant about Twitter.  Some of you even went out and set up accounts, good work!  So now what?  What do you actually do with Twitter once you’re on there?  Why does it matter?

A Twitter Logoimage credit

How To Tweet Well

Well, Twitter became even more important this month.  Deals were announced with both Google and Microsoft to include Twitter posts — tweets — in search results.  So, before long, when someone searches for your company they might also see what people are saying about you on Twitter.  In my book, everything in search engine results matters big time, period.  Twitter also matters because it gives you another outlet to stay connected with your clients, donors, peers, etc. as well as to attract new ones.

Tweeting seems really simple.  Twitter seems really simple in general, at first.  It is a simple concept: write little messages no longer than 140 characters.  In theory each tweet should answer the question: What are you doing?  Dead simple.  But, actually doing this well gets complicated.  You’ll need to balance the amount you want to communicate with the amount of room you have, and still write something readable.  You’ll also need to stand out — catch people’s eyes.  You’ll want to elicit a response from the reader as well, e.g. click your link, reply to you, or just empathize with you.  Finally, you have to provide actual value in your tweets.  A few examples should help. [Read more…]

November 12, 2009 by Peter

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: newsletter, tutorial, twitter

8 Amazing eResources That Are Free For Non-Profits

I recently met with someone at a local community outreach organization about bringing their internet operations up to speed. They were surprised to learn that they were eligible for free web hosting simply because of their IRS 501(c) (3) status. I couldn’t help but imagine that there are plenty of others who would love to know about this.

As I got to thinking about it I realized that there must be other great free for non-profit services out there. I’ve been doing some research and below you’ll find 8 useful eResources that are completely free to qualified non-profits. They include web hosting, marketing, software, and web application solutions.

Some of these are even free for anyone, and can be of great value to businesses, small and large.  I include them because they can be especially valuable to non-profits.  By employing free open source software you can keep your IT budget to a minimum without sacrificing.

[Read more…]

January 18, 2009 by Peter

Filed Under: Marketing, Technology Tagged With: email, free, google, hosting, Marketing, non-profit

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