Videos should display genuine testimony from actual users to gain the most trust from your audience. If you're not sure what length video to use, you can set up A/B testing to find out.
2. Quote testimonials
Quotes are the most traditional testimonials, which were in use before the internet was invented. Even now, you can see quotes on billboards, in magazines, on the radio, and in other traditional media. Quotes are simply the stated opinion of your service from an actual user. The user may be an influencer or celebrity, but they are describing their experience with your service.
One reason quotes are so popular is that it's easy to get them. You can ask customers to leave a review of your service on a survey or evaluation form. Or just come right out and ask them for a quote. It's important that you get permission in writing to use their quote in your marketing. Many businesses send out a quick survey after users sign up or use their services to obtain customer reviews and quotes.
When you do use a quote in your marketing, you must clearly show who is being quoted and the original source.
3. Blog post reviews
Blog post reviews have become the bread and butter for many marketing departments. They are a good way to promote customer retention and engagement before, after, or between visits, and you can use them for customer education to learn the ways your business can help them. Your own blog can extend your audience's engagement by using testimonials in a number of formats and encourage them to sign up for other connections to your business like social media, email marketing, etc.
You don't have to be a big business to reap the rewards of blog posts. Many companies find that using smaller third-party bloggers to review their products is highly successful. And younger buyers, like Gen Zers, are the most likely to trust influencer bloggers.
4. User-generated content
User-generated content is any content that a user creates and posts in any format without any influence by the company they are testifying about. Many of the formats discussed on this page can be user-generated content. The most popular types of user-generated content are:
- Customer reviews in any format
- Blog posts
- Industry-expert product or service reviews in any format
- Posts on third-party review sites like Yelp
5. Case studies
Case studies are in-depth studies of how clients use your products. These are often used when a business is selling a complex product or service and need a way to demonstrate product qualities and benefits to prospective buyers or new customers. Case studies are long-form testimonials that should be used in the middle or near the end of the marketing funnel and can also help a new customer get up-to-speed on new equipment or service products.
6. Customer interviews
Customer interviews can be conducted by your business to market your services, but they are even more effective when a third-party expert conducts them. Third-party interviewers don't have to be fans of your services to talk about them with experts who test them in-person.
Other types of customer interviews are created by inside company marketers, and outsourced marketers to promote a brand, product, or service ad and to answer frequently-asked-questions.
7. Success stories
There are similarities between success stories and case studies. They both are looking into how an actual client has used your product or service. While a case study delves into how the service is used to demonstrate to prospective clients or new customers, a success story is a literal story about how a client succeeded in reaching or surpassing their goals while using your service.
Success stories are used to promote a service to new leads and prospects, and sometimes to new customers as examples of how a similar company succeeded using your service. These stories can be marketed in several formats with articles, written content for website or blog posts, or in audio-visual media.
8. Press reviews
Press reviews aren't the same thing as press releases. A press release is generated by a brand to announce a change, new product, or an achievement.
A press review's most well-known usage is to comment on the quality of some type of entertainment, like a new movie, concert, artist opening, new restaurant, etc. You can find press releases in many periodicals online and offline like newspapers, blogs, magazines, radio shows, streaming, or television.
A press review is generated from the reviewer's experience of your newest addition to your restaurant's menu or latest Broadway show, etc.
9. Social media posts
Social media channels have become an influential component for disseminating information to people in your audience. Many of these channels are household names, like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. These channels have developed along with the technology available to post online, and many of them allow text, image, and video posts with fun shareable designs and formats that are easy-to-use and don't take long to create.
