Even after building a trusting relationship with subscribers, some may still be hesitant to buy from you. This could be for a number of reasons, many of which are beyond your control (increased competition or subscriber mistrust about buying online).
But instead of focusing on reasons you can't control, let's focus instead on what can be done to persuade subscribers to become satisfied customers. Using testimonials from other satisfied customers is one way to do so.
Customer Testimonials
Telling others what your customers have to say about your business, products and doing business with you is a wonderful tool to have in your email marketing arsenal.
Testimonials from satisfied customers:
- Reassure hesitant buyers
- Reaffirm your reputation
- Increase professionalism
- Validate your claims about products/services
In addition to including testimonials on your website, blog, Facebook page and other marketing materials (brochures, postcards, etc.), add testimonials to email content. Your email may be the only time you have to speak directly to subscribers since you deliver mass email directly to subscriber inboxes. Don't assume that just because you add testimonials to your website that subscribers will see them.
Asking for Testimonials
When asking for testimonials, be pleasant and polite. Send bulk emails to customers who have made a purchase within the past year asking them for feedback. Ask customers to write one or two sentences about their experience (anything from customer service to how they feel about products/services).
Do not send more than two testimonial solicitation emails per year as most customers will find this annoying, especially after they already purchased products from you.
Also, don't expect all customers to respond. Do not send a follow-up email. Customers sending you testimonials are doing you a favor, pressuring them to send a response by sending 'reminder' emails will only cause an increase in opt-out requests.
Using Testimonials in an Email Campaign
Include testimonials in sales-type email messages. When discussing the benefits or features of your product, include a section for testimonials. Include three or four customer testimonials along with the customer's first name, last initial and geographic location, job title or other distinguishing characteristic you know about the customer.
Passing along positive feedback to subscribers gives you a way to validate the claims you make about your products. Even though subscribers trust you, in the back of their minds, they know you have to make sales - being able to back up what you say with testimonials gives subscribers a little extra incentive to believe what you have to say about your products.