How to Make The Most of Your Testimonials

Author: Sally Ormond, Copywriter and MD at Briar Copywriting Ltd. Follow her on Twitter and Google+

Testimonials are wonderful things.

They offer potential clients an insight into your service and approach and illustrate the benefits of your product/service in a real life situation.

Listing them on your website, or dotting them amongst the rest of your copy is OK, but you could make more of them.

Turning testimonials into stories

There’s nothing better than a good old-fashioned story to get your readers engrossed.

Let’s face it the testimonials you receive from customers are like the wrap up of a story. They’re just missing the beginning, middle and protagonist.

But if you were to add that information, hey presto, your testimonial suddenly turns into a case study.

Weaving a story around the testimonial is easy; just make sure it’s factual.

First, set the scene – give some background to it, who is the client and why did they come to you? This is where you explain the problem they had.

Now in comes the protagonist – that’s you, or at least your product or service. Think about why they came to you (don’t make this bit up, if you know write about it, otherwise skip it). Write about how you approached the problem and what you did to solve it.

The happy ending – now your reader wants to know the outcome. This is the bit they’re concerned about; what did your solution do for your customer? Hopefully, the testimonial you received has a bit more substance to it than just “they were really nice and helped me, thank you.” In this section you want to show the reader how your solution helped, using their testimonial as a summary of the whole case study.

Now, your testimonial has become a story that shouts about your service, giving it a real life context that is meaningful and that your reader can relate to.

Plus, it’s a great way to add fresh content to your website.