How to Write Effective Testimonials (Plus 10 Customer Testimonial Examples)

The Biggest Mistake in Collecting Testimonials

So your business is going great and you have enough happy customers to start collecting testimonials from. DO NOT make the big mistake of simply asking them for a review. Your customers are busy people and even if they loved your service, they simply don't have the time to do you a favour. This is where the concept of reducing friction is so important.

Don't ask them to write you a testimonial, write it for them and ask for their approval! The following is a guide on how to write a testimonial on your customer's behalf to maximize your customer testimonials.

Benefits of a Good Testimonial

1. Builds Credibility: An effective testimonial from a satisfied customer can help build credibility and trust with potential customers. By hearing from others who have had positive experiences with your product or service, potential customers are more likely to view your business as trustworthy and reliable.
2. Provides Social Proof: Good testimonials also provide social proof, demonstrating to potential customers that others have found value in your product or service. This can help alleviate any concerns they may have and increase the likelihood that they will choose to do business with you.
3. Increases Conversions: Good testimonials can also increase conversions by persuading potential customers to take action. By highlighting specific benefits or features of your product or service, testimonials can help potential customers see the value in what you offer and take the next step towards making a purchase.
4. Improves SEO: Including good testimonials on your website can also improve your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. By including relevant keywords and phrases in the testimonials, you can increase the relevance and authority of your website, ultimately improving its ranking in search engine results.
5. Provides Valuable Feedback: Finally, good testimonials can provide valuable feedback that you can use to improve your product or service. By hearing from your satisfied customers, you can gain insights into what they found most valuable or helpful, and use that feedback to improve your offerings in the future.

How to Write a Testimonial

What should testimonials include?

When creating client testimonials for your business, it's important to include certain elements that can help make them more effective. Here are some key elements to consider including in your client testimonials:

1. Company Logo: Including your company logo in the testimonial can help reinforce your brand and make the testimonial look more official and credible.
2. Personal Details: Including personal details about the customer who provided the testimonial, such as their name, job title, or location, can help make the testimonial feel more authentic and relatable.
3. Specific Results: Including specific results or outcomes that the customer achieved with the help of your product or service can help demonstrate the value of what you can tangibly offer.
4. Emotional Language: Including emotional language that conveys the customer's enthusiasm or satisfaction with your product or service can help create a stronger emotional connection with potential customers.
5. Call-to-Action: Including a call-to-action at the end of the testimonial can encourage potential customers to take action and try your product or service for themselves.

By including these elements in your client testimonials, you can create more compelling messages that resonate with potential customers and help drive conversions.

Tips for Writing a Great Testimonial

Customer testimonials are essential in building trust and credibility for any business or individual. Learn how to write a testimonial that is persuasive and effective by following these key tips.

1. Focus on Specifics: When you write testimonials, concentrate on particular aspects of the product or service that impressed you. Describe the issue you encountered and how the solution resolved it. Specific details create a vivid picture and help readers understand what to anticipate.
2. Share Real-Life Experiences: Incorporate genuine examples to emphasize the benefits derived from the product or service. Real-life experiences make your testimonial relatable and genuine, helping potential clients visualize the value they can receive.
3. Clarity and Brevity: An impactful testimonial is concise and straightforward. Avoid complex language and jargon, and use simple sentences to convey your message. Readers are more likely to engage with a clear and concise testimonial.
4. Enhance Trustworthiness: To increase the reliability of your testimonial, include your name, title, company, or other pertinent information. Adding a photo or video can also improve credibility.
5. Emphasize Unique Features: Highlight the aspects that differentiate the product or service from competitors. By focusing on unique selling points, your testimonial becomes more persuasive and encourages potential clients to choose the product or service.
6. Be Genuine and Honest: Authenticity and honesty are crucial when writing a testimonial. Avoid exaggerating or making false claims, as an honest testimonial will resonate with readers and encourage them to take action.
7. Edit and Proofread: Review your testimonial for spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes before submitting it. A polished testimonial reflects well on you and the subject of your testimonial, demonstrating that you value the quality of your endorsement.

The Structure of a Great Testimonial

A great testimonial should have a clear structure that makes it easy for potential customers to read and understand. Here are some elements that you can include in your testimonial:

1. Start with a Strong Headline: A headline is the first thing that potential customers will see when they read your testimonial. A strong headline that summarizes your experience or highlights the benefit you received can grab their attention and make them want to read more.
2. Describe Your Situation: Start your testimonial by describing the situation you were in before you used the product or service. This could include the problem you were trying to solve or the need you had that the product fulfilled.
3. Explain How the Product Helped You: Next, explain how the product or service helped you. Be specific about the benefits you received and how they solved your problem or met your needs. Use real-life examples or anecdotes to illustrate your point.
4. Mention Key Features: If there are specific features of the product or service that you found particularly useful, make sure to mention them in your testimonial. This can help potential customers understand what sets the product apart from others on the market.
5. Provide a Call-to-Action: End your testimonial with a call-to-action that encourages potential customers to try the product or service for themselves. This could be a simple statement like "I highly recommend this product" or a more direct call-to-action like "Try it for yourself and see the difference it can make!"

Use Emotional Language

Testimonials that evoke emotions are more likely to resonate with potential customers and be effective. To use emotional language in your testimonials, consider the following tips:

1. Use Vivid Language: When describing your experience with the product or service, use vivid language that appeals to the senses. For example, instead of saying "The product worked well", try saying "The product transformed my life".
2. Focus on Benefits: Emphasize the benefits you received from the product or service and how it made you feel. Use adjectives that evoke emotions such as "amazing", "wonderful", "life-changing", etc.
3. Share Personal Stories: Share personal stories that demonstrate the impact the product or service had on your life. This can help potential customers connect with you on an emotional level and relate to your experience.
4. Use Quotes: Incorporate quotes from other customers who have had positive experiences with the product or service. This can add social proof and increase the emotional impact of your testimonial.
5. Avoid Hype: While it's important to use emotional language, it's also important to avoid hype and stay truthful. Be honest about your experience and avoid exaggerating or making unrealistic claims.

Be Specific

To craft great testimonials, it's crucial to include personal details that help readers understand how the product or service helped you in a specific way. Generic statements like "It's amazing" or "It's the best" lack the personal touch that makes a testimonial compelling. Instead, share details that provide insight into your experience, such as how the product or service solved a particular problem for you, or how it improved your life in a meaningful way. Including personal details can help readers relate to your experience and see how the product or service can similarly benefit them. By making your testimonial specific and personal, you can create a strong emotional connection with potential customers, ultimately increasing the likelihood that they will choose your product or service.

A good testimonial is authentic

When it comes to crafting the best testimonials, authenticity is key. One of the best ways to achieve authenticity is by letting your happy customers speak for themselves. Avoid the temptation to fabricate or exaggerate testimonials, as savvy consumers can often spot fake reviews from a mile away. Instead, reach out to your satisfied customers and ask them to share their honest thoughts about their experience with your product or service. By allowing your happy customers to speak for themselves, you can create authentic testimonials that are more likely to resonate with potential customers. Remember, the best testimonials are those that are written by real people, in their own words, and convey a genuine sense of satisfaction with the product or service.

Examples of Testimonials With Good Structure

To help you better understand the elements of a great testimonial, here are some examples of testimonials with good structure:

1. Headline: "This Product Changed My Life"

"I used to struggle with anxiety and stress every day, but since I started using this product, my life has changed for the better. The product helped me manage my anxiety and allowed me to focus on my work and enjoy my life again. I highly recommend this product to anyone who wants to improve their mental health and well-being."

2. Headline: "I Can't Imagine My Life Without This Service"

"Before I started using this service, I was overwhelmed with the amount of work I had to do. But since I started using it, my life has become so much easier. The service is easy to use, reliable, and saves me a lot of time. I can't imagine my life without it!"

3. Headline: "The Best Product on the Market"

"I've tried many products over the years, but this one is by far the best. It's well-designed, easy to use, and has all the features I need. The customer support is also excellent, and the team goes above and beyond to make sure I'm satisfied. I would recommend this product to anyone looking for a reliable and high-quality solution."

These testimonials follow a clear structure, including a strong headline, a description of the situation before using the product or service, an explanation of how the product or service helped, a mention of key features, and a call-to-action.

Showcase on Your Testimonials Page

Put the testimonial next to the product or service it mentions

To effectively showcase the benefits of your product or service to prospective customers, it's important to ensure that your testimonials are placed next to the corresponding product or service on your testimonials page. By doing so, you can make it easy for visitors to your website to understand the specific benefits of your offerings as described by your satisfied customers. Be sure to use a clear and bold headline that captures the essence of the testimonial and include the name and photo of the person providing it. By placing the testimonial next to the product or service, you can increase the authenticity and credibility of the testimonial, ultimately helping you to attract more prospective customers.

Put testimonials with keyphrases on pages that are optimized for that phrase

If you have testimonials that specifically mention a keyphrase or keyword that you are targeting for SEO purposes, it's important to place those testimonials on pages that are optimized for that phrase. This can help improve the relevance and authority of the page, as well as increase the likelihood that the page will rank well in search engine results for that particular keyword or keyphrase. By including relevant and specific testimonials on these pages, you can provide additional validation and social proof to visitors, ultimately increasing the likelihood that they will convert into customers. Remember to choose testimonials that are genuine and align with the keyphrase or keyword that you are targeting, and place them in a prominent location on the page to maximize their impact.

Make it visually engaging

Your customer testimonials can be a powerful tool in attracting new business, but it's important to showcase them in a way that is visually engaging and easy to navigate. Here are some tips for creating an effective testimonials page on your website:

1. Include Video Testimonials: A video testimonial can be particularly engaging and help bring your testimonials to life. Consider including short video clips of satisfied customers sharing their success stories.
2. Use Images: Images of satisfied customers or the products/services they purchased can help break up text and add visual interest to your testimonials page.
3. Display Testimonials Clearly: Make sure your testimonials are easy to read and navigate by using clear headings, subheadings, and bullet points.
4. Short Testimonials: Consider including short testimonials that are easy to digest and convey the most important benefits of your product or service.
5. Share Success Stories that demonstrate the value and impact of your product or service, using specific details and outcomes.

By creating an engaging and visually appealing testimonials page on your website, you can help potential customers see the value of your product or service and ultimately drive more sales.

Different Types of Customer Testimonials

There are several different types of customer testimonials that businesses can use to effectively showcase their products or services. Some of the most common types include:

Peer Testimonials: Testimonials from people in similar roles or industries as potential customers, providing relatable examples of how a product or service can be used.

Audio Testimonials: Audio recordings of customers sharing their positive experiences with a product or service, providing an alternative to written testimonials.

Influencer Testimonials: Testimonials from influencers or thought leaders in a particular industry, lending credibility and social proof to a product or service.

Customer Interviews Testimonials: A series of questions asked to a customer to capture a more in-depth perspective on their experience with a product or service.

Customer Video Testimonials: Video recordings of customers sharing their positive experiences with a product or service, providing a visual and more engaging format for testimonials.

Social Testimonials: Testimonials shared on social media platforms by satisfied customers, which can be re-shared and amplified by a business.

Authority Testimonials: Testimonials from industry experts or trusted sources, providing additional validation and credibility to a product or service.

Interview Testimonials: A conversation between a business and a satisfied customer, allowing for a more personalized and engaging format for testimonials.

Blog Post Testimonials: Testimonials incorporated into blog posts, which can provide additional context and background on a product or service.

Peer Review Testimonials: Testimonials shared on third-party review sites, providing unbiased perspectives on a product or service.

Case Study Testimonials: Detailed case studies that showcase the benefits and impact of a product or service for a specific customer or industry.

Quote Testimonials: Short, snappy quotes from satisfied customers that can be used in marketing materials and social media posts to quickly convey the value and benefits of a product or service.

Employee Testimonials: Testimonials from employees can provide a unique perspective on a company's culture and values. These testimonials can be used to showcase the company's commitment to employee satisfaction, career growth opportunities, and the overall work environment.

Quote Testimonials: Short, concise quotes from satisfied customers that highlight the most important benefits of a product or service. Quote testimonials can be used in a variety of marketing materials, including social media posts, email campaigns, and website content. They provide a quick and easy way to convey the value and benefits of a product or service, while also adding credibility and social proof.

By leveraging these different types of customer testimonials, businesses can effectively communicate the benefits of their products or services to potential customers, ultimately increasing sales and driving growth.

Our Favourite Customer Testimonial Examples

As a business owner, you may be looking for inspiration on how to write a customer testimonial that effectively showcases the benefits and value of your product or service. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to crafting a great testimonial, reviewing successful examples can provide valuable insights and ideas. Here are some types of customer testimonials that have proven to be effective:

One popular type of testimonial is the video testimonial, which features a satisfied customer sharing their experience and the positive impact the product or service had on their life or business. Video testimonials can be particularly effective because they allow the customer to speak directly to potential customers and convey their enthusiasm and satisfaction more engagingly.

Another effective type of testimonial is the influencer testimonial, which features a respected industry influencer or thought leader sharing their positive experience with the product or service. These types of testimonials can lend credibility and social proof to a business and help build trust with potential customers.

A success story is another type of customer testimonial that can be effective in demonstrating the value and benefits of a product or service. Success stories typically feature a customer who achieved a specific goal or outcome with the help of the product or service, providing tangible evidence of its effectiveness.

Written testimonials, customer stories, and quote testimonials are other types of customer testimonials that can be effective in communicating the benefits and value of a product or service. Regardless of the type of testimonial, it's important to keep the messaging specific, authentic, and relatable to potential customers.

When crafting your customer testimonials, consider the most important benefits and outcomes of your product or service and focus on highlighting those in a way that is compelling and engaging. Remember that the goal is to build credibility and trust with potential customers, so it's important to use language that is genuine and relatable to your audience. By taking the time to create effective customer testimonials, you can attract more customers and ultimately grow your business.

10 Customer Testimonial Examples by Type

1. Video Testimonial: "I was skeptical at first, but after using this product for just one week, I was blown away. It saved me so much time and hassle, and I can't imagine going back to the way things were before."

2. Influencer Testimonial: "As a respected thought leader in this industry, I'm always skeptical of new products and services. But after trying this one out, I can confidently say that it lives up to the hype. I highly recommend it to anyone in this space."

3. Success Story: "Thanks to this service, I was able to achieve my business goals much faster than I thought possible. The support team was also incredibly helpful and responsive throughout the entire process."

4. Written Testimonial: "I never leave reviews or testimonials, but I had to make an exception for this product. It truly exceeded my expectations and provided incredible value for the price."

5. Customer Story: "I was struggling to find a solution to a complex problem, but this product came through for me. The customer support team was also incredibly helpful and patient throughout the process."

6. Quote Testimonial: "This product is a game-changer. It helped me streamline my workflow and save so much time. I can't imagine going back to the old way of doing things."

7. Peer Testimonial: "As someone in the same industry, I can confidently say that this service is the real deal. It solved a problem that I didn't even realize I had and made my life so much easier."

8. Authority Testimonial: "As an industry expert, I've tried countless products and services. This one stands out for its ease of use, affordability, and effectiveness. I highly recommend it to anyone in this space."

9. Audio Testimonial: "I was hesitant to try this product, but after hearing so many positive reviews, I decided to give it a chance. I'm so glad I did - it's made a huge difference in my daily routine."

10. Peer Review Testimonial: "I came across this product on a third-party review site and was blown away by the positive feedback. I decided to try it out for myself and can confirm that the hype is real. It's a must-have for anyone in this industry."