Customer Testimonials happen when one of your previous customers leave a review or testimonial on your product or service. This shows “Social Proof” that your Shopify store is providing good service and has gained trust on the internet and social networks.
Can Customer Testimonials really help conversions for your Shopify store?
The answer is absolutely! Utilizing and optimizing your previous customer’s reviews and testimonials can help convert new traffic into new customers! Why wouldn’t you want to leverage a powerful tool like that?
Your reputation is what drives potential customers to buy from your store. Reputation through (Social Proof) is a key part of what makes a person buy from you. With the use of different strategies, you are able to hand pick these testimonials and use them to carefully craft your Shopify stores reputation. Instantly converting more of your store’s traffic into customers.
“Do not leave your reputation to chance or gossip; it is your life’s artwork, and you must craft it, hone it, and display it with the care of an artist.”
― Robert Greene
What is Social Proof and How does it affect my Shopify Store?
Online sales take a lot more effort in converting traffic into actual customers than they used to. There are not as many easy tricks or ways to game the system so to speak. This has paved the way for an important metric and deciding factor in whether a purchase is made or not (Social Proof).
When a customer leaves a review, a comment, or a posts a picture of your shopify product, they are telling other potential buyers, these products are good and we trust this website. It gives you instant trust and authority.
Trust is a very important metric online. The big search engines have all crafted their new algorithms to penalize sites that use untrustworthy tactics. In online sales, it is not the product or website or marketing that matters, it is the customer themselves. Social proof is a momentum that is turning the tides in the way we market our Shopify stores.
If a new visitor to your site can see other people just like them in your content they relate to that person and it becomes all about them. You should be using social proof and customer testimonials to put the spotlight on the customer, acknowledging their needs and the value that you provide them.
The biggest signal in social proof comes from friends and family, 83% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase based on a friend’s social share or a family members word of mouth.
What is the Psychology Behind a Customer Testimonial
The psychology of an online buyer (customer) comes down to customer experience, speed, convenience, usability and reliability. The journey for a buyer doesn’t start in the store anymore it starts with research. Online reviews are the metric used to decide what has trust and what doesn’t.
The customer wants to be a part of the experience. Your Shopify store should always put the buyer and their needs at the center of attention, making sure your service provides customer satisfaction.
The point isn’t just to sell products, you must offer a service and value that appeals to the online customer. The buyer also wants to help! If you offer quality products and a valuable service the buyer will want to help you spread the word because they are now a part of your story. Customer testimonials tap into the minds and behaviors of both the buyer and potential buyer.
Here are 4 Ways you can Utilize Testimonials
- Insights and analytics can show that a customer is returning to your site multiple times and may want to purchase more items or leave a review. Make sure to utilize this type of data in your webmaster strategy.
- Automated emails can also help to send out that call to action for feedback after a set amount of days. This increases your chance of getting reviews and puts your brand out there. Email lists can be very fruitful.
- Social media posts are a great way to encourage more positive customer reviews and testimonials. People love to share things on social sites. A simple post with a call to action, asking the customer to show off their new purchase.
- There are also alternatives out there to help with the testimonial process, such as Get Satisfaction which helps gather customers into communities where they share feedback.
How to Get Testimonials From Existing Customers
The most effective way to get a customer to leave a review or upgrade from a review to a customer testimonial is to search your insights for shares and social signals that have highlighted your product or service in a post or share. Buyers who are satisfied love to show off their awesome purchases in pictures and videos on social media. Often times even tagging or #hashtagging an online store or brand.
Another good practice is to reach out to your email list. If you have an engaged audience, just asking for feedback from those who have already shown interest or made a purchase with your store will most likely bring about an opportunity to give positive input. You can also use insights from your email list to find the most enthusiastic of your followers and reach out to them for more detailed testimonials.
One way to get more reviews is to add a call to action in your automated purchase message, asking that customers who are having a great experience leave feedback. You may even let them know that their customer testimonial could be featured on the website.
Customer Testimonials and How They can Improve Your ROI
As you now know customer testimonials accelerate your trust and social proof. So how does that affect your bottom line? These strategies to strengthen your reviews and testimonials cost little to nothing but make a huge impact on your Shopify store.
Use the tools outlined in this article to improve your ROI and keep customers engaged with your content and services.
Bringing the customer into the fold also gives you a higher chance to convert a one time customer into a recurring customer. You are building a service with your Shopify store. Good practices along with careful crafting will bring in a higher ROI.
What Kind of Customers Leave Good Reviews
The success in converting an ideal customer relies on your ability to connect with them on a personal level. Once you make that connection you have won them over to your side and they may now leave you a good review or mention your store on social media. These types of customers are also ready for you to reach out and ask for the customer testimonial.
It can be hard sometimes to find that sweet spot where your service and the customer are both comfortable enough to reach out, but it does happen if you keep your strategy going and keep working towards the goal of making your customer happy.
Who not to ask for a Review
There can be a thin line between who is happy and who is not. Some buyers might not have had the best experience because shipping took longer than expected, or a certain size of clothing didn’t fit just right. Whatever the reason, make sure you do your due diligence and try to make them happy. Good reviews can make your shop successful but bad reviews can slow that success down to a halt.
Make sure your customer support and service is a well-oiled machine before you start reaching out for testimonials. Often times someone who was unhappy can be made whole again to the point that they now want to share that positive experience.
What is the Best Practice for Setting Up a Testimonial
Remember to not be too pushy. You want to ease in with the delayed email or even a printed or digital satisfaction survey card that emails with the order. You don’t always need to try that hard because the buyer by nature wants to help. They want to be involved.
Where to Place Your Testimonials for Best Results
You should be featuring your testimonials on pages and in some of your articles and blog posts. Having that visible social proof on the same page as the add to cart button or at the bottom of your footer so they can be seen during every part of the customer experience within your store is essential. These types of techniques can make all the difference for your growing Shopify store.
Social media sites are also a good place to share your reviews, on your official pages, in profiles and across networks. It helps to have them in your ad copy as well. If you are advertising some of the best content you can provide is customer testimonials.
More Customer Testimonials Means More Content
The best part of this customer testimony and review building strategy is that it provides excellent content for your Shopify store. The search engines consider the word count on every site they crawl as a signal of its credibility. When you combine great content with social proof you have a powerful tool at your disposal.
Are Video Customer Testimonials Effective
Video is more effective today than ever and has become one of the most best ways of showing off a product you love. In this modern age of selfies and social media posting, videos have now integrated into everyday life for both consumers and businesses. This is a great opportunity for you. People love to show off their stuff, and often will do the advertising and promoting for you!
The Human Touch of Customer Testimonials
To conclude, the best way to grow your business using customer testimonials is to be as human as possible. Integrate that humanity into your process. You and your buyers have a connection and it’s up to you to make sure you maintain that relationship while providing value.
What better way to show the world that you care than to reach out to your customers for their personal feedback!
Chad Kilpatrick