Social proof may be the single most crucial factor that will determine your success online.
63% of consumers won’t stick with a company that they don’t trust, so if you want to attract and retain your very best customers and keep them away from the competition, you must not only prove your worth when providing services but also have enough social proof to justify giving you a shot in the first place.
That’s where testimonials can be so powerful.
While there are plenty of examples of social proof and how it can be used, testimonials are probably the most powerful form of social proof because it is an honest and straightforward endorsement of your business from people who have tried it and saw great results.
But How Can You Generate Testimonials?
Well, that’s where it can get a bit tricky.
Today, consumers are facing more distractions than ever before, so expecting them to take the time and leave a review on their own isn’t a great approach.
Instead, you need to be proactive and encourage happy customers to take a few moments to leave reviews for your business.
If you provided an excellent service and have formed a good relationship with your customers, you can expect a significant number of them to agree to leave you a testimonial that talks about how your business has helped them.
But, to maximize your chances of success, you need to incentivize their efforts so that they not only feel more motivated to do it but also see that you care about their opinion and want to know how they feel about the quality of your services.
And one of the best ways to get testimonials is to use SMS messages.
Benefits of Using SMS Messages to Get Testimonials
There’s a reason why so many companies use SMS-based messaging not only to get testimonials but in their marketing as well.
For one thing, SMS messages get opened 90% of the time, compared to just 20% on email, so you can be almost sure that if you send out a message, it will be opened and read, which is half the battle in getting people to click through and leave a review.
That means that whether you’re looking for how to generate more sales leads, or want to engage your current customers by asking for a testimonial, you’d be hard-pressed trying to find a better medium to do it through.
What’s more, 75% of respondents say that they don’t mind receiving marketing messages through SMS, so it provides you a unique opportunity to get in front of an audience that isn’t yet overwhelmed with marketing pitches.
Unlike email or social media ads, SMS is a platform that isn’t yet too overcrowded with business communications, so you will have a much easier time capturing attention and getting people to take action.
Finally, branded SMS links are clicked 39% more often than others, so if you make your link branded and have a strong call to action, you will have a good chance of getting people to click through and leave a review for your business. Get started with your SMS campaign by using an online SMS service.
How to Get Testimonials Using SMS
Now that we understand the benefits of using SMS messages for generating testimonials, it’s time to look at specific testimonial examples and figure out how to get them.
There are a few different types of SMS messages that you can send out that have been proven to be very useful at enticing people to leave a review or testimonial, working in numerous industries and for companies of all sizes.
Before you can start sending out messages and developing specific campaigns for getting testimonials, you will need to use a global SMS API to customize the process to your own needs and make sure that you can track and analyze your results.
Once you do that, you’ll be ready to get started and can use one of the following types of messages to begin acquiring new testimonials from your very best customers at a rapid pace.
Rate Us Message
When you have a specific platform such as Google, Facebook, or Yelp that you want to accumulate reviews and testimonials on, the Rate Us type of text message can deliver excellent results.
The reason for its effectiveness lies in its simplicity.
You directly ask the customer to leave a positive review and share their experiences in dealing with your company.
This message works best immediately after your encounter with the customers, while they still have your business on their mind and so a direct message won’t be a disruption in their day.
Your Feedback is Important
When you don’t just want to accumulate as many positive reviews as possible but are rather looking for constructive feedback on how you could improve, the Your Feedback is Important type message can be an excellent choice.
It immediately positions your company as a business that cares about how it is seen by its customers and might entice them to share immensely valuable tidbits from their experience that can help you make positive changes in the way you deal with clients.
To make this message work, it’s important to ask specific questions about different parts of their experience to ensure that they go in a bit more depth and discuss all the aspects of your business.
Review a Product
If you have data about specific purchases from clients, you can use that to send out targeted SMS messages asking for reviews of that particular product that they bought.
When rolling out new products, getting those first reviews can be difficult, so this way, you can make sure that as soon as the first few sales are made, you will start getting the first reviews that will help other buyers learn more about the products and improve your social proof elements.
What’s more, when you have a larger sample size of reviews, it will become easier to figure out which products do your customer’s like the most and which you should improve or remove from your selection altogether.
Thank You Message
Sometimes, you don’t even need a direct approach to get people to take action.
By using a Thank You message, you can simply show your gratitude to your customers for choosing to buy from you, while at the same time keeping your business on their mind and also subtly asking to leave a review if they have a spare minute.
If you feel your audience might not respond great to a direct request for a testimonial, a Thank You message can help to soften their resistance and could even improve their testimonial if they decide to leave it.
Would You Recommend Us? Message
Even though there are countless ways to promote your business, referrals and word-of-mouth remain incredibly effective and can sustain business growth on their own, given that you have enough great customers who are willing to endorse you to their friends and family.
Sometimes, to encourage that, you can use a Would You Recommend Us message to not only implant the idea of recommending your business in their mind but also insert a subtle request for a review or testimonial so that you could improve your services to them and other customers.
The impact that messages like these can have for your business are hard to measure – they not only help you accumulate reviews and contribute to getting referrals but can position your company as a caring and responsible business that wants to satisfy every single customer.
