Testimonials are often treated as an afterthought for many modern businesses, but there are many benefits to collecting and publishing your reviews and testimonials, such as an improvement in customer experience, a reduction in customer churn and a significant increase to your company value.
Below, we explore 15 stats that showcase the immense value of testimonials for businesses.
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9 out of 10 people say they trust what a customer says about a business more than what the business says about itself
According to research by Wyzowl, a huge 90% of customers say that they’re more likely to trust feedback from other customers over claims made by the business itself. This shows the importance of making your customer journey work for each and every customer, as your own marketing rarely supersedes real-life experiences.
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63% of consumers indicate that they are more likely to purchase from a site if it has product ratings and reviews
Interestingly, research by Search Engine Journal found that more than half of customers are more likely to purchase from a website if it has ratings and reviews, compared to those that don’t. This is a large majority of consumers and shows a shift in customer expectations for online stores and company websites alike.
If you’re struggling to gather reviews for your business at scale, consider looking at review software to help you automate the feedback collection process and to collate it all in one place, making it easily accessible when people search for your business or product reviews.
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97% of B2B buyers feel that peer reviews and user-generated content are more credible than other forms of content
Demand Gen found that almost all B2B buyers find peer reviews and UGC more trustworthy and believable than other forms of content that come directly from businesses. This shows that B2B decision-makers are still very much led by what their peers have to say, and the content that your users create about your products and services, over the content you publish yourself.
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95% of people say that reviews, positive or negative, influence their purchasing decisions
Research by Wyzowl has shown that almost all consumers in 2020 take reviews into account when making purchasing decisions.
The impact of positive product and business reviews is widely known, but interestingly, negative reviews can make an impact in both good and bad ways; by either putting prospective customers off, or in some cases by reading your response to negative feedback. Remember that your response to negative reviews can actually have a positive impact on your brand’s reputation as a whole. So be sure to keep an eye on your reviews and to respond publicly whenever possible, offering an apology, an explanation and a solution.
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Customer testimonials and case studies are considered the most effective content marketing tactics
Pardot found that an overwhelming volume of marketers think that customer testimonials and case studies are the most effective forms of content marketing. This was confirmed by 89% of B2B marketers, beating video content, infographics, white papers and images to the punch.
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Customer success content influences purchasing decisions
Dimensional Research found that 90% of consumers who read positive customer success content such as testimonials, online reviews and case studies think that it influenced their purchasing decisions when buying online.
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Reputation makes up over 25% of a brand’s market value
Research by Deloitte suggests that your brand reputation can make up to a quarter of your business’s market value. Testimonials and case studies are one of a few really effective ways of publicly and outwardly improving your brand’s reputation, especially among consumers, so be sure to keep your customer reviews and testimonials up to date.
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92% of people will trust a recommendation from a peer, and 70% of people will trust a recommendation from someone they don’t even know
Nielsen found that almost all consumers will trust a recommendation from a friend, colleague or family member, and over two-thirds of consumers trust recommendations from people that they don’t even know!
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72% of consumers will wait until they read reviews before taking action
Research has also shown that almost three-quarters of consumers won’t take action (such as getting in touch, making an enquiry or converting) until they’ve been able to read reviews or testimonials.
Not only does this statistic highlight the importance of having testimonials, but it also shows the significance of keeping product reviews, testimonials and case studies easily accessible through all customer touchpoints –including your website, product pages, marketing content and sales collateral.
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47% of people say that testimonial videos are effective
Wyzowl found that video can be one of the most compelling and effective formats for customer testimonials, because it helps visualise how a product or service actually works.
Don’t forget that search engines and social media platforms alike prioritise video content in their algorithms, and by adding a human element and a success story to your website or for use in your marketing content, you’ll be able to deliver social proof while demonstrating your product or service in action. You can even do a video testimonial yourself, showing visitors how your product or service has impacted your life – make sure that it is genuine yet professionally done.
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Testimonials will boost your organic search results
Research has shown that testimonials published on your website will help boost the organic search ranking of your website, because it’s a form of user-generated and up-to-date content.
SEO experts have found that reviews can account for up to 10% of search engines’ total organic ranking factors, so the impact of reviews and testimonials on your organic traffic and marketing strategy shouldn’t be ignored.
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88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations
A study by Search Engine Land found that an enormous 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends and family.
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92% of consumers read online reviews and testimonials, vs 88% in 2014
Studies by Vendasta found that a significant 92% of consumers will read testimonials when considering a purchase and that this percentage has grown since 2014, as customer expectations grow and the customer experience has evolved.
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58% of consumers have said they have recently begun leaving online reviews for customer service
Interestingly, more than half of online consumers asked said that they’ve recently (over the past five years) begun leaving reviews for customer service. That means, if you had 100 customer contacts a day, more than half of these would be open to publicly leaving you an online review.
You can encourage customer services reviews by sending automated feedback requests, or asking at the end of your phone and live chat contacts a few quick questions – giving your customers an opportunity to comment on their experience with you.
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57% of consumers will visit a local business website after seeing a positive review
BrightLocal found that more than half of consumers will visit a local business website after reading a positive review. For local businesses, reviews may come in the form of local news outlets, social media posts from friends and family or even Facebook reviews on business pages.
To conclude, the significant value of collecting and publishing customer reviews, feedback and testimonials can’t be ignored. With benefits from reduced customer acquisition costs to happier customers and more organic referrals, modern businesses can no longer afford to avoid client testimonials.
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