One of the best ways to develop credibility for your company and your products is to share testimonials from satisfied customers on your website.
According to Carolyn Edlund, Artsy Shark website:
Testimonials are positive, unbiased statements made by real people about the quality of your work or their satisfaction as a collector.
Testimonials are used in many different forms of marketing and advertising because they are so effective. When used, they create a positive ‘stamp of approval’ for your products from people who have done business with you. Because of that, testimonials are one of the most trusted forms of marketing.
Obtaining testimonials can be as easy as asking for them. Many satisfied customers are more than happy to provide their insight concerning your products.
Over the years, I’ve offered free product or services in exchange for a written testimonial. Call them product reviews, if you will, but this method works very well in my markets. This practice also gives you excellent feedback on your products. Even if the testimonial is not as positive as you would like, you learn some valuable information about your items. Of course, you want to share only the positive testimonials in your marketing materials.
When using testimonials, you do not need long flowery statements. Concise, but meaningful quotes about how a product or service impacted your customer is all that is necessary. If the testimonial is too long, people will not read it. Just include the most important sentences in your marketing materials. Also, make sure to get permission from the customer to use their statements and always give credit to the writer. If you are receiving a testimonial from a company, always reference their website or other contact info.
Here are some hints, from Carolyn’s article, on using testimonials:
Where can artists use testimonials?
- Place them on your website. You may find that a concise quote on your Home page is a great lead-in for potential collectors.
- Include them in the content of your email marketing campaigns
- Use them as part of your social media marketing campaigns
- Use a quote from a collector in your email signature
- Print them in brochures, business cards, postcards and other collateral
- Place on signage in your studio or exhibit booth
- Use them in online and print advertisements
- Include them in your artist media kit
If you do not feature some good testimonials on your website, I suggest you start working on getting some now!