Testimonials the Right Way

“I LOVED it! I know sometimes magicians want testimonials. Want me to give you one?” the principal gushed.

I just stood there, stunned, until I remembered he asked me a question.

“Yes!” I blurted. “I’d love it!”

The principal of the school I was performing at was raving about my reading assembly I had just performed for his younger students. Older kids were next.

I’ve collected a massive number of testimonials throughout my career.

I’ve been ravenous about them, knowing social proof is one of the biggest convincers for prospects.

I’ve had many clients offer to write me a testimonial. But this was the first time a principal had offered to give me a video testimonial.

I was thrilled. On top of that, he really delivered.

Making things better, the school district’s Board member attending the show raved about it too. And she gave me a great video testimonial too.

Now I had two recent, kick-ass videos for the new school assembly site I’m currently building.

Testimonials are awesome. They are one of the most valuable weapons you can get in your marketing arsenal.

But there are a few things you should know about testimonials.

First, there is the wrong way to use them.

I cringe whenever I visit a magician’s site and read, “He was great!” – BK.

Who is BK? Why should we care about BK’s opinion?

It’s not specific enough.

When collecting testimonials, ask permission to use their name, title, and location.

So a better testimonial is “He was great!” – Brian Klark, Teacher, ABC School, Phoenix, AZ.

But it can still be better.

It’s unlikely that BK just said, “He was great.”

Try to use the entire thing. Try to get BK to give you specifics about your show they liked.

Your new, improved testimonial might read, “He was great! Our kids were fully engaged in his message. He came ready to go, didn’t need anything from the school, and performed a wonderful show.” – Brian Klark, Teacher, ABC School, Phoenix, AZ.

That’s a LOT better. There are specifics listed. The person’s full name, title, and location are listed.

It just screams “legitimate.”

Another tip for testimonials: get comments from your target market, or markets.

Equally baffling to me is when I visit a magician’s site and I see short, pithy testimonials that have nothing to do with a certain market.

Many of us work in multiple markets.

Yes, I’m a school assembly specialist. But I also perform 60 or so library shows each year. So I have gathered plenty of library testimonials along with my school ones.

When displaying written testimonials on your site, use pull-out quotes.

On my site, I have tons of testimonials like the one above. Long, detailed praise, highlighting specific reasons why they loved my show.

But not everyone will read a lot of testimonials in detail.

So I have what I call ‘pull-out quotes.’

This is the place for the “He was great” or “We loved it” part of quotes.

My graphic team would post the full quote and then above it, in a colorful attractive graphic, a pull-out quote.

This way, I’m serving multiple reading styles.

In marketing, it’s called a ‘double readership path.’

Some people are going to read every word on a website carefully. They want to do their due diligence before making a buying decision.

Or even deciding whether you’re even good enough to contact.

But other people aren’t like that.

They’re skimmers. They will just look at headlines as they scroll to get the big picture.

They read headlines, graphics, and -yes- pull-out quotes.

Give these people enough meat to chew on as they skim to grab their attention.

Me? I’m both.

I usually start off skimming. If I like what I see, I’ll slow down and read the whole thing.

And if you can get a video testimonial, that’s the most valuable of all.

First, having videos on your site is critically important.

More videos mean more opportunities for engagement. If people are doing more than just reading on your site, they’re more engaged.

There is also a huge, massive SEO benefit to having videos on your site, too.

But that’s a different topic for another day.

If you haven’t gathered any testimonials recently, start at your next show.

Testimonials help show your prospects why you’re qualified to perform at their event.

It gives them confidence that you’ll do a great job.

So get out there, do a great show, and get those testimonials!

Have a great week!

--Cris

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