11 Surprising Ways Testimonials Can Boost Your Conversions

If you've read my stuff, you know I write longhand. I want to provide you with original and useful articles. It's well worth your time to read this article, but don't take my word for it - here's Andrew:

“

Shane,
Great topic, as I think this is a **very** common dilemma with many businesses!

And, another great breakdown and analysis + solutions. It's so helpful to have optional soltuions because nothing is ever "one size fits all!" 😉 For me personally, I different readers (prospects) coming in for different solutions, like you've described here, and the "self-segmentation" is brilliant!. I've been planning on doing that but wasn't sure how to direct them from the Home page, so this website review is perfectly timed for me!

BTW...I'm a fan for life! Whenever I get a Thrive email, I feel like it's another gift I can't wait to open...and you always deliver! ✨

Thanks!

Karen McCamy

“

Great information and very useful to me.

Without sounding so repetitive, Thrive Themes has been one of my most precious and secret weapons in my marketing business.

The product is great and the free marketing lessons that comes with it, is simply unbelievable.

Thank you Shane. You, Hanna, and the rest of the crew are at the top list of people I respect in this business.

Nicholas O

“

Simple and actionable advice

Thanks Jay for the wonderful example websites! Always great to see 'real-world' examples in articles written to help others complete a difficult task.

Andrew

Testimonials can turn your most skeptical visitor into a subscriber.

They can turn you from complete unknown into trusted authority in seconds.

They can transform a quiet webpage into a festival of conversion.

More...

But if you’re like most marketers, you don’t collect testimonials and you don’t have a plan in place to use them.

At best you’ve collected a few and stored them onto a separate testimonial page.

Collecting testimonials only to hide them on a page somewhere is like getting an amazingly smart business suit and storing it in your closet. Forever.

Sure, once in a blue moon someone may wander to your testimonial page to have a look. They might even enjoy what they see.

However, the value and power of a fabulous suit is only in other peoples' eyes. It's no good hidden in your closet.

So, as Barney Stinson would say, it’s time to suit up.

Let’s put those testimonials to work!

Outsourcing the Risk of Choosing Wrong

What is it that makes a testimonial so effective? It is, after all, just a piece of copy.

It can illustrate how pleased a person is with their purchase or how well your content is received.

Which is nice, but not enough to sway our decision.

A testimonial’s true power comes from social proof - the idea that others, real people, have already risked their time on you or your business.

This is what we’re most afraid of in today’s internet: wasting our time. When we find some new content on the internet, we don’t stick around for long to find out if it’s interesting or not. We have things to do. Places to be.

A testimonial works to reinforce the opposite. If there’s indication that we’re NOT wasting our time, it can have a huge impact on our decision. After all, if someone else has already made a decision and lived to tell the tale, how bad could it be?

What we need to do then, is use testimonials in places of tough decisions to ease worries and push visitors toward the desired result.

11 Ways to Tip The Conversion Scale With Social Proof

There are numerous decisions your visitor faces when wandering through your content. Your job is to find these spots and ease your visitor's predicament with a testimonial.

Handling testimonials is easy with a superb testimonial management plugin like Thrive Ovation. Here are some (but not all) ways you can use testimonials to increase conversions on your website.

You'll see the major conversion effect marked by a green checkmark.​

1. Make Your Lightbox Opt-in More Appealing

After reading for a while, an opt-in form pops up. You start to move towards the X in the top corner, but a user quote catches your eye.

You hesitate. Another reader has subscribed and they seem to like it. Maybe it's worth your time to subscribe as well? You enter your details.

2. Attract Attention to a Previously Invisible Opt-in Form

You might normally ignore the sidebar, but this one has something different: A positive testimonial from another user - a leading authority no less!

When it comes to link building, Brian Dean is the best in the business! -Neil Patel, Quicksprout

Your attention is drawn to the positive testimonial, and the thought of subscribing creeps to your mind. It's a very compelling thought.

3. Turn Your Freelancer Resumé Into a Hot Topic

When you're trying to hook up a freelancing gig, especially in a creative field, it's difficult to adequately demonstrate your skill level to a new client. Sometimes having an impressive resumé is just not enough.

However, if you have a bunch of positive testimonials from satisfied clients praising your work, an impressive resumé quickly takes a backseat.

You notice Nicole Hunt starts her profile by quotes from previous clients. You feel like she is working for you. You can find Nicole on Upwork.

When testimonials take front seat in your resumé, your client will feel like they are the main focus in your business. As it should be.

4. Showcase Yourself Acting on Audience Feedback

Everyone claims to listen to their audience. When a business forms their product around direct user feedback, you know they're not playing around.

Here we underline the main reason for adding a new feature to Thrive Leads. We value our users, especially when they give us excellent ideas!​

When you see that a business actually listens to their audience to this extent, you feel connected. You get this feeling that there's actual people behind this business trying to solve actual problems. Problems like yours.

Which brings us to the next point...

5. Create Amazing Content Based on What Your Readers Want

Lacking ideas for content? Have you tried asking your audience?

Ellen Bard asked her audience for testimonials on how her content helps them in their daily life, and what frustrations they might still be struggling with.

She noticed a clear trend in the responses.​

When your audience asks, you respond. Ellen soon responded directly to her readers' plight with this helpful article:

Creating content that directly or indirectly answers your reader's frustration is the key to increasing engagement, trust and conversions.​

6. Turn Salespages from Salesy to Trusty

We don’t trust salespeople. Trust me, I used to work in sales.

How do you make your sales page less salesy and more beneficial? Forget copywriting wizardry. Just bring up a testimonial.

John Lee Dumas says he's extremely happy with Thrive Leads. Not only that, he's giving an exact number for how much he's benefited from the product.

7. Skyrocket Subscriptions from Your Landing Page

For whatever reason, you end up on a landing page with another subscription box, asking for your email.

Noah Kagan likes tacos. He also knows how to display his users' appreciation.

85% of business hacks doesn't say much, but with these incredible testimonials, you feel confident in giving him a chance.​

8. Gain Instant Credibility on Your Home Page

Imagine ending up on a page you’re not previously familiar with. You have no idea who runs this page or why you should care.

Then you see a number of familiar logos.

This business has been featured on many respected sites. They’re obviously a big deal and worth your time.

This is a twist on testimonials, as they don't come from "regular people" and they don't include quotes. But the end effect is quite similar, which is why we've included this example here.​

9. Increase Your Email Opening Rates

Email marketing suffers from a chronic lack of humanity. You can do a lot to improve your welcome emails, but only constant engagement keeps your readers interested.

If on the rare occasion you find a message with a quote from another user, it's an immediate reminder that this sender actively listens and responds to their readers.

Here's Ramit Sethi's email about his Call to Action-copywriting course. It includes testimonials to ease the reader's decision to click.

Using testimonials can give your emails more personality, turning them into more of a conversation.

10. Alleviate Fears on Your Checkout Page

The absolute last place your reader will hesitate to purchase is on your checkout page. Your job is to alleviate their fears and help them through this final step of the purchase process.

Remind your almost-customer about previously satisfied customers. This checkout page from WebinarJam makes your purchase comfortable even at the final step.

11. Commit to Long-ass Content

I started this post with a testimonial from a satisfied reader. Besides the obvious ego-service, Andrew's comment was meant to give you the confidence to read this post. If you're still here, I guess it helped to some extent.

As internet users, we're tired of wasting our time on rubbish content. If we run into a huge bit of content, our internet-spider senses tell us to bail out before sacrificing our precious moments to read it.

You might've seen this message about a webinar replay recently.

Watching webinars takes time. And let's be honest, these days there's a lot of useless webinars. That's why it helps to have testimonials from satisfied viewers telling you that you'll enjoy it.

It's helpful to have someone else sacrifice their time and tell us how it went.​

Use Our Mini Course to Master Testimonials!

Imagine parading around in that new gorgeous dress, that amazingly smart suit. Imagine people’s reactions and how they’ll suddenly regard you in a slightly more dignified manner.

Your arsenal of conversion tools just took a leap towards a masterclass. You can place testimonials almost anywhere if you have a strategy behind it. A well placed testimonial can sway every decision into your favour.

Like a fine suit would.​

If you’re still missing that awesome piece of attire, or a selection of amazing testimonials, check out our free ecourse on gathering and using testimonial!