Using Client Testimonials in Your Marketing Strategy

Testimonial marketing is the practice of using positive client or customer reviews to advertise the value of your services or products. Client testimonials are one of the most effective ways to showcase the services you offer from the perspective of enthusiastic experts: your current clients.

Testimonial marketing has the benefits of being no-cost and offering authenticity in the eyes of potential customers. Reviews and testimonials act as social proof—evidence that real people find value in what you’re selling. Plus, getting feedback helps you understand your strengths and weaknesses as a business owner.

To set up your testimonial marketing strategy, decide: 

• What you want to use testimonials for

• What questions to ask your clients 

• How you’ll use client testimonials to boost your bookings

Set goals for your testimonials

Get a clear understanding of what you want to get out of a testimonial before asking for them. You want to highlight success stories, but how? Do you want clients to emphasize your great customer service or your process? Is there a certain type of project or client you want to show off?

Answering these questions can help you clarify what questions to ask your clients and how to use the testimonials you get.

Get tips on reaching your target audience

How to ask for a testimonial

There are a few types of testimonials you can get from clients. You can ask for:

• Quote testimonials

• Video testimonials

• Social media testimonials

• Audio testimonials

• Client features, like case studies or interviews

Prioritize the type of testimonials you ask for based on your business and how customers find you. For example, social media testimonials could work if many of your clients discover you on a specific platform. Testimonial videos might work if you do visual projects, like interior design.

If you run an ecommerce business, ask for product reviews. If you run a service business, create a form that goes to every client after you’ve finished working with them. 

What questions to ask in a testimonial request

When you’re asking someone to review your services, there are three best practices for crafting your questionnaire. 

1. Keep it short, typically under 10 questions. Anything longer than that and people will be less likely to take the time to answer. 

2. Ask questions that are specific to your business and industry practices. Open-ended questions usually lead to jumbled answers or blank responses, so keep it concrete. 

3. Get your clients’ consent to share their testimonials, along with their first names and last initials. 

For example, imagine you’re a photographer asking for a client testimonial. You might ask these questions. 

• Name (First and last initial is okay.)

• Website (if applicable, and if you’d like me to link back to your site)

• What was your biggest concern before scheduling a shoot with me? Did I address it?

• What was your favorite part of this experience? (I want to make sure I do more of what my customers appreciate.)

• Do you grant permission for this testimonial to appear on a website, in ads, and on social media in association with [business name]?

• Is there anything else you want me to know about your experience with me and/or about yourself?

Use these example testimonial questions as inspiration for your own questions. Make sure your questions are more specific to your business and what you want to emphasize about the customer experience.

Make it easy for people to respond

When clients can share feedback quickly and easily, they’re more likely to do it thoughtfully. There are three common methods for requesting client testimonials. 

1. Link to a form. This is the most straightforward method. A form helps you standardize questions and answers and stay organized. Plus, it’s easy to add a form to your website, so you can point customers there.

2. Ask for email responses. This is most useful when you have only one or two questions to ask existing customers. Any more than that could appear overwhelming and lower response rates. 

3. Link to a review platform. If you want more visibility for your business on popular online reviews websites, point your customers to those landing pages. That way, prospective customers can find you when searching for services like yours.

See an example of a testimonial request email

Make testimonials part of the customer journey

Once you’ve decided which questions you’ll ask and how you want clients to respond, your next step is to automate your ask. Simply build it into your follow-up email flow. This way, you have a regular stream of endorsements from existing customers. 

Here are some best practices when requesting feedback for a testimonial.

• Be direct about why you’re reaching out. Get to the point about what you’re asking for and how positive reviews help you and your business.

• Offer an incentive. People may be more likely to take the time to leave a review if you offer something in return. Consider a referral discount for their next booking for any new customers they send your way.

• Make a concrete ask. Make a clear call to action (CTA) that points your customers to your questionnaire or review platform. Format the CTA as bold text or a button to make the request stand out.

Client testimonial examples

Here are a few examples of great testimonials. (Note: These testimonials are for educational purposes only and don’t reflect reviews of a real business or real customers.)

“Jane did a fantastic job with our baby shower photos! She was on top of communication with us from the day we booked and was a calming presence during a busy day. The photos came out beautifully and perfectly captured the spirit of the celebration. - John D.”

“I would trust this company with a design project again without hesitation. Their work was phenomenal and fast, despite many revision requests. - Jane D., Director, Example Company”

“John made a usually stressful and busy tax process incredibly simple and did it with good humor along the way. - Smith J.”

Learn more about building strong customer relationships

How to use client testimonials in your marketing

Once you have positive feedback from satisfied customers, it’s time to use them to bring in more business or boost your conversion rates. How and where you use client testimonials as part of your marketing campaigns depends on your business and industry. 

Where to use testimonial marketing

Share your testimonials in the places where new clients are most likely to discover your business. Consider adding testimonials and reviews to:

• Your website: Create a testimonial page or include testimonials on your homepage and booking or pricing page. 

• Blog posts: If you have a content marketing strategy for your business and have particularly happy customers, turn their experience into a blog post. Interview the client or write a post about how you helped them solve a problem.

• Email footers: Add a strong testimonial to the footer of any email marketing you send to drive home that you have loyal customers.

• Social media feeds: Post quotes or repost shoutouts from your clients on social media.

• Advertisements: Include positive reviews in any paid ads you run.

• Proposals to new clients: Including positive testimonials from previous clients can build trust with potential new clients and could influence their purchasing decisions.

Read more about building customer loyalty

How to format testimonials

Present your testimonials in the best light and in a format that works for where you’re posting. Here are a few best practices.

• Quote the most compelling parts of the feedback. You don’t need to use every single thing in a testimonial as long as the core intent of their review remains intact. 

• Fix any typos or grammatical issues in the final testimonials.

• Attribute the testimonial to their first name and last initial, plus their business name and link, if applicable. 

• Share the formatted testimonial with your client and give them a heads up about where you’ll be sharing it. 

Just getting started? Learn how to become a freelancer.

This post was updated on April 25, 2023.