Testimonial Marketing

There's an old saying in sales that goes, "Facts tell, stories sell." There's something about personal success stories and satisfied testimonials about a product or service that creates an emotional bond between a potential consumer and a satisfied customer. The potential consumer relates to the satisfied customer and thinks, "If they can have success with this, so can I."

Testimonial marketing is used extensively by companies to market products and services the world over. Visit any website or business and you are likely to find testimonials about the superiority, effectiveness, and outstanding quality of the product or service. Some testimonials go on to edify the excellent customer service, reasonable prices, and sterling reputation of the provider company, too.

What's crazy about testimonial marketing is that the testimonial blurbs are often written by professional copywriters, and many people know it, but it remains an exceptional sales and marketing tool nonetheless. Even sophisticated consumers who don't believe in testimonials will read them out of curiosity. And because testimonials work on a subconscious level more than on a conscious one, they can convince even the most jaded consumer to try a product.

Most consumers make purchases for emotional reasons. They have a conception of what they need to be happy, and they want to be convinced that their needs can be met by a service or product. If purchases weren't based on emotion, then facts would sell instead of stories, and testimonial marketing would not be a part of every company's advertising campaign.

Consumers want to be reassured that the product or service they are considering is really as good as the company promises. Facts can say only so much. Any company can provide facts in support of its own products. But testimonial marketing seems to offer a consumer evaluation of the product that is independent of the company providing it.