How to Use Testimonials to Grow Your Business

By MaryEllen Tribby

Serial Entrepreneurs are voracious learners. They are always reading, meeting with mentors and attending events.

That is why a couple of weeks ago when I spoke at an event in Curacao, I spent six full days there.

That’s right – instead of jumping on a plane home after I spoke, I stayed to listen and learn from the other speakers.

And boy-oh-boy am I glad I did.

Some of what they spoke of reconfirmed many tasks that we are doing correctly in our marketing and company, while others gave me brand new ah-ha moments.

So today I want to share one of those ah-ha moments with you. This was a brand new take on a very old tactic. This tactic is so easy to implement yet could skyrocket your marketing promotions resulting in nothing but profit to your bottom-line!

So what is this BIG promotional boost?

Testimonials!

If you are saying, yeah right . . .

I encourage you to listen up.

Shake It Up

First, let me set the scene.

Kevin Harrington was about to speak.

But before Kevin Harrington took the stage, his introduction video was played. Funny enough everyone knows him from being one of the original sharks on the hit show, Shark Tank, where he was featured in over 150 shows.

However, to me, some of his more interesting achievements happened 30 years before Shark Tank.

Did you know that Kevin is the inventor of the infomercial?

His very first infomercial was the Ginsu Knife resulting in over $100 million dollars in sales.

Kevin went on to launch so many products and brands via infomercials including:

• Tony Little and his body building product resulting in over $300 million dollars in sales
• Jack LaLane and his juicer resulting in over one BILLION dollars in sales
• George Foreman and his famous grill resulting in one BILLION dollars in sales

So when Kevin shared with us the five different types of testimonials to use in our marketing promotions, well I certainly listened.

And of course what I loved so much was that Kevin emphasized using these five types of testimonials in all marketing, regardless of the channel.

So if you are using Video Sales Letters, direct mail, radio, TV or print you need to incorporate this diverse testimonial strategy!

Today I am going to pass along to you that billion-dollar lesson and genius strategy.

The Five Types of Testimonials You Must Use for Profitable Promotions!

#1) Consumer: This is the most commonly used, and interestingly enough, the least effective. This is the one that may read:

I love your product.So far I have lost 20 pounds.~ Sue B.Morristown, NJ

Notice it is not very specific and does not even use a last name. So when this testimonial is used by itself, it does not lend very much credibility. However, when used in conjunction with the other four types of testimonials, it is much stronger.

#2) Professional: A great example would be using a doctor for a health or fitness product. And of course using a picture of the doctor in his or her professional attire is even better.

#3) Celebrity: The idea behind using a celebrity is to attract more eyeballs. More people will read/watch your promotion to the end when someone they recognize is in it, resulting in more sales. The good news here is it can be a celebrity in your niche, someone that is accessible to you.

#4) Editorial: This means getting your product on/in the media and using that in your marketing. For example, if you look at my site MaryEllen Tribby.com you will see all the media where I have been featured. Chances are good, you or your product have been featured too – make sure you use it.

#5) Documentation: This means having some kind of clinical study to back up your claims. Again this is extremely important for health and fitness products. But even for products like reading faster or learning new languages.

When you really think about it, you should have research on any product that you sell.

Kevin even shared that many colleges and universities have departments that offer research studies. Ohio State is one of the colleges that will do the study at no cost to you.

Your action item for today is to go back to your control promotions and look at the testimonials.

Write down what kind of testimonials you have and what kind you do not have.

Set a deadline of one week from today to have a new category of testimonials in place.

Remember promotions should be constantly evolving. So even if you add 2 more categories in a week that is progress. Strive for all five and I am convinced you will see an improvement in your results.

Oh and by the way, I had the pleasure of being a “Shark” with Kevin at this event.

Here is a picture of us on the panel and one of just me and Kev:

About the Author

If you are the voracious learner I know you are, grab MaryEllen’s Success Indicator info graphic – FREE right here.

After all MaryEllen Tribby has helped thousands of people start a new business or grow their existing ones.

MaryEllen is the Founder and CEO of WorkingMomsOnly.com, the world’s leading newsletter and website for the empowerment of the working mom.

MaryEllen is the best-selling author of Reinventing the Entrepreneur: Turning Your Dream Business into a Reality and co-author of Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions For Your Business.