An oldie but a goodie!
I’ve often talked talked about the power of testimonials in validating the claims you make for your products or services. In fact, testimonials are one of the most powerful marketing tools in your marketing arsenal.
One of the best ways you can use a testimonial is to incorporate it in an advertisement. And testimonial style advertisements really come into their own where you use long copy that tells the story.
Let’s reflect on this phrase “long copy” because so many people will tell you that lots of copy in an advertisement puts people off and they won’t read it. Don’t believe it; nothing could be further from the truth.
The only person who can give you an honest opinion of any advertisement is one who is seeking to buy the product or service being advertised. An opinion from anyone else is purely academic because they do not want or need what is being promoted.
When people are interested in purchasing a product or service they seek as much information as possible and become “ferrets for facts”. They want information, ideas, suggestions, case histories, demonstrations, stories and information from previous purchasers.
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You see they believe people like themselves more than they will ever believe what advertisers say because obviously information given by an advertiser will always extol the virtues of the product or service. It’s a little like endeavouring to get unbiased advice from your mother-in-law about your spouse!
When seeking a testimonial always ask the person giving the testimonial to tell the story in their own words and, if you can’t write fast enough, record it for later transcription.
Let’s use an example and say that Mrs Brown had had a great experience with the firm of funeral directors known as Joseph Nocorelli & Son.
The funeral director could create an advert with a photo of the recently bereaved widow captioned “Mrs Margaret Brown recently entrusted the funeral arrangements for her father to Joseph Nocorelli & Son” and that the advertisement could go on and detail the advertiser’s funeral services.
And, although that’s it credible way of doing it, it’s not the best way.
The very best way would be to sit down with widow Brown and get her to tell her story. What the problems were, who she consulted, how she felt about the people she talked to, where she got the information from, how difficult it was to make a decision, and why she finally decided on Joseph Nocorelli & Son.
The story would probably go something like this:
My husband of 45 years, Joe, had been sick for some time and when the doctors told me there was little hope I told my children that it was time to come home and see their father for the last time. However, as both of them were overseas, they didn’t arrive until a few days after he had passed away.
So making the funeral arrangements fell on my shoulders because there was no one else to do it. Although I was expecting Joe’s passing, it was still hard to come to terms with death when it happens and there are so many decisions to make it really is quite frightening.
I’d never organised a funeral before so I had no idea what to do or who I could trust to handle the arrangements. However an old friend told me I should talk to Fred Tonkin at Joseph Nocorelli & Son. So I phoned him and he came straight out. As soon as he sat down and started talking with me I knew I had found some one I could trust to help me make the right decisions at that tough time.
Fred was absolutely marvellous. He took me through all of the things that I had to do like planning the funeral service and reminded me of those special things that I wanted to include but would have forgotten if I’d had to do it all by myself.
When it came to choosing a casket and all those other things guided me through it and made sure that I didn’t spend a lot of money just because it was for Joe. After all I know that Joe would want me to make sure that what little money we had saved would be available for me to live on rather than to give him a grand funeral.
On the day of the funeral Fred and his team took care of just about everything and the service we had to celebrate Joe’s life was absolutely wonderful. I’m sure it helped me cope with Joe’s passing much, much easier than I would have thought.
The only thing I regret is that Joe and I had not met Fred and his team earlier so that we could have prepaid both our funerals and made sure that they understood what each of us would want. Anyway, I’ve now paid from my funeral and the people at Joseph Nocorelli & Son know exactly what I want.
Take my word for it. When you need somebody to help you at a time of bereavement call the team at Joseph Nocorelli & Son. They’ll make a tough time really easy for you.
Now that copy only needs a good headline, a photo of Mrs Brown and the name, address and phone number of Joseph Nocorelli & Son at the bottom of the advert to work gangbusters. It would work its pants off in the Yellow Pages or on the website (where people probably refer when looking for a funeral director) for example.
Naturally you should always get written permission to use a testimonial from the person giving it.
You might be saying that it is too detailed or far too close to the bone. But that’s what makes a good testimonial advertisement work… when the person giving the testimonial shares the facts and their feelings because it is what gives the credibility.
Without doubt testimonials are the most potent marketing force available to you. Too often advertisers forget to use the powerful, positive proof of the real experience of a purchaser of product or service.
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