Testimonial Advertising Guide: Tips for Successful Advertising
Today’s consumers are overwhelmed by social media advertising and have become experts at recognizing exaggerated claims. Testimonial advertising helps you stand out from the competition by proving the real value of your product or service.
Customer testimonials are the digital age of word-of-mouth marketing, and can be used across any marketing channel. These testimonials are a powerful tool for building trust and credibility while also gaining attention.
Learn more about how referral advertising works, why it’s effective, and how you can use it to market your brand.
What are referral ads?
Testimonial ads are short, powerful advertisements that companies share with their online audience. This marketing strategy uses positive customer experiences to demonstrate the value of a product or service.
The ultimate goal of referral advertising is to convey the message, “If it worked for him, it can work for me!” to your prospects, giving them confidence that they can achieve similar positive results.
Referral advertising can amplify your marketing efforts by turning your brand’s claims into trustworthy customer stories, strengthening your connection with potential customers. It can take many forms, from influencer recommendations to verified online reviews from everyday people.
Benefits of Referral Advertising
- Building trust and credibility
- Provide social proof
- Creating an emotional connection
- Increase conversion rate
Recommended advertising has the following advantages:
Building trust and credibility
Most consumers are naturally skeptical of marketing claims, as they know that traditional advertising involves actors and can manipulate product results. But testimonials show real customers who use a brand in their daily lives and then support it. This authenticity resonates with the audience, making testimonials more credible than traditional advertising copy.
Provide social proof
Recommendations serve as social proof. People tend to look to others when making decisions about their own behavior. By featuring real people, they help bridge the gap between skepticism and trust. In particular, recommendations from people similar to your target audience are even more impactful, helping customers imagine themselves using your product or service.
Creating an emotional connection
Customer testimonials with strong emotional appeal can create an authentic connection with your audience. By sharing these personal stories and experiences, you humanize your brand and engage your audience on a deeper level. Hearing about someone’s experience using your product or service is more relatable and persuasive than dry marketing claims.
Increase conversion rate
Customers often share similar concerns about a product. Recommendation ads can address the most common hesitations of potential customers and increase conversion rates. These ads provide the confidence needed to make a purchase decision and can be a key factor in helping hesitant customers make a decision.
5 Tips for Successful Referral Advertising
- Choose a recommendation that is authentic
- Set the right target
- Highlight specific benefits
- Place strategically
- Include a call to action
When creating your referral ads, it's a good idea to consider the following tips:
1. Choose a recommendation that is authentic
A story from someone who is actually passionate about your product is much more compelling than an actor reading a script. Encourage your most loyal customers to leave a recommendation. You can offer a discount or reward, but if you pressure customers, you may not be able to get genuine feedback.
2. Set the right target
To increase the effectiveness of your referral advertising, collect recommendations from each customer group and then match them to customer segments. This personalization helps connect recommendations with customers who are most likely to be persuaded by them.
For example, you could share a short clip of a young professional talking about your product on TikTok, highlight busy millennials in an Instagram post, or showcase retirees in a longer video recommendation ad on Facebook. Showcasing recommendations on the platforms where your customers are most active can help drive engagement with your content.
3. Highlight specific benefits
Avoid generic compliments like “This product is amazing!” and instead choose testimonials that clearly describe the specific benefits of your product or service. Focusing on these details will make your testimonials more impactful and persuasive. Encourage customers to leave detailed feedback through surveys, email follow-ups, and post-purchase pop-ups.
4. Place strategically
The ideal platform for your referral ads will depend on the format of your customer feedback. Including a video testimonial in your social media posts can grab your audience’s attention and increase product awareness. You can also use a written testimonial with a star rating on your product page to influence buyers at the point of purchase. Experiment with different formats and placements of your referral ads to maximize their effectiveness.
5. Include a call to action
Provide an action your audience can take after a strong recommendation. Whether your call to action is to visit your website, sign up for a free trial, or learn more about your product, make sure it’s clear. Guiding your audience to the next step in the buying process will help increase the likelihood of a sale and continued engagement with your brand.
Example of a recommended ad
- Recommended quotes
- Video Recommendations
- Product Reviews
These different forms of referral advertising can inspire your marketing strategy.
Recommended quotes
This is an advertising format that emphasizes the value of a product or service by directly citing the positive experiences of customers.
For example, Coyote Vest , a brand that specializes in pet protection gear, has a separate testimonial page on its website, sharing quotes from real customers who have used the company's vests to protect their pets from coyote attacks.
The page title, “Does CoyoteVest Work?” addresses a frequently asked question from customers. The stories and customer photos that follow directly demonstrate how effective the product is in keeping pets safe, providing strong evidence of the product’s value and giving potential buyers confidence in its effectiveness.
Video Recommendations
Video testimonials are a very effective tool for eyewear brand Barner , known for its blue light blocking glasses, to build a strong connection with potential customers. Instead of relying solely on text, the website’s video testimonial page features videos of real consumers talking about the benefits of Barner glasses, creating a more immersive and engaging experience.
Hovering over each video ad reveals a brief review summary, which Barner uses to drive further user engagement. These teasers, which highlight benefits like “It’s comfortable to wear” and “My eyes are now at ease,” encourage viewers to watch the full video recommendation to better understand the product’s value.
Product Reviews
Incorporating product reviews into your marketing strategy allows your customers to act as brand ambassadors. Their personal experiences are compelling in their own right, helping build trust with potential buyers while saving time and marketing resources.
Clothing brand Kirrin Finch is a great example of how to effectively use product reviews.
The company’s website features a Reviews section, easily accessible from the homepage, featuring over 2,000 customer reviews of its menswear-inspired clothing. In addition to building trust through these customer reviews, the brand’s decision to prominently use consumer-generated content also contributes to its search engine optimization (SEO) rankings. This increases the brand’s visibility to potential buyers searching for similar products online.
Recommended Ads FAQ
What is the difference between recommended and endorsed ads?
Testimonials feature real customers sharing their honest reviews and opinions. Endorsements, on the other hand, are people like celebrities, industry experts, or influencers who promote a product or service, usually through paid partnerships. Testimonials emphasize authenticity, while endorsements rely on the celebrity of the person promoting the product or service. While both are technically a form of recommendation, in marketing, the word “recommendation” more often refers to content featuring regular people.
How do advertisers use recommendations?
Advertisers reach diverse audiences through referral ads, including text quotes, interviews, videos, and customer case studies. By strategically placing referrals throughout the user journey, including on website landing pages, email marketing campaigns, and social media posts, advertisers can maximize their impact and increase conversion rates.
How effective are referral ads?
Recommendation advertising is a very effective advertising method that has a great influence on consumer behavior. According to a survey by Power Reviews , ratings and reviews are the most important factors influencing purchasing decisions, highlighting the importance of incorporating customer feedback into your marketing strategy.