Testimonials and case histories tell your story through your customers’ voice. Here’s how to get—and get the most from—customer-approved content.
By Craig Irons
You want prospective customers to buy your products or services. But before you can convert leads into opportunities and opportunities into sales, you must provide proof.
Proof you can deliver on the promises you make on your website and in your marketing materials. Proof the features and capabilities that you trumpet actually work in the real world. Proof you have experience working successfully with similar customers. Proof you provide an exceptional customer experience.
The most compelling way to provide this proof is to introduce the voices of existing or past customers into your marketing content through testimonials or case histories.
These important pieces of customer-approved content can take a variety of forms. They can be brief, yet specific client quotes, downloadable written pieces, or video interviews.
Whatever form they take, you absolutely need them on your website!
Here are some pointers for successfully capturing customer-approved content.
Ask for permission
This sounds like a no-brainer. Still, over the years I’ve encountered many marketing professionals who either didn’t want to take the time or didn’t think they had to ask a customer’s permission to feature them on their website or elsewhere.
Then there were the times when the customer was asked “as a courtesy” and responded that, for whatever reason, they couldn’t provide a story or approve a quote.
Customer-approved content is the outgrowth of a successful business relationship. Therefore, you need to hold up your end of that relationship by being a great partner and asking for permission to feature the client in your content. If the relationship is strong, you might be surprised by the extent to which the client will work on your behalf to deliver approved content you can post on your site or use in other ways.
Be straightforward about how you’ll use the content
It’s an all-too-common occurrence: Your customer approves a quote that they believe is for a single purpose. But then they are caught off guard when they find you’ve shared it on your website, included it in a social media post, incorporated it into your booth at an industry trade show, and featured it on your print collateral.
To avoid sticky situations like these, be totally transparent about where you will use the client-approved content. Best bet is to provide this information in writing, so your contact can share it with internal stakeholders involved in the approval process. And, if your needs change or opportunities arise to repurpose the content, be sure to go back to the client to confirm they are on board.
Don’t make it all about you
A common mistakes marketers make when it comes to capturing client-approved content is to inflate the impact of the solution. One way this is done is to oversimplify the story by not properly positioning the solution within the context of a larger initiative the customer put in place and that helped make the positive results possible.
There are two problems when quotes or stories are too self-serving. First, clients are hesitant to approve them. And, second, audiences are more likely to conclude that the results described are too good to be true.
In both cases, instead of capturing a slam-dunk piece of content, you end up with a quote or story that has little credibility. That is, if you even get it approved by the customer in the first place.
Be persistent but not overzealous about approvals
Over the past decade or so, we’ve seen more clients involve their company’s legal department in the review process. Not coincidentally, this trend has resulted in a lengthening of the time required to get quotes or stories approved. Even in companies where legal may not be consulted, more stakeholders are involved in the approval process. This can sometimes result in approvals taking months, which can prove frustrating.
Your best bet is to be patient but also persistent. Check in with your contact at least periodically to ask about the status, while being careful not to overdo it. Put reminders on your calendar to make sure you do your part to keep the process moving.
Audit and update regularly
Think of your customer-approved content as a portfolio of assets that must be reviewed and replenished regularly. At least once a year, audit your customer-approved content to confirm each quote or story still aligns with the current direction of your business. Also check to make sure all job titles and companies listed are still accurate
Did the person quoted leave the company? Did the company itself close or get acquired? Is the solution referenced one that your company no longer sells? You’ll likely discover you need to swap out or stop using some of the content for these reasons.
Seeking new customer-approved content should be an ongoing pursuit. As you take on new customers, complete successful projects, and build stronger customer relationships, opportunities for new content should continue to present themselves. Having a pipeline of quotes and stories is also increasingly important as approval processes lengthen.
You’ll always want to have multiple pieces of customer-approved content at various stages of review and approval. This eliminates the fire drill that can ensue when you need to gather multiple quotes or stories quickly, such as for a trade show or when refreshing your online presence.
Need help gathering credible and useful customer-approved content? Irons Strategic Content has years of experience interviewing customers and capturing impactful stories and quotes. Contact us today at info@ironsstrategiccontent.com
Craig Irons is President and Lead Content Creator for Irons Strategic Content