There are a few things that you need to have as an online business, but one of the main things is receipts. When I say receipts, I mean positive feedback/testimonials. When you’re online, there’s no physical presence, so it can be harder to make a connection. It’s also a little more difficult to trust small online businesses because there is no traditional customer care department if someone encounters issues. Being an online business, you have to go the extra mile to gain the trust of potential customers, so this is where your receipts come in. Problem is, sometimes you either don't get feedback from every customer or you have a new product/service with no feedback yet. I understand this problem because I have encountered it. Today I will be sharing 5 creative places to find testimonials when you don't have much customer feedback.
1 / Social Media Comments & Posts
Social media tends to be the first place brands are discovered and from there a site visit may happen as a result. Because of this, you may be interacting with plenty of people that may not be customers yet, but still leave comments on your posts. It’s a smart idea to keep track of social media comments that explain how helpful you were or how great a product of yours was. For example, if you post something to instagram about a way to be more efficient when editing photos and someone took your advice and the results were great, if they leave a positive comment about it on the post, take a screenshot and save if for future reference. You may have a product/service directly related to the post topics, so the comment they left could be included as a testimonial on your website.
2 / Email Replies
If you send emails to an email list, you can use the positive replies you receive from them on your website. You may also just receive an email from someone unrelated to your email list where they tell you helpful you are, how great a specific you shared was, etc. These can also be used as testimonials. I have a folder set up in my email called positive feedback so I can always reference them when needed.
3 / Blog post comments
When readers leave comments on a post sharing how much they loved it or how much the post helped them, this could also be a potential testimonial if the post is related to a product or service that you offer. A great thing about blog post comments is that they’re available for anyone to see, so if a reader sees a positive comment it may encourage them to try out your tip as well!
4 / DM Comments
Sometimes people may send you a DM telling you how helpful one of your tips was or how they loved the content in your IG stories / Live, etc. These comments can also be used as testimonials, again, as long as they are directly related to a product/service of yours.
5 / Questionnaire Feedback
It is a good idea to send questionnaires to your email list and customers because the feedback provided can be placed on your site as well. You can be direct on a questionnaire and ask for their feedback on the content you share as well as if they have ever tried anything that you posted and to include details in their response. Sometimes you just need to ask instead of waiting around for feedback.
These are just a few ways to find positive feedback in places that you may not have though of for your website thus showing how awesome you are at what you do! I only suggest using these forms of feedback for products/services that are directly related to it (ex: you post wardrobe and styling tips on your blog, you get a response from someone who tried your tips and loved the results, you have an online styling course that the feedback can be included on), otherwise it could come across as dishonest!
I would love to hear how you handle testimonials or if you even bother with them at all. Let me know in the comments!