Insurance Marketing Ideas: What Makes Testimonials Work … Or Not?
Testimonials are a great way to promote your insurance business. Testimonials provide proof that your business can deliver a positive experience. However, care must be taken to use good, quality testimonials that are not too light … or too dark. John Forde puts testimonials into perspective with this article from his free weekly newsletter “The Copywriters Roundtable.” And here it is for your insurance marketing enlightenment …
The Dark Side of Testimonial Driven Sales Copy
In my experience, testimonials almost always enhance a promo package… except… when they don’t. What might make for a bad time to use a testimonial?
Most often, when the testimonial itself just plain stinks. For instance…
When it’s emotionally unsatisfying and vague:
“I found your book very useful.”
When it’s too gushy:
“I love your book! It’s the best one I’ve ever read! The exclamation point on my keyboard is stuck!!!”
When it’s too polished or pretentious:
“We delight in your intrepid and yet profitable handling of territory so treacherous as options investing.”
When you’ve used stock photos instead of real ones:
(Rule of thumb: Most of your customers probably do NOT have bleached teeth or airbrushed faces. And most of them do not wear t-shirts that have been pressed and dry-cleaned before the photo shoot either.)
When they’re a legal risk or just plain fake:
“I’ve secretly used this investment newsletter to pick stocks for years. I’d be working at McDonald’s without it.” – Warren Buffet, Omaha.
Or when the customer seems too embarrassed to sign it:
“I like your stuff, really I do. – Anonymous”
We could go on finding many ways testimonials won’t do what you want them to do. But how about how to make sure you get good testimonials and use the properly?
Here’s a truism based on experience:
Good products, first and foremost, are the better your chances of getting good testimonials. But even then, you need to identify the person on the team that’s got enough passion for the product to cull and archive a strong testimonial file. This could be the product manager, but more likely, they’re getting their best stuff from the front lines. That is, from the people who deal most directly with the customers.
Don’t be afraid to ask customer service if you can look at their letters or if they’ve seen something good. Often the good stuff is buried in letters asking support questions.
If the company is going to do surveys, make sure they leave room for open-ended questions at the end. And if they’ve done surveys already, look for ones where you can follow up to get enthusiastic customers to elaborate. A day of phone calls to buyers can pay off with testimonials you’ll use for years.
If the company corresponds via emails or an online customer forum (and who doesn’t these days?), ask if it’s okay to follow up with buyers electronically. Or better, ask the product manager to follow up, since replies to their requests might sound more natural (customers have a tendency to fancy-up their praise when they find out it’s going to go in a sales letter.)
Bottom line: There’s no way to get good testimonials without applying a little elbow-grease and a little creative harvesting.
That said, copywriting legend John Caples had a tip. Try running a testimonial-gathering contest. Caples liked to give customers a chance to fill in the following line:
“Finish this sentence in 25 words or less: I like (name of product) because…”
And in return, he would offer every participant a small prize.
Here’s another great idea, based on an insight from friend Michael Masterson, over at www.earltytorise.com: “Ask them what their life was like before they got your product… what their life is like now… and, specifically, how your product helped them make that change.”
Good ideas, don’t you think?
Insurance marketers … What do you think? How about letting us know how you like the Insurance Marketers’ Blog or our Inbound Insurance Marketing services. Post a comment to our blog and finish one (or both) of these sentences in 25 words or less:
- “I like the Insurance Marketers’ Blog because…”
- “I like Inbound Insurance Marketing services because …
The top three replies (as judged by our team) will be sent a free Sales Letter Six Pack containing six professionally-written insurance marketing sales letters to jumpstart your direct marketing efforts.
And don’t forget, if you like this insurance marketing idea for generating testimonials, try it at your company!